WIDNES boss Denis Betts believes his side's defence was a major factor in getting them through the Qualifiers.

The Vikings went into their final game against Leigh on Sunday with their Super League status pretty much already assured for 2016.

But a 50-6 drubbing of the Centurions emphasised the point and saw Widnes finish in second place behind Hull Kingston Rovers.

Betts said: "Our objective was always to stay in Super League and what we wanted to do was dominate this group.

"We've not done that but we've put in some fantastic performances as you can see from our points for and against.

"The 50 points scored was fantastic but Leigh are a great attacking side so keeping them down to six points was a real determined effort.

"The pleasing thing for this group is how strong we've been defensively. We've talked for a year-and-a-half about how the next step was for us to be really tough to score points against and then respond by scoring points of our own.

"That's what good sides do; that's what your top four or five teams do. They don't make it easy to get over the line and then they score points.

"What we've shown in most of these games is that mentality. It's been a really strong effort from everybody in the team."

While the main focus for the Vikings in recent weeks has been on maintaining their place in Super League, behind the scenes preparations for 2016 have been ongoing.

Betts believes his team weren't a million miles away from achieving some of their aims this season and he's determined that next year Widnes will steer clear of the Qualifiers.

He added "We've been well in our planning stage for a while now. Moving forward and getting better is our key.

"The season could have been so different.

"There were two decisions this year which made a big difference to us.

"At Warrington we had a try chalked off that's been given all year and would have been given if there was a video referee. And there was a decision at St Helens in the Cup quarter-final where we had a penalty given against us for raking the ball out when Turner drops it. We were in the lead at that moment and that changed the game.

"We could have made the Cup semi-finals again and finished in the top eight. That's how tight it is.

"Next year we want to prove that we're better than just finishing in the eight.

"We don't want to put ourselves in the situation of being in the Qualifiers again.

"Obviously it can happen and if it does we'll know how to handle it and we'll be better for this year's experience.

"But it's not something we want to make a regular appearance in; we want to be well away from it."