Tony,

Looking at the run ins I actually quite fancy Batley and Toulouse to push on and maybe pass you..

Toulouse have a nasty run-in of Barrow, Widnes, Leigh, Fax. There game with you is HUGE and I wouldn't bet against them turning you over again....

You have Toulouse, Sheff, Barrow, Keighley. You'll stuff Keighley but the other 3 are definitely loseable for the current Widnes form...

Batley have Keighley, Fev, Us, Haven. You'd fancy Batley to win at least 2 of those...

The bonus point given up tonight could end up being a terrible terrible decision by someone... Why wasn't the two-pointer called for??

It just shows what a farce franchising is. I don't feel any malice towards Widnes if given a nod but what a complete farce if they are. A team that has only won a minor trophy in the past 2 years and will probably finish outside the play offs this year given the nod.

The fact that they can't even compete in this league is proof they would have to buy 15-20 players for SL which is not viable.. But who are we to argue..

Looking at the run in i dont fancy our chances either, For me the club should look to blood some of out 18's now and get them some first team experience. Craven had another very good game at fullback for instance and if Tom Kelly can cut out the daft penalties he is a keeper.

Cassidy Called for the two pointer but Smith ignored him and went for the 4, a bloody stupid error from a very experienced player. Its something of the story of our season.

But we can beat anyone on our day, as can most teams in this division. So i wont give up yet.

The RFL are not looking for another team in the north of England mate, as much as I would like to believe it.

I do believe it would be a disgrace, but not on Widnes's part. As you say, you have done a lot right off the field. In my opinion, it would be a disgrace if a team that has not won the league or even finished in the top three for the last two years be given a franchise. The RFL would be committing the disgraceful act, not Widnes. Halifax are not going to get a franchise, we all know that. However Widnes, IMO, on the pitch are in a much worse position than last time around and I think we both agree that its all that should matter.

BTW, if you want to talk about successful youth teams who beat Widnes two years in a row in the U-21s final?

If Craven was the tiny little lad who looked about 12 I completely agree with you. I thought he was outstanding tonight. Am I right in thinking it was him that took big Frank down in front of the posts? If so he kept you in it at times tonight.

Bad bad mistake by a normally quality player then especially if Cassidy called for the two... Could literally make or break the season at the end its going to be that tight..

No.

But lets get realistic.

Franchising has led to reduced crowds for practically all clubs. Not just for clubs who have franchises but even for Widnes.

Weekend before last Mr Lewis was crowing about record NON RELAGATION crowds for that particular weekend. Infact the highest crowds since Superleague was introduced. For the same fixtures before franchising those same fixtures where 20% down.

Last weekend we had lowest NON RELAGATION crowds EVER. Mr Lewis never mentioned that. Never mind them being the lowest Superleague crowds since it was introduced.

How does British Lawn Tennis manage without him ?

This is the guy who introduced Magic Weekend ignoring the ruinous costs and its' failure.

He is paid £209 000 a year.

Not realy. Dont forget its hard to make your bigger clubs successful since the cap was reduced, thats why this season has been so close. So with Widnes Running Multiple Full squads they are having to make their now smaller salary cap stretch further than a team Like Batley does since Batley only run a 1st team.

And i say again, any club going up into SL would need 15-20 players, so none of us are viable if thats the yard stick.

I agree, I posted the Widnes attendances from our promotion season on the TIW forums a few weeks back, our crowds have plummeted. Our home game against Leigh pulled in over 6.5K if i remember rightly, No promotions, just fans paying to watch exciting Rugby. There were nearly 5K on for the return match at Leigh. And we only had one crowd of less than 3K that season.

The current state of this league is a joke on anything other than the pitch.

Maverick: Yes craven was the lad playing fullback, Can kick, has good support play, hes fast and has a safe pair of hands. If he fills out a bit he will be a quality player for years to come. And smith made a Howler of a decision tonight. Could cost us dearly.

I want the Ch and Ch1 re- merging. These two small y leagues are killing our clubs. When we had one large division we had larger crowds, More local rivalries and more games. Everything we need outside of SL.

You are right Mr Clever Clogs, but it does make the result tonight that bit sweeter, yet another double over the darlings of Sky. Nice.
Enjoy SL when you go there, without your money man you are just like the rest of us matey really. Struggling on.

If Widnes Go to SL i will spend any spare weekends Following Oldham in the championship ( thats who won the process of elimination, Leigh went first :p )

Tonight was a good result for you, and you deserved the win. No arguments from me. Im not boasting, i just dont understand where this Hate of Widnes comes from. We didnt make the rules, but we have to try abide by them and hit the targets the RFL set out for us. However wrong they may be.