You're completely misunderstanding me but never mind.

You obviously didn't read back, I've never once stated that I wanted nor had the ability to ever make it is a rugby player which is what you seem to be suggesting from the 'who are you?' part. Guess what this is a forum and do you know what people do on forums? They post their opinions.

Hulmey has made some mistakes a fullack but its not his natural position and despite this at times hes been devestating. He's only 20 and from what i heard he is gutted about the decision. I've heard rumours Varks wasn't even approached with a contract which he was disappointed about. 2 very good players and yet another decision which has shocked the majority of fans.

Apparently there are no marquee signings lined up and we have the majority of the salary cap left imo with only 8/9 players left to sign. I think a lot of explaining is to be done by the club to the fans who signed up for the VStronghold. An article the other week stated we were planning on spending around £1.5m, i can see us going no where near it.

We have retained some good players and we have Craven and Owens coming through, however Hulmey is the young player of the year and Varks was 3rd player of the year and we release them and retain the likes of Allen and Coyle who i really don't rate. I don't care what peoples opinions are on that, they have been ok this year but nothing shouts out to get them a SL contract.

Yes a opinion and Craven is a good one.

Fair enough, why didn't you just say that in the first place instead of being confrontational for no apparent reason. What you would have found if you did was I would have said okay, it's over a year since I played against him, he may have developed more and you have much more of a chance to see this than I do.

In fairness Viva bar his undoubted commitment and work ethic would about Varkulis shouts out give him a SL deal?

Its a joke it really is. Opportunity lost at the end of the day, bring on Sep 1st.

This is what I've been hearing. Unfortunately, it does appear to be true. Recruitment has been poor at the club for years now, and I have very little faith in the current system and those in charge of it.

Widnes to announce Lee Doran, Jules Oneil, Troy Wozniack and Jamie Durbin on 4 year deals.

That wouldn't surprise me. Like Pepe says, the recruitment system is pants. Surely a club like Widnes with a good stadium and fan base would be able to attract players of a high calibre. Anyone thinking we are signing marquee signings are mistaken.

To have 60/70% of your SL contracted payers in place and only really having Briscoe down as someone who an excel in SL worries me a lot. Ah Van and Chris Dean? I wouldnt let Ah Van carry the kicking cone on incase he dropped it.

Something has to be done to excite fans and get them interested, otherwise and this is how it is, we won't get anywhere near the 7000 mark.

That's a no answer then?

You actually being serious to the question what does he offer that shouts for him to have a SL contract?

Varkulis, yes!
P.s. I'd have took him but all he does is run hard and straight so although very useful doesn't scream out SL player as you mentioned.

What the hell do you want a Prop to do? Cart wheels?

Your not quite getting what I'm saying... If he was a stand out for SL yes you'd want maybe a good set of hands, few offloads? Line breaks, dominating in attack and defence (which in fairness at times he does). Have said plenty of times I would have took him up but he will give you a solid job and nothing more, Pickersgill can also do all that but is about 5 years younger too. Varks is unlucky but we must have others lined up. Take Ben Davies as example too, will work hard for you all day but also has good footwork which will stand him well as a SL player.

I posted a topic in the week and ill say it again until the club make some major signings and Big signings weve only got 3yrs to be up and running in super league it could be a disaster alot of our super league signings now cant cope at national league level and recent signings struggle to tackle at super league level and thats the basic skill of this sport, Think Noble would have been the coach for me , he has the respect of players in super league and would have attracted past players , Dont think Betts can do that .

I hear you have signed Bob Beswick as well which does suprise me as i always thought he was a decent player at this level but not good enough to make the step up. Its a pity Penky isnt a couple of years younger because he would have been a much better signing for you i feel.

Put it this way, out of the forwards we have taken, bar Kav, who has really stood out? Allen hasn't, Coyle has had a few good games but is way off the mark for SL. I'm not even sure on Kurt Haggerty but he's young so he has that in his favour. Varks has been up there in our top two forwards this year. Varkulus has turned into a bulldozing machine, he hurts people when he runs into tackles. He runs into every tackle at 200 mph. Props are props, you give them a ball and they run fast, straight and hard. No-one does that better than Richard and i don't see what your trying to get at. He easily deserves a SL contract, nearly every fan i have spoke to has been saying it for the last 3 months.

I can almost understand the Varkulis decision (although I don't agree with it), but releasing Hulme is a shocker for me. How many of our other players would have scored some of those tries or made those breaks - pretty much none of them. Unless there are other reasons (ie, his personal circumstances made FT rugby impossible) then I think Betts/Cullen have got this one badly wrong. I think fans deserve an explanation around why one of our most exciting players this year has been released.

I think this latest decision just shows how badly run Widnes is. I presume its down to Cullen and the sooner we see the back of him the better.
Lets be honest we've been poor all season and we stick with the same coach to take us into SL.
We sign players who quite honestly are not good enough for Championship never mind SL and release players with potential.
Would love to know SOC views on all of this.

I reckon Danny has been released at his own request.

Either he doesn't want to play full time RL or another club has made him an offer.

We are all banging on about what a good player he is, IMO the most exciting player to put on a Widnes shirt this season, do you not think other SL clubs have been looking at him?

I do & wouldn't be suprised to see him announced for Wire very soon, where he will join his cousin.

Just an alternative view to the idea that our club would be daft enough to let him go!

Apparently those that know him reckon he's absolutely gutted and those with access to his facebook page say he's posted how disappointed he is.

Didn't know this Chris, as others say then he may come back to haunt us as no doubt certain Mr Myler will next year (I know we didn't release him administration did).

If this is the case I can't understand the clubs decision TBH?

Danny could be a star in a top class side & coached well, I have no doubts he will get a club even if not in SL. His potential is there for all to see.

i'd hazard quite a lot of props in SL do it better than him, and probably have more to their game than he does.

Its one thing doing it at championship.

What the hell is he doing playing prop anyway? he was a centre/winger for us back in 04.

Varks is a big unit nowadays. He's been a revelation in the front row but still has the versatility and pace to play in the back row and the three quarters.

IMO he would have been an asset in SL due to his performances and versatility.

As I see it there are three different style of prop in the modern game...

The bulldozing battering ram that just runs headlong into the challenge and tries to make as many yards as he possibly can dragging as many of the opposition with him as is possible. Objective, make yards and break the line.
Then there is the prop that tries to make offloads, hit the line less heavily and try to spin in the tackle keeping his arms free to offload the ball to the waiting support player. Objective, draw in defenders and release the ball.
Finally there is the prop with the good footwork, who runs at the line quickly but might evade one or two challenges by shifting his feet. Objective, gain yards and break the line.

To a certain extent most guys try all of the three styles but might excel at one or two. Kav for example has good footwork and isn't afraid to hit the line hard, but I'm not sure he makes that many offloads. Gannon on the other hand and Julian F O'Neil were all about the spin.
Not for a minute do I think Varks should have been excluded from next years squad.

Chris, you forgot about the 4th type of prop. The house, 3rd man in, cheapshot Bailey type who causes a ruck and then runs off when a big man confronts him.

HTH

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