Ex SL players young enough to have another go.

Haggerty
Pickersgill
Smith
Thackeray
Netherton


We were also limited to how much we could originally spend, due to having James Webster in the squad, who was taking up a substantial part of the cap. The club have also stated, even before Webster left, that we still had room under the cap for further recruitment. So it’s likely that we are still under the cap.

Our recruitment would have been very different should we have not won the NRC and we would certainly have had to push the cap to its limit. As it is, we have had the luxury of blooding lots of our own academy lads and using the new Dual-Reg system to pad out the squad and cover our injury crisis. I doubt any of this would have happened should we have failed to win the NRC.

How would your recruitment have been any different? If you have been signing ex SL players with SL potential anyway?

It does when the licence assessment starts, Billy.



All very good players, but also backed up with a lot of very tough experienced players. That’s where we are different.

Because we would have also added more seasoned old pros to that squad and run to the full cap from the start.

I don't think we need to worry about Super League Licences. I can't see us getting one, unfortunately.

I see, does make sense SOC not putting any more money into the first team now you had the box ticked. Dont think its fair on the fans who pay there money though. Im sure a lot would want to watch a strong first team, as well as having the youth structure in place.

Probably not, but we were marked down for youth development in the last round of licences and have used this season to put that right. This is something we couldn’t have done had we not won the NRC and why we have a very different squad than we otherwise would have had as a result.

To a certain extent you’re right, and this probably explains the drop in attendances this season. What we’d all like to see is SL. The club is going about things the right way and giving the RFL very little wiggle-room this time around.

We’ll make the play-offs and the season ain’t over yet. Let’s just wait and see what the rest of the season holds.

This is all Ben Blacks fault. I've never know one incident to change the fate of an entire club

Bloody butter-fingers

(not a sly dig at anyone's club btw, just find it funny)

Cant see what Widnes offer that Fax dont, why's everyone bleating on about them on here and Sky, it's only cos they spat their dummy out when declined the last round of franchising and kicked up a big fuss.

They feel they have a god given right to get in this time round, why, I for one can't see what makes them red hot to go up.

No-one thinks we have “a God given right” to SL. But we can rightly say that we are likely to have the best all-round bid.

If you don't agree with that, then please tell me who else from the Championship would be likely to put in a better bid and claim that guarranteed licence for Championship club?


Finance/Sponsors
Infrastructure
Stadium
Youth development
Attendances
Backers

Widnes are rightly so the stand out bid and are likely to get the nod but you never know with the RFL. It wouldnt surprise me if the fools put Toulouse in!

I totally agree.

No Widnes fan is stupid enough to ignore what’s happened in the past. We just don’t think it has anything to do with thinking that we have a [i“God given right”[/i to SL.