Kieron Purtill heaped praise on Anthony Gelling after the centre made his mark with a superb display in Widnes’ victory over Halifax.
The charismatic Cook Islander scored twice and set up several others as Widnes set their stall out with an impressive 40-16 win over Fax.
Gelling was the star of the show and received a standing ovation when he was subbed just before the end, before watching the closing stages of the game in the stands with a young supporter.
Purtill was pleased with his performance, saying: “He’s had a couple of weeks settling in now, Ince has certainly benefitted from having him inside of him.
“We need to keep him on the field and use him. It was a good little gesture coming off the field, just sitting in the crowd with the fans. He’s a character and we need to build on that as a club because he’s going to be a fantastic player for us.
“We were fantastic today, I thought the players were superb and the fans who turned up were brilliant.
“To get that win and off to a flying start was exceptional.
“We scored some really good tries, we defended really well in parts of the game and are kicking game was outstanding. To get the win, I’m over the moon, and sets us off on the right foot.”
