www.widnesvikings.co.uk/article.php?id=2491

www.widnesvikings.co.uk/article.php?id=2491

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wrong choice getting rid of smithy.

jon clarke was seen at stadium today so maybe smithys replacement?

While im tottally gutted about Smithy we must place trust in the club on this one. Terry O'connor said they would be building a squad around players who they think could step up to Super League. Lets just wait and see who is set to come in.


As for Smithy i have nothing but admiration for him and he's been excellent over the years. Good luck mate wherever you go and i look forward to giving you a huge warm welcome when/if you return.


Many thanks to Lee Doran also for this year.

Yacca was a no brainer as was strong.

What you going to do , now your girlfriends gone ?

VM... I understand what you are saying and they could bring in whoever the Autralian Test Hooker is at present. I would still be unhappy at this decision.
Mark has given us a good 6 years during some of our toughest times and I would have liked for his trust to have been repaid a little by some loyalty. We as fans often call for loyalty from our players but the clubs very rarely repay this the other way.
He is not the player he was when he first joined... he is no longer the best hooker in the division. I think from a playing point of view he could be replaced without too much trouble but he is something of a talisman at the club and he has still behaved and acted in a manner befitting a captain despite having the title removed from him.

This is a bad move by Cullen. I am not happy one bit about this.
He will now undoubtedly end up at Leigh which is a shame for Mark..

, Quite probably

I reckon you'll be getting Penky from Fax

STFU Bugman, you disrespect Toa and now your showing a lack of understanding on this thread. Lobby Gobblers ared not welcome in this sad time for the club.

I understand mate, i think the main problem is/was that Smithy is a very high earner at the club and you have to balance the books on a £300,000 salary cap. Cullen obviously has his own ideas and we must trust him in his decisions.

This has also been a collective decision between the coaches. This also destroys any hope of us progressing in the play offs.

I think the leadership problem will be addressed next year to with the arrival of a familiar face with vast SL experience.

In the coaching sense I am losing faith with Paul. I was adamantly behind him when had his detractors earlier on in the season but this has really annoyed me. I'd say 98% of fans would have been behind renewing Smithy's contract. The fans have been ignored.

See you at the LSV 2 week on friday

And i would have been one of the 98% ill wait and see what happens over the next month though. Plans are moving in the background and we'll have a 100 times better squad than this year. Culls had a tough year and we cant forget that, Smithy will never be forgotten and i hope he doesnt sign for Leigh as that would be awful.

For him it would be.

As for Cullen. I appreciate he has had the worst year possible in his personal life. I can't tell you how sorry I am for him for that. I was really quite upset when I heard the news which felt strange not knowing the guy. I was quite choked when he walked past us up at Bately in the NR Cup. No-one expected him to be at that game but he was and a lot more then than w would have ever guessed.

However back to club matters and this decision was taken some time ago by him and I think for all the wrong reasons.....

Just

Bollocks to this. Getting rid of Smithy is the wrong thing to do! At this stage in the season we always let go of players and it's usually heartbreaking but this one is not right.

Oh dear, oh dear!




Doran & Smithy! WTF?

Lee Doran has just been picked for the Championship 'Drean Team'.

What a ringing endorsement that is!! I think you have answered the club's decision.

Just as our 2nd rower Richard Fletcher did last year and was shipped out. Gutted for Lee and Mark, Id have kept both without question

As much as the club are looking ahead into a couple years time etc, this is totally the wrong move. I don't know what Smith wanted, nor does any body else, but he loves this club and i highly douby he would have made his demands very unreasonable. Should have been offered another contract. Look when Hull KR took Fisher up into SL, he didn't do too badly and i dont think he was a far better player than Smith himself.
Can understand about strong and Yates though, bit puzzled about the Doran release considering he's just made it into the team of the year.

Look at it from a fans perspective, we still have at least another year left in this competition and we could be losing 3 of our best players, Thacks, Smith and Doran. 2 of them are certains.

How many years ago are we looking at when Smithy was genuinely competing as the best hooker in this division ? Probably four or five when he was up against the likes of Ben Fisher as you have said and Andy Henderson.

If he would have got his crack at SL then I would have agreed with you and said he could have made a similar impact as Fisher had when he originally moved up.

Unfortunately for him though his form whichever way you look at it has gone horribly backwards. He just doesnt cause the problems that he once did in attack when running at defences. From being one of the best in the division he has probably slipped well down that list now and his role in the side is probably one of experience more than anything now.

I dont think Nev and Coyle are going to be the best in this division either but to be fair they do have time on their side and I dont think either will be up there as one of the highest paid players at the club and in all liklihood the division when you add up Smithy's probable contract and community work.

He has given the club some great service over the last few years particularly staying throughout the relegation and administartion era's of the club. Unfortunately for him the coaching staff have made their decision and we await any new arrivals and hopefully blooding more youngsters for next year.

I can understand the Doran move. Realistically he has no ambitions of moving up to SL and again if I remember correctly we got into a bit of a bidding war with Leigh in trying to bring him back to the club. I bet he was on a fair salary for a part time player and with the likes of Haggerty Jnr, Tom Kelly, Grady etc.. all young and of the same position I can see the logic behind letting him go at this point in time.

Good luck to all those players leaving the club mind and I wont be surprised if we see Yacca and Strong pitch up at Rochdale with Stanky and hopefully develop themselves further.

And as everybody knew www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... idnes.html Thacks is going. Widnes will part company with the following players. Good luck aswell mate, probably end up at Hull. This year hasn't been great by any means and the standard of players hasnt been great, but the ones who have been good, seem to be leaving. Maybe theres nothing we could have done about this one though. Young lad, probably getting offered a better deal to play for his home town club, very very hard to compete with. Just gone through the team and with Smith and Doran going, Toa retiring and unsure about Gannon, the oldest player will probably be Heckenburg or Varkulis. Then Gaskell and Gardener and from there they're all early 20's. Very good signs heading into the next couple of years, just wish we could have kept onto one or two of our more experienced guys.

And as everybody knew www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... idnes.html Thacks is going. Widnes will part company with the following players. Good luck aswell mate, probably end up at Hull. This year hasn't been great by any means and the standard of players hasnt been great, but the ones who have been good, seem to be leaving. Maybe theres nothing we could have done about this one though. Young lad, probably getting offered a better deal to play for his home town club, very very hard to compete with. Just gone through the team and with Smith and Doran going, Toa retiring and unsure about Gannon, the oldest player will probably be Heckenburg or Varkulis. Then Gaskell and Gardener and from there they're all early 20's. Very good signs heading into the next couple of years, just wish we could have kept onto one or two of our more experienced guys.

Why are you all surprised? IMO SOC has already been told Widnes are in, like Leighton Samuels at CC was promised he would be in SL in three years time, so be prepared for probably a worse season than this one next season, no need to splash the cash. No doubt now just minimising his losses to date, but theres £3 million worth of SKY money due in the next 3 years, along with lots more via sponsorship and merchandising.