No decent Hookers in Widnes, so zero reason to go then other than to watch Wire play twice a season.

The offloading in nearly every tackle, regardless of field position resulted in a few tries to Widnes.

Correct. I think we gifted them almost everything but it sounds like the coaching team encourage this type of play.

What was very pleasing for me was the number of fans we took. There was literally a handful of empty seats in the East Stand where the Wire fans were. As for the game, I thought the kids did quite well, and but for a few moments of lost concentration and 3 diabolical refereeing decisions that cost us tries, we could have won this game comfortably. Stand out performances for me were Gaz O'Brian, Rhys Evans and Glen Riley. One worrying point, which I can't find no mention of in any report is concerning Matty Russell. Virtually right from the kick off he was stretching and feeling his back as though he had a problem, and he definitely didn't play to his capabilities before he was taken off. All in all though, good performance by the young 'uns.

A deserved win for Warrington, some good youngsters on both sides and Matty Russell is a huge coup for you guys. I also thought Gareth Obrien controlled things for Warrington pretty well and shouldn't be the forgotten man, he's got plenty of ability.

I'm not clear how we intend to use O'Brien.
I've always been impressed with him but I thought Ratch would play fullback this year with GOB replacing Lee or having some games in place of Lee, then we go and buy Russell.
Looks like GOB could be cover but what he needs is game time.
I understand his loan spells and that's good for the lad but sooner or later he's got to be given the chance to breakthrough and hold down a first team place, and given Ratch and Myler seem to be first choice it does make me wonder about our long term plans for GOB.
It's clear if Ratch or Myler are injured GOB will step in.

This game looked very much like a Wire U21 team with 14 youngsters in the squad. In no particular order, I thought Russell looked sharp, and I can see him becoming a regular first team choice providing his positional play and defence holds up.
GOB was rusty. He missed 3 goal attempts, had a kick charged down, kicked one ball straight up in the air, but by the second half was in the groove and put in some very good kicks to the Widnes in goal area, plus a 40-20. Evans seemed to be pacing himself. His tackling was strong and he did his fair share of work. His one blemish was a weak missed tackle on Tickle which resulted in a try.
Penny looked quite strong in defence, particularly under the high ball. He had a couple of good runs when he got some space, and also added a try. I think he is slower than before though, even allowing for the early stage of the season.

Brad Dwyer looked good. He made a couple of breaks and put in two short kicks into the in goal area, both of which led to tries. Riley worked very hard in defence and attack, but he needs to vary his footwork / angle of attack a bit. He scored a try when Widnes left a hole in their defence the size of a block of flats.
Gene Ormsby made a few errors, one of which was an ultra poor pass when we were clear to score on the left wing. Still, it is very early in the season still. On the plus side he worked hard taking the ball forward - (he looked a bit like Benny W), and he scorched in for a real wingers try as well.
Finally, I though Tom Walker looked impressive for the short time he was on the pitch. He was unflustered, and solid in defence.

Not a bad work out for the youngsters, but the one niggling question that remained after the match, was where are they all going to play next year ?

My guess is London/Wakefield/Bradford.

Penny is still quick though. When Widnes broke away he was the reason the player was caught he's chase was unbelievabley quick. Atkins just stood there watching. There was a time when he'd be the first man to chase back

Who was it that actually caught their winger on that break?

Not sure but he came from nowhere and taught Penny how you stop a man!

I thought Ben Evans did well and with a worry over Woody to start the season I wonder whether Tony Smith will opt to keep him in the squad. After all, he's had a full SL season already with Bradford and a World Cup. Also thought James Laithwaite did well in an understated way. Must admit I lost count of who was on the pitch in the second half!

Was a decent run out and some decent tries aswell. A few daft offloads in our own half was a worry. Hope its warmer for our next game! Good turnout aswell. Didn't get in the ground till late so I ended up on the front row.

Widnes are a pain in the backside with that stand, every year they seem to do something daft, even when they were in the Championship it was a nightmare when Leigh played there. Yesterday they didn't open the end block of seats until five minutes to kick off, despite the gridlock on the stairwells. Madness!

Who was number 30 who came on & played hooker for part of the second half ,was it Ackerly? He put some good darts in from dummy half.
I do wonder if G O'B is going to be the quiet man of rugby league & over the next couple of years will come out of the shadows & turn out to be the next best thing on a rugby pitch. He does seem to have a composure about him & gets some good passes out & with a bit of tuition from the maestro could become an excellent positional kicker. I should imagine he will be starting the season while Ratchford is injured & might get a good few weeks in as first choice scrum half & hopefully develop a partnership with Myler.