[Winslade's Offload]

U19's v Widnes : Tue Feb 24, 2015 11:36 am  

So, the next match for the U19's is away to Widnes and I am sure there will be plenty on here relishing the thought of the trip. Apparently the first factory in Widnes was built in 1847 to make sodium carbonate and after that, well, they never looked back with more factories for soap, borax, salt cake, bleaching powder, iron and copper. By 1961 it was described as "the dirtiest, ugliest and most depressing town in England" (Diggle, Daily News). Obviously that has changed completely in the intervening years with many tourist hotels springing up, and the towns renaissance was completed with the building of the new RL stadium in 2005.
The match kicks off at 6.30pm on Friday and I bet the groundsman is already busily cutting the grass and spiking it in preparation for the game. Since Widnes returned to SL in 2012 they have lost all their matches to our U20's and U19's, however this year Widnes have already thrashed Bradford Bulls by 44-12 so this could be a much tighter affair.

Interesting trivia;
Paul Simon of Simon and Garfunkel wrote Homeward Bound at Widnes railway station.

Re: U19's v Widnes : Tue Feb 24, 2015 11:54 am  

Widnes actually have a fair side at the minute, probably the strongest they have had. Not sure if Warrington will make any changes after not really being in the game against Wigan but we shall see.

[Winslade's Offload]

Re: U19's v Widnes : Tue Feb 24, 2015 12:12 pm  

Well we know King will be out, so I am hoping to see Richard Harris in the line up. Perhaps George Moore will get a spot on the bench.

I wonder if Danny Norman (ex Wire U16 2014) will be in the Widnes team ?

Re: U19's v Widnes : Tue Feb 24, 2015 5:16 pm  

Well you never know, he is fit again but the team didn't play with a hooker on the bench in the first two games. Last time he played was way back in August for the England v Wales fixture.

There are quite a few who can play centre so it should be covered but missing King and Wilde does mean a bit of enforced shuffling of personnel.

Re: U19's v Widnes : Tue Feb 24, 2015 5:22 pm  

Winslade's Offload wrote:

Interesting trivia;
Paul Simon of Simon and Garfunkel wrote Homeward Bound at Widnes railway station.

.....whilst Art Garfunkel had the sense to stay a home in the first pace.

Re: U19's v Widnes : Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:18 pm  

The kick off has been changed to 7.30pm now on Friday

Re: U19's v Widnes : Fri Feb 27, 2015 3:34 pm  

Wigan U19s only scraped past Bradford 14-10 last night, considering Widnes beat Bradford 44-12 on paper this looks like a competitive fixture.

In the other fixture last night Leeds beat the East Midlands Academy 42-0.

[Winslade's Offload]

Re: U19's v Widnes : Fri Feb 27, 2015 4:33 pm  

Trouble is, we don't know what teams they put out. Fans rightly want to see their U19's win, but as far as TS is concerned he will see player development as the top priority because he needs 2-3 SL standard players/year coming through. The U19's are only there to provide players for the first team. For Briers that will mean balancing the need for a competitive side with the exposure of players at this level. I would love to see his job description and targets.

Re: U19's v Widnes : Fri Feb 27, 2015 9:47 pm  

Widnes 32 Warrington 12

[Winslade's Offload]

Re: U19's v Widnes : Sat Feb 28, 2015 8:36 am  

So, problems for the young Wolves continue as they were comfortably beaten by Widnes last night. They were admittedly without three England players in Toby King, Harvey Livett and Sam Wilde, but Widnes looked more aggressive and enthusiastic in the encounter. Our forwards struggled to make any ground with the ball although Daniel Murray looked a class apart, both with the ball and in defence. He was supported by little Robert Holroyd ( heaviest player on Warrington's books) who made good ground and was a rock in defence. He also took a short ball 5m out from the Widnes line to crash through for one of the two tries they scored. The ocassional head on tackle around the legs a la Michael Monaghen underscored one of our limitations, which was limiting the ground made by the Widnes pack.
In the backs, Jack Johnson was very quiet at FB whilst Morgan Smith had little room to work with behind a beaten pack. He made one electrifying run 10m out to score our second try of the game, but his field kicking was disappointing with too many balls finding an opposition player.
Credit to Widnes though, their team will win more games than they lose this year. I didn't get a team sheet, so I don't know how many third years they were fielding, but they cartainly looked strong and well drilled. Players were continually running on to the ball at speed, the half backs caused problems, and their defence was tight.

I will be interested to hear anybody else's view on the game plus Dave Whalley's write up.