Rochdale v Newcastle and the rest of the Championship preview.

Saturday afternoon sees Newcastle Thunder travel to Rochdale Hornets for a 13:00 kick off as Thunder are back on the road after three home games.

Rochdale not to be underestimated

Rochdale are sat in 13th place in the Betfred Championship having won four and lost seven of their league games this season. They sit level on points with Hunslet who beat Thunder on their last outing so Thunder will have to be on their metal. They recently beat an established Championship club in Sheffield 32-18 in the 1895 Cup so the warning signs are there for Thunder.

Andy Mazey does a great job at Rochdale keeping things going in what must be challenging circumstances at times. Unfortunately there’s no Bailey Pemberton in the Rochdale squad so we won’t see the Pemberton brothers go head-to-head. They have experience in Junior Sa’u, Chris Barratt and prolific try scoring winger Dan Nixon.

Thunder will be buoyed 

Thunder will be buoyed by impressive victories over Batley and Barrow in the last three weeks but I’ve no doubt the mindset in camp will be, we reset and go again. Thunder are sitting in third and will be keen to keep building momentum and winning puts pressure on those around us. We’ve seen a maturity in the performances over the last three weeks, teams have tried to get under our skin and in the main we’ve got on with the job in hand. I expect teams will continue to be niggly and it’s important especially in the heat of battle away from home that we stick to our game.

There are changes this week in Graham Steadman’s squad, Will Roberts who was awarded supporters player of the match last week misses out as does King Vuniyayawa. There is a return in a Thunder squad for Sam Cook and Myles Harrison who have both been in York action in recent weeks. Mitch Clark remains with Thunder after his impressive return from injury last week.

There’s enough experience in this squad to go to Rochdale on Saturday and do a job but they have to make sure that their attitude is spot on. Last week against Batley, Thunder looked at their most dangerous when they went wide and cut Batley to shreds. With rain forecast at Rochdale it might be a day of getting the job done ugly on Saturday but I’m sure they will be looking to play and play with tempo if conditions allow.

Squads and officials:

Rochdale Hornets: 1. Max Flanagan, 2, Dan Nixon, 3. Tom Ashton, 4. Junior Sa’u, 7. Jordan Paga, 8. Jaden Dayes, 9. Ross Whitmore, 10. Lewis Hatton, 12. Ethan Wood, 14. George Roby, 16. Jordan Andrade, 19. Luke Waterworth, 20. Joe Hickey, 22. TJ Boyd, 23. Chris Barratt, 24. Ben Metcalfe, 25. Jack Hansen, 26. Harry Sheridan, 29. Charlie Mckler, 33. Isaac Coleman, Jay Haywood-Scriven

Newcastle Thunder: 1. Myles Harrison, 2. Andy Djeukessi, 3. Joe Law, 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, 20. Mitch Clark (loan), 22. John Sagaga (loan), 25. Jack Smith (loan), 27. Jordan Lipp (loan), 30. Tom Inman. 31. Nikau Williams (loan).

Referee: D. Arnold

Reserve Referee: A. Marsh

Touch Judge 1: P. Brooke

Touch Judge 2: P. Marklove

Venue: Crown Oil Arena

Kick off: 13:00

Championship fixtures this weekend

Oldham v Doncaster (home win)

Rochdale Hornets v Newcastle Thunder (away win)

Goole Vikings v North Wales Crusaders (home win)

Halifax Panthers v Dewsbury Rams (home win)

Keighley Cougars v Batley Bulldogs (home win)

London Broncos v Midlands Hurricanes (home win)

Salford v Widnes Vikings (away win)

Swinton Lions v Whitehaven (home win)

Workington Town v Sheffield Eagles (away win)

The game of the weekend is on Friday night where two Championship powerhouses go head-to-head at Oldham. Oldham were impressive at Barrow last week and Doncaster are on the back of a week off after they ran out of steam against London. This will be close but Oldham back in Oldham will edge it just.

Newcastle travel to Rochdale, this is a dangerous game for Thunder having been beaten in their last away game at Hunslet. Rochdale have turned over Sheffield but I think Thunder will come through this one. It’s great that North Wales have got themselves sorted under fresh ownership but a game anywhere this weekend would be a tough ask, I think Goole will win that comfortably but getting a team to Goole is a victory for North Wales and rugby league.

Halifax and Dewsbury is a really interesting one, Halifax will be disappointed to lose at Keighley last time out and Dewsbury won against Whitehaven. For some reason I think Halifax will edge this one but it will be tight. Batley were disappointed with their performance at Newcastle last week and they will be looking for a reaction at Keighley.

Keighley on the other hand had a good win at home to Halifax, I fancy Keighley to back that performance up.

Widnes travel to Salford and I think they’ll keep up a good run of form that will keep them in touch with the top of the table. Swinton got their win last weekend and I think they’ll back that up with a win over Whitehaven on Sunday. Workington were impressive on Sunday as they dismantled Hunslet away, can they back this up against Sheffield on Sunday? It’ll be a tough task for them and I think Sheffield will get the job done.