Widnes looking to Super League to bolster squad
Widnes coach John Kear is looking to Super League clubs to help shake up his squad after they were dumped out of the cup by Dewsbury.
Kear was livid with his side as they were defeated by the League 1 Rams to end their hopes in the Challenge Cup and the 1895 Cup.
Dewsbury ran in six tries to two to win 32-12 and set up a trip to London Broncos in the next round.
The Vikings sit fourth in the Championship having won four of their seven league games to date, and travel to Swinton on Good Friday.
Injury problems
But they were without half-back pair Danny Craven and Tom Gilmore for the defeat at Dewsbury, with Craven serving a one-match ban following his sin-binning against Toulouse.
Gilmore has been sidelined since appearing in the opening game of the season at York through injury.
Hooker Jordan Johnstone has also been limited to three appearances, the latest being the defeat to Toulouse, due to concussion.
Since the start of the year, Widnes have lost prop Josh Johnson to Bradford and Will Evans left the club without making an appearance to return to his native Australia.
Evans’ fellow centre Max Roberts suffered an injury in the pre-season game at Oldham, which has left Widnes short of options in the outside backs. Back-rower Sam Wilde started at right centre in the defeat to Dewsbury.
The absence of both Craven and Gilmore forced skipper Jack Owens in to the halves alongside Joe Lyons, with Matt Fleming deputising at full-back, forcing Wilde’s shift in to the backs.
Kear said: “I thought with the ball we looked a little bit clueless on their line and it’s just been a really poor performance.
“I need to have a good look at the half-back (situation), we haven’t had Tom Gilmore all season so it’s been a struggle there. We’ve got to re-energise because the last two performances have been flat and we’ve lacked energy and enthusiasm and teams have outworked us.
“I’ll be ringing around Super League coaches to see if anybody’s available for loan deals, and I’ll be changing some of the players for Friday, because that’s just unacceptable.
“I don’t know if there will be any players available due to the Easter period, but there’ll certainly be an ask because we’ve got to do something to re-energise this group.”
One possible candidate ruled out
A possible move for Huddersfield forward Nathan Mason is unlikely to come to fruition, with a Super League side, believed to be Wakefield, having come in to take him on loan.
Mason was made available by Giants head coach Ian Watson last week.
Watson confirmed following their win over Salford: “There’s one club in Super League that want to take him which is where we want him to play.
“There were a couple of Championship clubs that put their hand up at the top end but we didn’t want him to go to the Championship.”
Wakefield coach Mark Applegarth hinted after their defeat to St Helens on Friday that he was hoping to add a body to his squad ahead of their derby clash with Castleford.
Trinity already have the services of Huddersfield forward Sam Hewitt on a week-to-week basis, though he was unavailable at the weekend through suspension.