Widdop Joins The Wire

Yesterday saw the announcement that England half or fullback Gareth Widdop will be joining Warrington for the start of the 2020 season on a three-year deal. All of which has caused the kind of hysteria you would expect from Wolves fans who live in a perpetual state of optimism.

Irrespective of how many knocks they take Wire fans have absolute conviction that the next year will be their year. Some have a self-mocking charm about them while others are off the scale delusional. The latter group will be worse than ever when Widdop rocks up at the Haliwell Jones Stadium in a year’s time. It was almost their year in 2018 but the poor bleeders had to look on helplessly as Catalans Dragons spoiled their Challenge Cup dreams at Wembley before Wigan edged them out 12-4 in the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford. Warrington have lost four of the last six major finals, twice losing both major finals in the same season in the last three campaigns It is never their year.

Whether he plays as a fullback, stand-off or scrum-half for Warrington Widdop is likely to be the best in his position in Super League in 2020. Yet having just spent the last 12 months witnessing Ben Barba fail to lift either the Challenge Cup or a Super League title we Saints fans can assure our Wire friends that having the best player in the competition guarantees nothing. Especially in our system in which you are required to gamble a whole season’s work on one night in October.

Before he arrives in England Widdop has the 2019 season to get through in the NRL with St.George-Illawarra. He has just had major shoulder surgery which kept him out of England’s test series with New Zealand in the autumn. The shoulder needs to hold up through the rigours of a tough campaign if he is to have the impact that we think he might. While it is great to see top NRL stars choosing to play in England without first having failed a drugs test or interfered with an animal, the idea that Widdop is Super League’s biggest ever signing is hyperbole. He’s not even the biggest name to sign for Warrington even if some Wire fans appear to have forgotten all about Alfie Langer and Andrew Johns. Others throughout Super League history like Barba, Steve Renouf, Trent Barrett and Danny Buderus were all equally if not more star-sprinkled than Widdop.

The hysteria is fuelled by the rugby league journalists. Yet it’s hard to criticise them for someone like me who spends far too much time advising them on Twitter that they should stop talking the game down. And while they’re at it stop blowing smoke up the arse of rugby union. So while it is nice to see a little rooftop-shouting from our game’s media it should come with a note of caution for Wire fans. This isn’t the most seismic thing to happen in the Super League era. No doubt Widdop will raise attendances at the Haliwell Jones and provide as many memorable moments as Barba did at Saints. In his own style. He’s not one for scoring from 90 metres while appearing to jog. But if you want playoffs as opposed to a first past the post system then you have to take on board the idea that signing Widdop doesn’t improve Warrington’s chances of breaking their finals hoodoo very much at all. They’re still Warrington. It’s probably not going to be their year.