A ‘Grand’ day out for White
WIDNES hooker Lloyd White has described this Saturday’s trip to play Toulouse Olympique as the club’s ‘Grand Final’.
Having lost to both London Broncos and Salford Red Devils in their opening two games of the Super League Qualifiers, the game against the French side is now close to a must-win for the Vikings.
Francis Cummins’ men currently sit second bottom of the Qualifiers table with only Championship side Halifax below them.
With no game last weekend because of the Challenge Cup final at Wembley, Widnes will have had two weeks to get ready for the Toulouse game and White is expecting the team to be well prepared.
He said: “We’ve got some time to work on a few things and put things right in training, so in that aspect it’s a positive having the week off.
“On the other hand, it’s always nice to get back on the park after a loss and come up with a reaction.
“Our only focus now is on using the week off to best prepare for the trip to Toulouse and be ready to go there and get a result.
“They have some good players in the team and they like to throw the ball about a bit.
“We need to train well to go in all guns firing because that’s our Grand Final.”
White has had two spells out with injury this season and only returned to the side in the 32-6 loss at Salford a week last Saturday.
Having come through the game at the AJ Bell Stadium with no adverse reaction, he is now fully focused on helping the Vikings climb out of the hole in which they currently find themselves in their quest retain their top flight status.
The Welsh international added: “It was really good to get back out there. It was a long 13 weeks on the sidelines and it was tough to have to sit out and watch the boys, especially during this tough period that we’re going through at the moment.
“But it was good to get the boots back on.
“It hasn’t been a great ● year for me. I had a long injury at the start of the year, then I recovered and found some form only to tear my pec, so it’s great to be back out on the park.
“If I can get back out onto the pitch and play as well as I can and everyone does their job then we will pick up the wins and build from there.”
Meanwhile, Widnes have awarded a one-year contract to 20 year-old Academy graduate Dan Norman. The forward made his first team debut at Salford back in June and has spent much of the season on dual registration with League 1 outfit North Wales Crusaders. ● 56615 KARL SILCOCK £100 ● 41325 ANDY GREENHALGH £ 100 ● 74795 MICHAEL HUGHES £100 ● 21523 JOSEPH RYAN £100 ● 41823 MR L ORME £100 ● 63142 STEPHEN OCONNOR £1,000