Newcastle Thunder v Midlands Hurricanes preview

Sunday afternoon sees Midlands Hurricanes being the second visitors to Crow Trees in the league this season.

Midlands will be buoyed by an impressive win at Keighley last weekend which sees them at the top of the league in the early stages. They arrive on Tyneside naming an unchanged squad and will be looking to maintain their unbeaten league start to the season. After their move to Birmingham and The Alexander Stadium, things look to be on the up for Midlands. As another team outside the heartlands they have to do it tough. But in Mark Dunning they have a very good coach.

For Newcastle Thunder there's no dual registration from Bradford this weekend but Mac Walsh is back again this week hoping to add some guile to the backline. Unfortunately Tyler Walton and Evan Lawther continue to miss out through injury. These two are key for Thunder, we saw last season how destructive Lawther can be in midfield. Looking at the highlights from Cornwall we saw some nice tries with Alex Donaghy pivotal.

I want to see Thunder come out in a similar fashion to the Swinton game, there was a blueprint set for that first quarter. Hopefully we can back that up and make sure Midlands knows they're on Thunder's patch and physically match them.

A big shout out to squadbuilder who are sponsoring the game tomorrow. Over the years they've raised over £40,000 for the club, if you're around tomorrow there will be forms to sign to join. Every penny raised goes into the club.

Unfortunately I'm missing my first home game in a while tomorrow, but for those there continue to get behind Chris Thorman and the young group of players.