Widnes playmaker Kevin Brown has been cleared to play in the Challenge Cup semi-final against Castleford a week on Sunday after shrugging off a knee injury.
The 29-year-old was hit late by St Helens’ Sia Soliola in last week’s match and was taken off as a precaution.
Fortunately for Vikings fans there seems to be no lasting damage and the playmaker could even be in the picture to face Hull KR on Sunday in the match that could decide the top eight.
Even so, coach Denis Betts was furious with Soliola. He said: “It was just the initial shock of the hit and he couldn’t shake it off. We brought him off to assess him and I didn’t see a point of bringing him back on.
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“He’s relaxed and the ball is well away from him. It’s foul play, you can’t do that to somebody without the ball.
“It was a whack but it was strange because Soliola got his hands up and he shoves Kev in the back when he’s facing the other way, which gives him a bit of whiplash. He shoved him into an onrushing player and they clashed knees, bone on bone. In essence, is it dirty? No. But is it dangerous? Very, and he was stood near the referee so it just isn’t in the spirit of the game to shove someone in the back – and it was very, very late. I was hoping that Soliola would get a warning because of all the things about head injury issues.
“When you watch it and you see the whiplash it causes to Kevin, that’s what causes the most damage to the neck and the shoulder.”
