Newcastle Thunder v Goole Vikings and a look ahead to the rest of the action

Friday night sees Newcastle Thunder host Goole Vikings in the Betfred Championship. Both teams come into this game on the back of losses in the 1895 Cup quartet finals last weekend, Thunder lost against Widnes and Goole lost at Rochdale. 

This is the second time the two sides have met this season with Thunder coming out 14-32 winners in Goole on Good Friday. In that game Goole gave a spirited performance and they troubled Thunder in the second half. 

Goole are currently sat in 15th place in the table, four points off a play-off place and will be looking to challenge towards that top ten in the second half of the season. This week has seen Goole sign Tyler Walton who goes straight into the squad and could face his former team tomorrow night. Goole are one of many sides in the competition feeling the strain of a tough season as they name a 19 man squad for tomorrow night. There's former Thunder faces in Harry Aldous, Jack Miller, Nick Staveley and Mackenzie Harman amongst them.

For Thunder this will be the 12th week in a row of matches in what has been a huge effort from this side. It’s a run of matches that has seen disappointments at Hunslet and Widnes but in those defeats we’ve seen a lot of good and a lot of learning. We’ve also seen the highs of beating Barrow and Batley in league games. One thing’s for sure, this squad has put themselves through it over this block of fixtures and it’s one last push before a rest weekend next weekend. 

Last week may’ve been disappointing but as I said afterwards, it showed our ability to compete with established Championship outfits. If we think about where we’ve been as a club over the last few years, we have a lot to be proud of. I’d urge people to turn up tomorrow night and get behind this group who are giving everything in a Newcastle shirt. It’s been a short turnaround and after a long stint of games there will be times where the players need that energy from the crowd. For those who were at Widnes we saw their players feed off the crowd energy and momentum of the game and that’s what we need at Blaydon as we’re into the second half of the season. 

Squadwise, Graham Steadman has named a squad of 17, Tom Inman’s excellent form has seen him earn a call up to the York squad and Joe Law drops out of the squad. There’s a recall for Sean Croston who featured earlier in the season and played well for Thunder last season and never let anyone down. 

Kieran Hudson, Will Dagger, King Vuniyayawa, Cody Hunter, Will Roberts and Tom Inman are all named in the York squad to face Catalans on Saturday night. As ever good luck to those lads who have all featured for Thunder this season as part of our performance pathway, they’ve earnt the right to have their shot at Super League.

Newcastle Thunder: 1. Myles Harrison, 2. Andy Djeukessi, 4. Jude Ferreira, 5. Brad Ward, 8. Bailey Antrobus, 9. Taylor Pemberton, 10. Ryan Jackson, 11. Harvey Reynolds, 12. Noah Whittingham, 13. Sam Cook, 15. Brenden Santi, 18. Ukuma Ta’ai, 20. Mitch Clark (loan), 25. Jack Smith (loan), 27. Jordan Lipp (loan), 29. Sean Croston, 31. Nikau Williams (loan)

Goole Vikings: 1. Josh Guzdek, 2. Tom Halliday, 3. Cooper Howlett, 4. Keenen Tomlinson, 5. Callum Shaw, 6. Mackenzie Harman, 7. Jack Miller, 9. Jeylan Hodgson, 10. Tyler Craig, 12. Nick Staveley, 13. Harry Aldous, 18. Connor Barley, 19. Ben Hodder, 22. Callum Rutland, 26. Bailey Tait, 27. Leroy Ncube, 30. Liam Watts, Oliver Polec, Tyler Walton.

Referee: F. Lincoln

Reserve Referee: T. Bell

Touch Judge 1: S. Jenkinson

Touch Judge 2: L. Seal

Venue: Crow Trees

Kick off: 19:30

Tickets

Tickets are available to buy online. Please buy in advance to speed up entry to the ground or use the QR codes before the turnstiles, the pricing is:

Adult (17-64): £15

Concession (over 65): £12

Student: £7.50 (bring valid I.D.) £5.00 with discount code!

Under 16: FREE!

Hospitality: £40

Other games this weekend

Betfred Championship

Newcastle Thunder v Goole Vikings

Oldham v Midlands Hurricanes

Barrow Raiders v Hunslet

Batley Bulldogs v North Wales Crusaders

Dewsbury Rams v Workington Town

Halifax Panthers v Salford

Rochdale Hornets v Swinton Lions

Sheffield Eagles v London Broncos

Whitehaven v Keighley Cougars

The action starts on Friday night as Newcastle host Goole. I expect a Newcastle win but Goole will turn up with nothing to lose and I expect them to cause Newcastle some problems. The other Friday night game sees a re-match of last Friday’s 1895 Cup quarter final as Oldham will be smarting and out for revenge against a Midlands side who had an excellent win. Can they do it again this week? It’ll be a tough task for them and Oldham could well get their revenge.

It’s a stacked Sunday of action as Barrow who had a brilliant win at Doncaster on Wednesday night go again at home to Hunslet. A short turn around could make this one closer but I expect Barrow to win this one. Batley should comfortably beat a North Wales side who are finding their feet. I expect Dewsbury to beat Workington but Workington stunned Hunslet in their last away game so Dewsbury will need to be on it.

Halifax host Salford, I think Halifax will win this but Salford could push them. Rochdale host Swinton in what could be a fiery game, Swinton are finding some form and Rochdale will be buoyed by their cup triumph over Goole last weekend. I fancy a resurgent Swinton to edge this. Sheffield could well be on damage limitation against London as points difference could be their only concern. Keighley make the trip to Whitehaven where I think Keighley could come away with a victory.