Awards Night at Smokies a great success

Working on the principle that the big news from a glittering and packed upmarket Awards Night at Smokies was the outcome of the various player-of-the-year prizes, I give you Matty Wildie and youngsters PLT and Bailey Aldridge as men of the moment with special thoughts for that hard-working prop Owen Farnworth.

Hooker Wildie, who also played one or two games, or part of games, in the halves, was a well-deserved winner of the biggest prize of the night (Sean Long's POTY award) from his fellow nominees, PLT and Farnworth.

PLT was voted by his peers as player' POTY from that former Widnes twosome of Danny Craven and Farnworth.

Bailey Aldridge took the fans' POTY trophy with George Hirst and Cian Tyrer his chief rivals.

The general view was that everyone in the squad could have been involved, but I have to say that I thought Craven would have had a bigger part to play in the awards and I felt a lot of sympathy for Farnworth, the only player to figure twice in the nominations without actually making it.

As a matter of interest I thought Farnworth might have landed the top prize, but no matter, there were no quibbles from me at Wildie's selection on a super night for the club, a full-house Smokies, and a car park that was bursting at the seams.

It was a night at which it was proven once and for all that Roughyeds are on their way back as a Rugby League powerhouse, a night at which the players must have felt six feet tall in classy surroundings and among hundreds of well-wishers ranging from sponsors at expensive tables to £60-a-head individuals who made themselves heard, especially so when one of their own, Kevin Morrow, was called to the stage to pick up a special prize of a season ticket for the 2025 Championship season, billed as the loudest fan in the sport.

There were special accolades, too, for Dave Thomas and for Jamie Hollingworth for their work in running the YEDS Supporters Group.

This was but one of several big surprises on a brilliant night for the club at which there was a special and moving tribute to the late Haydn Walker and a poignant moment when backroom assistant Sam Doyle was named the club's first man of courage in memory of Haydn Walker, a former director of the club who died comparatively young and was represented by his Dad and by our club's former physio, Lisa, who spoke movingly about her former colleague.

This for me was one of the highlights of a night at which the likes of Kevin Morrow, Sam Doyle and the late Haydn Walker were thrust into the spotlight as main men.

But back to the beginning and a superb opening by club captain Jordan Turner, clearly as popular as ever and a man who was destined to lead his home-town club to a new beginning. Such an emotional twist was written in the stars, or so it seemed judging by Jordan's story of how it happened and how much he was looking forward to life in the Championship as captain of his home-town club which he had supported as a boy.

Interestingly, he said he was more interested to see how the younger players adapted to Championship rugby rather than the more experienced brigade, of which he himself is a member.

That again was one of the most memorable moments of the night and the perfect way to kick it all off.

We heard from club chairman Bill Quinn, whose financial input has made all this possible and from full-time managing director Mike Ford, whose knowledge of the club and the game is second to none and who was largely responsible, with Bill, for establishing the Vision for the Future, which is the club's bedrock assessment of what lies ahead.

One of the biggest cheers of the night was reserved for head coach Long, who said the squad was a pleasure to coach and every member of the squad had played a key role in its success so far.

He brought the house down – a house which included Latics chief Frank Rothwell and members of his family --when he said: "I love being head coach here and I love where we are going."

Bill Quinn spoke highly of our club's relationship with the Rothwells and showed his friendship with his Latics counterpart when he and the Latics owner combined together to conduct the raffle.

That was another highlight of a night in which Michael Bradshaw did a great job as MC and former BBC man George Riley lifted the Clubman of the Year award for his work in taking the club's social media output to new heights.

WLL DONE ONE AND ALL. WE ARE ON OUR WAY, NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT.