Duffy still has grand ambition

Aug 7 2008 by Dave Bettley, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

VIKINGS half-back John Duffy remains optimistic Widnes can crown their season with against-the-odds Grand Final success.

Beaten finalists in the last two seasons, the club will find just making the play-offs all the tougher after Sunday’s defeat at Leigh Centurions.

However, with three games left, Scottish international Duffy stressed aspirations remain high and the team is determined to round off the home league campaign with a good performance.

The weekend result denied Vikings promotion into the top six yet a play-off spot is still within reach.

The remaining games are all against teams just above or below them in the table – starting with Featherstone Rovers at Stobart Stadium Halton this Sunday.

Duffy said: “I think with our squad and the players we’ve got, we can go all the way if we are mentally tough about things from now on in.

“Obviously everybody was gutted on Sunday but we made the mistakes ourselves and are going to have to rectify them in training.

“We will look at the video to see where we went wrong and try to get it right.

“It is our last home game and we’ve got to go out with a bang because our fans have been fantastic.

“They have stood by us all the way through and I couldn’t believe how many we had at Leigh. They were absolutely amazing.

“We lost against Featherstone away from home and, to be honest, owe them one with the way we got beaten up there.”

A good victory on Sunday would set up Steve McCormack’s team for the last two games at Sheffield Eagles and Whitehaven.

Assistant head coach John Stankevitch said: “I wouldn’t say Sunday is a must-win game but it’s one in which we want to build some momentum.

“We don’t want to be going into the last two on the back of a loss.

“We have been pretty good at home this season. We have lost a couple, which you never like doing, but we have played some pretty good sides.

“We just want to produce the same performance we did against Dewsbury a couple of weeks ago.”

Second-row Matty Strong and centre Chris Dean, who suffered head injuries at Leigh, will undergo fitness checks.

Stand-off Tim Hartley is back in contention after a couple of runouts in the U21s but back-rower Tommy Gallagher, although recovered from thumb damage, is struggling with working commitments.

Mark Smith, out since early June with an arm injury, is making good progress and could yet return for the Whitehaven game on August 24.

Widnes’ planning for next season has been hit by Vikings missing out on a Super League licence.

But Stankevitch said: “The lads have been told that in the next couple of weeks and in the back end of the season everybody will be spoken to individually about the club’s plans and players’ plans for next year.

“Steve and Terry O’Connor will also be speaking to any potential targets after September 1.”