Betts never lost belief in Widnes
Denis Betts says he never lost belief that Widnes could lift themselves off the bottom of the Super League table.
Back-to-back victories over Leeds and Catalan have moved the Vikings above Leigh in the standings and Betts insists he always had faith that once the club’s injury crisis eased they would climb out of trouble.
“We didn’t feel like we were a bottom table side anyway, we were waiting for the right people to get back in positions,” he told the club’s official website.
“We’ve got people on the field doing their jobs the right way and we’re starting to see a little bit of what we can do. There’s still a lot of rugby to be played, so there’s a lot to go.”
Widnes will look to continue their upturn in form when they visit St Helens on Friday.
The Vikings won 16-14 when the teams met back in April, but Saints have also improved recently following the appointment of Justin Holbrook as their new head coach.
“Betts added: “They were struggling with some injuries at that time and they’ve got a couple of players back now.
“(Mark) Percival is playing well and I think Tommy Makinson rightly deserves that call-up to the England squad as well – he’s been outstanding in this last month or so.
“I think Justin coming in has given them a bit of a boost. He’s simplified things a little bit and just played to their strengths.”
Although Widnes were successful the last time the two teams met, their record against Saints hasn’t been the best in recent times.
That victory was the Vikings’ sole victory in their last eight meetings and Betts admits he’s desperate to show they can compete with their local rivals.
“There’s very few sides that have had comfortable games against us over the years,” said Betts. “If you look at our win/loss we’ve not been great, but I think we’ve been competitive overall with the likes of Wigan, Leeds, Cas, St Helens and Warrington.
“We’re seen as the poorer cousin in these local derbies, so we want to put a statement out there that we’re in this for the fight and we’re going to be punching away as long as we can.”