I think the main area we've gone wrong is recruitment. I think by failing to sign a few experienced players/leaders is where we've gone wrong. Who can the youngsters look upto on the field now that Webster has moved on and Smith is still out for a number of weeks? Okay, we have players like Gannon and Doran and I suppose we now include Allen in that bracket, but it's as if the team are lacking a clear leader, someone to provide an authoratative voice on the pitch and to keep the players heads up when things aren't going as well. I think the system used at Wigan where they have 5 captains is something we could look at.

Try TKL , he's experienced





Ah , I've just spotted a flaw in this cunning plan

Thackeray is a leader but would you class him as experienced.

Another one of your predictions VM ?









Lets face it, your going to SL. Why would SOC waste his money?

Snowy even if he has got the nod from the RFL i still want my club to be playing for honours.Fans will not go to watch no effort, and they want a winning team.We need to be competitive and why does Cullen drop Ford when he is a centre.Players like Mullaley play well for the reserves, but he wants to play Heckenberg who is a fat and lazy.

Not saying this just because I'm a Leigh fan but i don't think he'd leave Leigh unless it was for a decent-ish Super League team.

Completely agree, and thats the risk.



Widnes wil be in this division next year too, and it wil be embarrassing to only have a NRC victory to your name for the franchise.



Your crowds are dwindling too, but you still get the nod over FOUR SL teams in my honest opinion.



To be honest, Leigh are in better shape than 2 SL teams, but we have no chance.



If you fail to reach top 6 this year, it wil be really interesting to see what happens during the off season !

"getting the nod from the RFL" holds about as much water as still saying"Gordon Brown was a prudent Chancellor".



Its amazing how things can change in a short period of time.Widnes still favourites to go into SL but nothing would surprise me with the RFL.



Also Widnes fans if things don't change will have a couple of poor seasons to put up with and will almost certainly initially lose many more games than they win in SL, no one likes watching their team lose consistantly no matter what league you are in.

..and therein lies the problem of the franchise system, the box is ticked, finishing top is of no benefit really so why waste your money. We all want to be the best on the field, but that is no longer necessary and the money men will cut back once they have done what they need to.

Thats true, Imagine if Ben Black hadn't dropped the ball with the line begging and nobody near him in the Semi. Widnes wouldn't even be able to apply yet





Beside the point though, he did drop it and unless you really balls it up you should be in SL soon.

You would have seen a completely different Widnes team this year if that hadn't have happened. They'd be walking this league right now. So, blame Ben Black for ushering in a mediocre season for Widnes. He's our "double-agent" because we're never going to get a licence anyway

I disagree. Surely with their turnover they will be spending close to the to the cap this year anyway won't they? Recruitment has been poor at Widnes for the past 3years IMO. SOC must be pulling what ever hair he has left out.