Thunder prepare for Saturday night in boisterous Barrow!

Saturday evening sees a bumper Betfred Championship match up as fourth placed Barrow Raiders host second placed Newcastle Thunder. The weather’s going to be hot and it could well get heated on the pitch too. 

Barrow are having a really strong season and are making a habit of winning tight games with recent tight victories including a remarkable turnaround in a home win against Dewsbury, a tight away win at an ever improving Salford side and a two point win against the established Sheffield Eagles. In short, Barrow are no mugs and they were disappointed with how they played in their 37-22 defeat back in April against Thunder when they had some injuries and interruption. Without doubt this is a game they will have had an eye on and in front of a raucous home crowd at Speed Competitions Stadium on Saturday night with a World Cup quarter final later on this is going to be a hell of a game.

Since the two sides met earlier in the season, Barrow have signed Brad Singleton to bring him back to his rugby league roots. That experience alongside the likes of Ryan King, Matt Costello and Joe Bullock  will be invaluable as Barrow look to head towards cementing their end of season play-off place. 

Paul Crarey does a brilliant job at Barrow and that shows in how long he’s been involved at the club, he’ll have a plan for Saturday night and have his Raiders revved up for this one. Buoyed on by a boisterous Barrow crowd this is going to be a huge test for Newcastle Thunder.

After a week off, it’s back to it for Thunder and a tough test awaits. There’s no Brenden Santi as he sits out for the first of a two match suspension, unconfirmed that Donald Trump has been onto The RFL to get this overturned as he wants to see the best players play. That leaves Graham Steadman naming an 18 man squad which sees a recall for the experienced Ukuma Ta’ai. Will Roberts will control the team in the halves and look to continue his impressive form. We can also look forward to a royal rumble as Barrow’s Ryan King could go head-to-head with Thunder’s King Vuniyayawa.

It’s going to be another warm one on Saturday night so Graham Steadman’s use of the interchange bench is going to be important. The other crucial thing is going to be discipline and keeping cool heads, Santi missing, means a loss of experience and a cool head, others will have to step up to keep things cool as the atmosphere will no doubt be red hot. Barrow have a tough pack so the Thunder pack will look forward to going head-to-head.

I will quickly say, there’s been a lot said about the fixture list for Thunder being favourable but that was agreed unanimously by clubs. The play-offs will sort things out come the end of the season and from the Thunder fans I speak to they get that. As part of the performance pathway, if the format stays the same next season and Thunder keep towards the top of the table we’ll look forward to potentially league rounds against the likes of Oldham, Doncaster, Widnes, Sheffield and London. As a performance pathway those types of games will be brilliant for the club and the development of players and exactly the type of game we want to be involved in!  

Thunder will be keen to continue an unbeaten run that goes back to losing in The 1895 Cup against Widnes on 17th May but Barrow presents the toughest task since then. Barrow themselves are unbeaten since 3rd May, something’s got to give! It’s going to be a cracker of a game and one that I’m really looking forward to being over in Barrow for. 

Barrow Raiders: 1. Luke Cresswell, 2. Andrew Bulman, 3. Shane Toal, 4. Curtis Teare, 5. Luke Broadbent, 6. Brad Walker, 7. Ryan Johnston, 8. Tom Walker, 10. Joe Bullock, 11. Ellis Robson, 12. Matt Costello, 13. Ryan King, 15. Charlie Emslie, 16. Greg Richards, 17. Alex Bishop, 20. Dan Knott, 22. Tom Forber, 24. Ellis Archer, 30. Fin Dutton-Rosconie, 32. Harvey Makin, 33. Brad Singleton.

Newcastle Thunder: 1. Myles Harrison, 2. Andy Djeukessi, 3. Joe Law, 4. Jude Ferreira, 5. Brad Ward, 7. Will Roberts, 8. Bailey Antrobus, 9. Taylor Pemberton, 10. Ryan Jackson, 12. Noah Whittingham, 13. Sam Cook, 17. King Vuniyayawa, 18. Ukuma Ta’ai,  20. Mitch Clark (loan), 22. John Sagaga (loan), 25. Jack Smith (loan), 27. Jordan Lipp (loan), 32. Justin Sangare (loan).

Referee: R. Cox

Reserve Referee: C. Regan

Touch Judge 1: T. Topping-higson

Touch Judge 2: B. Hartle

Date: Saturday 11th July

Venue: Speed Competitions Stadium

Kick off: 18:00

Betfred Championship:

Barrow Raiders v Newcastle Thunder (away win)

London Broncos v Doncaster (home win)

Batley Bulldogs v Midlands Hurricanes (home win)

Keighley Cougars v Dewsbury Rams (away win)

North Wales Crusaders v Widnes Vikings (away win)

Oldham v Halifax Panthers (home win)

Salford v Sheffield Eagles (away win)

Whitehaven v Swinton Lions (home win)

Super Saturday sees four of the top six play each other with the games at London and Barrow kicking off at 18:00. London v Doncaster will be a good one and London were pushed all the way earlier in the season but I think London will take this one. The game of the weekend sees a Barrow side who keep winning taking on a form Thunder side. This will be tight and could go down to the wire but I’m going to back Thunder to edge it. This Thunder v Barrow game is the type of game that if the second tier had a broadcast partner they would be all over it, taking the second tier to the wider rugby league public. 

Batley are starting to rediscover some form although they lost a close game to a red hot Oldham side last weekend and Midlands are up and down, possibly feeling the strain of a hard Championship campaign. If Batley can put in the type of performance they did against Oldham, they’ll win this one. In the madness that is rugby league, Keighley play their last home game of the season this weekend, they put in a much needed improved performance last time out but I think Dewsbury will be too strong. 

Widnes won the battle of the vikings last weekend and they should get a comfortable win against a North Wales side doing it tough, but we’ve been there and the important thing is they’re still doing it. I look forward to visiting North Wales next weekend with Thunder. Oldham are red hot at the minute and should beat a stubborn Halifax side. Salford will push Sheffield but I think the Eagles will take the win in what could be a close game. Anthony Murray returns to his old club as Swinton travel to Whitehaven, Whitehaven gave a good account of themselves at Thunder last time out and it’s a tough trip for an improving Swinton side, home advantage could be the key factor here.