DENIS BETTS believes former Giants captain Kevin Brown will be at the heart of Widnes Vikings’ future Super League success.
Widnes finished bottom of the table in their first year back in the top flight in 2012.
But former Great Britain back-rower Betts feels that with the likes of Brown on board, the Vikings will go into their second season in Super League with solid foundations in place.
“At this stage last year, we didn’t really have a team, we had no gym and we had nowhere really to train,” said Betts.
“Now we’ve got things in place, the lads know each other, they’ve settled down really quickly and there’s a better feeling all round.
“But we still know there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us.
“You can't just throw a group of people together and expect everything to work.
“We had our difficulties at times last year. You have to be able to cope with other people’s inadequacies and you have to let people understand what yours are.
“We’ve got a group now that have found themselves out throughout the year. To chuck Kevin into that – he’s come in and he’s lit the place up – he knows how to be successful and it’s been good to watch him work.
“I always thought that someone like Kev was just what we needed, and so far he’s not letting anyone down.
“He’s already a massive influence here and he’ll be a key to our success in the future.”
And, ironically, Brown could be seen in a Widnes shirt for the first time when the Vikings visit the Giants for a pre-season clash at the John Smith’s Stadium on Sunday, January 20 (3.00).
