The Qualifiers is a fortnight old, but it is becoming increasingly clear that Widnes Vikings’ seven-year sojourn in Super League may well be approaching its end.
There are five games left for the before next season’s final four top-flight places are determined, but now on a run of 15 consecutive defeats, it is difficult to envisage how they will win one game, let alone the four or five needed to secure a top-three finish.
The complaint levied against the Super 8s format – which will almost certainly end this year if the new Super League chief executive, Robert Elstone, gets his way – is that no matter how bad you are in 23 regular-season games, there is a chance for redemption.
Widnes took advantage of that last season when, after finishing bottom with five wins, they survived in the Qualifiers with a game to spare. Having won three games this season, their latest display emphasised the remote likelihood of that happening again. Two losses – they opened the campaign with a one-point loss at home to London – from two games means the Million Pound Game may well be Widnes’s best chance of escape.
Even so, their coach remained defiant. “It’s not dead and buried. It’s a seven-game competition and there’s another game in two weeks. Hopefully everyone will be fit for the next game in two weeks,” said Francis Cummins, who remains without a win since taking charge midway through this season.
Cummins was concerned about an nasty-looking injury to his full-back Olly Ashall-Bott with the incident placed on report by Ben Thaler. “It’s not looking good for him. I didn’t get a good look at it but I wasn’t happy about it.”
What will frustrate him most, you suspect, is how his side are the masters of their own downfall.
Just as a poor start leaves you in grave danger of relegation, a strong one alleviates the pressures almost instantly. That is the situation Salford find themselves in. After victory at Hull KR in the opening round, they now have two wins out of two; they probably need to win three of their final five to retain their place in Super League.
Salford’s destiny may well depend on the form of their flamboyant half-back pairing – and they certainly show signs of encouragement when they click. Robert Lui has been a beacon of hope for the Red Devils all season but the arrival of the Australian Jackson Hastings has coincided with an upturn in form. “We were missing a piece of the puzzle this year and Jackson has come in and provided us with that,” said Salford’s coach, Ian Watson.
Hastings and Lui each provided an assist for the centre Junior Sa’u, which contributed to their 12-6 half-time lead, the hosts asserting their dominance after Widnes had broken the deadlock through Charly Runciman.
The manner in which Widnes fell apart after half-time will do little to give hope to their supporters. After Lui burrowed over from close range, the Vikings comprehensively collapsed. Lui put the result beyond any doubt with 20 minutes remaining when he assisted Niall Evalds for another magnificent try from the hosts.
But Lui’s partner in crime was not done. Hastings seized the opportunity to compound Widnes’s misery when he broke free before turning the ball on for Mark Flanagan.
On this showing, Salford fans need not worry too much. Widnes, on the other hand, may be wise to start preparing for life in the Championship.
