Talking RL: 'What really grates me about the Widnes Vikings mess'

At the end of November, when Anthony Gelling was spotted training with Catalans, Widnes Vikings issues a statement hinting they were taking legal advice over the the situation.
Anthony Gelling trained at Catalans before moving to Widnes. Picture: SWPixAnthony Gelling trained at Catalans before moving to Widnes. Picture: SWPix
Anthony Gelling trained at Catalans before moving to Widnes. Picture: SWPix

“The Vikings can confirm that Anthony Gelling is a contracted member of the playing squad,” read the statement. “The club are currently taking advice on the matter and can make no further comment at this time.”

Did Widnes know, then, that they couldn’t afford to pay him if he joined?

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Did they know, then, that within three months they would be in administration?

That some young children would be - literally - emptying their piggy-banks, donating whatever they could, to try and keep Widnes alive?

The fund-raising effort has, as we would expect, been heart-warming. People are pulling together, going above and beyond.

Will it be enough? We hope.

How will that cash be spent? Wisely, I hope - after seeing how the cash raised to keep Bradford alive was quickly swallowed up.

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And who gets to decide what money is spent is an interesting question. But bigger questions need to be asked about how Widnes ended up in this position.

And whether, three months ago, they knew it was coming - even when they were battling to retain one of their best-paid players.

We’ve had our first taste of golden point and I don’t like it.

And NOT because Wigan lost.

I’ll say now, Hull FC were deserved winners. But if the purpose of golden point, in a regular season match, was to increase entertainment and drama, then it was completely unnecessary. Because watching Gabe Hamlin pierce the line and Oliver Gildart glide over and the hooter going and Zak Hardaker line up a conversion to win it... well, it was dramatic enough.

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Indeed, if anything, knowing the match would go to golden point if Zak missed seemed to lower the stake of his goal-attempt, than had it been settled after 80 minutes.

I’m more of a Real XS-man than Radio Four, so I was grateful that Dave Woods’ excellent BBC podcast pointed in the direction of Shaun Edwards’ latest remarks about taking the Wigan role later this year.

He had previously described moving to the Warriors as ‘an option’. This week he talked about ‘when and if’ he returns home.

From the outset, his appointment created an unusual dynamic, because it meant Adrian Lam would hold the fort for a year until his arrival on a three-year deal.

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When Edwards last cast doubt over when he would arrive, I spoke to Ian Lenagan about it and he seemed calm about the situation, insisting they were in regular contact and they would all do what is best for the club.

But it's easy to see why some are taking his comments as disrespectful. His remarks are, at best, confusing. Is he taking over at the end of the year or not?

A month ago, just before the start of the new season, Adrian Lam said: "The first four weeks of the season won't define us."

While he was being asked questions about his plans for the team and a flamboyant style he wanted to introduce, he wanted to stress, too, that Wigan were on a learning curve. And that it may take time for everything to come together.

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Big picture, if you’d asked me then for my predictions for the first four games of the season, I’d have tipped two wins, two losses. Big picture, Wigan were only one conversion away from achieving that feat.

But it was the nature of their performance against Hull FC which left me so disappointed. The defence was flimsy down the middle at times, flaky on the edges.

It’s a credit to the coach and the players, I guess, that they didn’t even hint that the magnitude of the World Club Challenge was a factor. But I’ll cut them some slack and argue it may have been. That going from tackling the best team in the world, to facing a Hull FC side without a win since last June, led to some complacency creeping in.

Wigan have a great chance to address that when they head to London on Sunday, with a big point to prove... and two points wanted to get on the board.

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When I watched Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga refusing to be substituted during Sunday’s Carabao Cup Final, my first thought was to wonder if a footballer had done that before.

My second thought was: “I would pay good money to see what Shaun Wane would have done if one of his Wigan players had done that!”