Owens leaves Widnes

Correspondent

Widnes Vikings have confirmed that outside back Jack Owens has been released from his contract with the club.

Vikings coach Denis Betts believes that he has other players in his squad who are ahead of Owens in terms of the team’s options at winger and full-back.

“Having looked at the balance of our squad we felt that Pat Ah Van, Paddy Flynn, Stefan Marsh, Rhys Hanbury and Corey Thompson were ahead of Jack in terms of our back three options,” said Betts.

“In addition in a salary cap managed sport we are tasked with making difficult decisions to facilitate improvement.

“We have already invested heavily in securing the signings of Setaimata Sa, Chris Bridge, Corey Thompson and Charly Runciman. In addition there are a number of contractual upgrades within the existing group of players which further increases the financial investment by the club into the playing group.

“In order to manage these costs within the constraints of the salary cap it is necessary to make difficult decisions such as this.  We therefore agreed to an early release for Jack to allow him to pursue more regular playing opportunities.

“On behalf of everyone at the club I would like to thank Jack for his contribution to Widnes Vikings and wish him the best of luck in his future career.”