WIDNES VIKINGS coach Allan Coleman says the postponement of a planned pre-season match against North Wales Crusaders has made this Friday’s trip to old rivals Warrington even more significant.
The derby between the sides, who are six-and-a-half miles apart, has always had fan appeal.
And call-offs for both – as well as the Vikings-Crusaders clash, which was scheduled for last Friday, the big freeze also put paid to Warrington’s planned trip to Halifax yesterday (Sunday, January 12) – have led Coleman to believe the meeting will be more intense still.
“Losing a trial game is never great because as a coach, you plan it into your pre-season schedule,” he explained.
“While I don’t think a rearrangement is workable, I’ve spoken to (Crusaders) coach Carl Forster about the possibility of fixing up an opposed training session between our teams.
“It would be better than nothing, but it’s not a match in the formal sense, and in our case, we have only the Warrington game before going into our first competitive match against Rochdale (away in the second round of the Challenge Cup on Sunday, January 26).
“That’s a tie we must be ready for, so we have to make the most of this Friday’s game, and I know Warrington see it as an important part of their build-up.”
Widnes will again be dual-registered with the Wolves this year, and Coleman says both that link-up and the possibility of bringing in loan players from Leigh could be important as he chases another play-off appearance.
“As it stands, we have 25 players of our own, and I am happy with what I’ve got to work with,” he explained.
“But we have to keep players fit, and that’s never a given, so it could be that we need to use the Warrington partnership, which worked well for both of us last year.
“We also have a good relationship with Leigh, and that could come in useful.”
