Rochdale v Newcastle Thunder and League 1 review

Rochdale v Thunder

Well this one went the way I feared it might, Thunder didn't get off to the best of starts conceding early on and by half time they were trailing 34-0. The second half was always going to be tough down such a scoreline to a more experienced team and Thunder eventually lost 70-6 with Leo Bradley scoring on the hooter.

It looks as though discipline was a bit of an issue yesterday and I'm all for showing fight but that will definitely be something that will be a work on as Thunder can ill afford to lose anyone for ten minutes due to something that's in their control.

That being said this young group continue to gain experience every week at this level and I hope these tough times put the club in a better place in the future. As I said in my preview the vast majority of this group are local lads, there was a plan pre-season to be able to use dual registration agreements with Bradford for some talented youngsters and Hunslet for League 1 experience. We have seen some come our way for Bradford but unfortunately as we know with dual registration it's very much up to the parent club when we see players, this week being a prime example with a reserve fixture taking priority. The Hunslet agreement just hasn't happened and that has probably been more detrimental to Thunder as they lack that League 1 experience that anyone from Hunslet would've brought.

League 1 roundup

Midlands v Whitehaven was only 12-8 at half time to the home team but Midlands kicked on in the second half for an impressive 38-8 victory.

Keighley, who come to the north east this Sunday were holding North Wales 6-6 at half time in another tight encounter before North Wales turned on the style winning 6-30.

There was another tight game at Workington where to their credit Goole turned up and fought till the end and were trailing 18-16 in their final attack when Workington got the ball scored and converted to take a 24-16 victory.

People talk about The Championship and how good it is, for me League 1 is just as entertaining and whichever four teams make it to the play-offs as the end of the season will have truly earnt the right to be there.

North Wales continue to top the table with Workington and Midlands a point behind and Rochdale three points behind occupying fourth place but level on points with Swinton. At the bottom Thunder prop up the table but are surprisingly level on points with Keighley who visit Blaydon this coming Sunday. If you're a rugby league lurker in the north east then get along to that one and get behind Newcastle Thunder and rugby league in the north east. Tickets are available to buy now and buying early allows volunteers to plan.

Jarrow Vikings

Finally, I just wanted to give a shout out to the guys at Jarrow Vikings who held an in house game over the weekend at Jarrovians Rugby Club. They're keen to re-build open age rugby in the north east and will be planning more events like this in the coming weeks. If you could give them a follow on their Facebook page and share. Having a community game is only going to help the sport grow in the north east so any help anyone can offer will I'm sure be appreciated. It's great to see some positive news from the open age community game here in the north east.

Darlington Main Line RLFC

Briefly, another name to keep an eye on if you're in the south of the region is Darlington Main Line, again they have set up a Facebook page but are looking to launch in summer 2026 with u12, u14, u16 and open age men's and women's teams. Please follow them and share, they can be contacted by email too: dmlrugbyleague@gmail.com