Newcastle Thunder v Goole Vikings and other League 1 preview

Sunday afternoon sees Goole Vikings making their first trip to Tyneside. As I said following last weeks game, this is a big couple of weeks for rugby league in the north east.

Goole arrive having been really competitive in the debut season in League 1, they've been really unlucky to wait for their first league win for as long as they did having been on the wrong side of some very tight encounters.

But they will be buoyed by a brilliant win at Keighley last weekend, despite Keighley's out of sorts form it's not an easy place to go and they will arrive on Tyneside full of confidence. There are three squad changes from last week with key players Thomas Minns, Misi Taulapapa and Neil Tchamambe missing out. There's a lot of positive stuff going on at Goole, they won't mind the short term pain of a run of games away from their Victoria Pleasure Ground home as pitch improvements and ground improvements take place. The ground improvements will include a brand new stand later on but initially a new artificial pitch is being installed this is all exciting stuff for the vikings.

Chris Thorman has named his squad with a couple of welcome additions following the Dewsbury game, key men Alex Donaghy and Tyler Walton are named in the squad. It could be the first time that Thunder fans get to see Walton in action this season following an injury. Young forward Harry Lowery doesn't make the squad this week but Mac Walsh continues his extended stint in the north east on loan from York.

Although Goole are the new boys in League 1 terms, they have a lot of experience in their squad and have recruited really well.

The good news is the weather looks good for tomorrow afternoon, why not get down to Blaydon and enjoy some rugby and sunshine. Tickets are available through the website and on the gate as Thunder build into Magic Friday.

Other League 1 games

Saturday evening sees Whitehaven make the trip to North Wales. The two teams had differing fortunes last time out with Whitehaven losing a Cumbria derby to Workington and North Wales heading home with a really good win on the road at Midlands Hurricanes. Strangely this is North Wales first home game at Colwyn Bay this season and I expect them to have too much for Whitehaven.

Sunday sees Dewsbury host Rochdale with both teams tasting victory last time out. This could be another good advert for League 1 and I expect a tight game. Dewsbury will be disappointed with their second half last week but I think Rochdale will win a tight game.

Sunday afternoon also sees Swinton making a tricky trip to Workington. Workington will hope they can kick on and match their effort last week that saw them beat Whitehaven. If they can reach that then I fancy them to take a victory against a Swinton team who lost a tight game in Rochdale last weekend.