Widnes head to Wigan on Thursday night aiming to end a 13-year hoodoo at the DW Stadium, with their last win at the ground coming midway through the 2003 season.
If the Vikings do win tonight they’ll be the first Super League side to win there in almost two years, and in doing so, they’ll cement their position at the top of the table in the process.
Here’s a look at some of the Widnes team from that night, and a look forward at what they’re doing nowadays in Where Are They Now?
Wing: Dan Potter – Potter played professionally for the likes of Widnes, London and York, but when his career in Rugby League ended, he moved into snooker – appropriate, given his name! He recently won a tournament in York, too!
Centre: Jason Demetriou – Would go on and play in Super League for Wakefield, before finishing his career as a player and moving into coaching with Keighley. Returned to Australia and was part of the North Queensland backroom staff who won the NRL last year before moving to St George at the start of this year.
Wing: Paul Devlin – Devlin played both rugby codes throughout his career, playing union for the likes of Sale and Munster as well as league for Widnes, and in recent years he had moved into conditioning, working with Hull FC. Nowadays however, he’s in the NRL with Parramatta!
Scrum-half: Ryan Sheridan – Sheridan would end his career at Castleford the following season, retiring in 2004. He went on to coach with Daryl Powell at Featherstone before moving with him to the Tigers, where he is still part of their backroom staff today.
Prop: Robert Relf – Former Canterbury forward Relf joined Widnes at the latter part of his career, playing his final years as a professional with the Vikings. He subsequently coached in Australia.
Second row: Andy Hay – Hay ended his playing career at the Vikings, before taking on assistant coaching roles at the likes of Hull and Castleford. He was most recently coach of Championship side Featherstone, until he left midway through last season.
Loose-forward: Deon Bird – Bird finished his career in Super League with Castleford after playing for the Vikings – and judging by his profile on LinkedIn, he’s now doing something completely different! He’s now a “Momentim Facilitator at the Institute of Urban Indigenous Health” – interesting!
The Widnes team that night: Paul Atcheson; Dan Potter, Jason Demetriou, Adam Hughes, Paul Devlin; Jules O’Neill, Ryan Sheridan; Robert Relf, Shane Millard, Julian O’Neill, Andy Hay, Daniel Frame, Deon Bird. Subs: Phil Cantillon, Simon Finnigan, Steve McCurrie, Anthony Farrell.
