Thunder v Barrow preview

Saturday afternoon sees Newcastle Thunder host high flying Barrow Raiders at Blaydon. Barrow currently sit second in the Betfred Championship whilst Thunder find themselves in fifth place in a congested table. This is the second game of a rugby league double header as Newcastle Lightning host Dodworth Miners in the Yorkshire Men’s League at 13:00 and Thunder kicking off against Barrow at 16:00. The sun will be shining, the marquee will be the place to be, get down and support rugby league in the north east!

Barrow arrive on the back of a hard fought 26-20 victory over Halifax after trailing 4-14 at half time. Paul Crarey has a hard working squad who get the best out of each other add in the re-signing of prolific winger Tee Ritson and you start to see how things are going so well for them this season. They have the experience of Ryan King, Joe Bullock and Matt Costello.

They’re flying at the moment having only lost once in the league this season, that being a defeat to Sheffield back in February. They’ve beaten a quality side in Widnes who will be in the play-off mix but notably beaten Hunslet and Dewsbury who have both beaten Thunder this season. Last week they saw off a resurgent Halifax side and will arrive confident at Blaydon on Saturday afternoon.

For Thunder, this is a real test to see how they go against a play-off chasing team. They’ll be buoyed following the victory against Batley last week and the challenge is to back that up on Saturday afternoon. They looked a bit clunky in attack at times last week but that was to be expected with new combinations. We saw an impact from the interchange bench which was relentless and Batley couldn’t live with that in the second half. Thunder found themsleves on the wrong end of the penalty count again last weekend, this is something that they will need to improve as Barrow will look to punish them.

Squadwise, Graham Steadman has Will Roberts back available following his head knock at Hunslet. Ukuma Ta’ai and Jack Brown drop out from last week’s squad. It does mean that Nikau Williams who played when Thunder beat Barrow back in September 2023 is included again this week. Nikau played like he had a point to prove last week and had some classy touches. Given the weather forecast for Saturday, I’m excited to see what this Thunder side can do. I know there’s been defeats to Hunslet, Dewsbury and North Wales but this alongside Doncaster is arguably Thunder’s toughest game of the season. Thunder will have to be at their best on Saturday. 

Squads and officials:

Newcastle Thunder: 2. Andy Djeukessi, 3. Joe Law, 4. Jude Ferreira, 5. Brad Ward, 7. Will Roberts, 8. Bailey Antrobus, 9. Taylor Pemberton, 10. Ryan Jackson, 11. Harvey Reynolds, 12. Noah Whittingham, 15. Brenden Santi, 16. Leo Tennison, 17. King Vuniyayawa, 24. Matty Foster (loan), 27. Jordan Lipp (loan), 30. Tom Inman, 31. Nikau Williams.

Barrow Raiders: 1. Luke Cresswell, 3. Shane Toal, 4. Curtis Teare, 5. Luke Broadbent, 6. Brad Walker, 7. Ryan Johnston, 8. Tom Walker, 9. Josh Wood, 10. Joe Bullock, 11. Ellis Robson, 12. Matt Costello, 13. Ryan King, 15. Charlie Emslie, 16. Greg Richards, 17. Alex Bishop, 20. Dan Knott, 25. Tee Ritson, 30. Jarrad Stack, 32. Ellis Archer, Finn McMillan, Stevie Watson. 

Referee: M. Lynn

Reserve Referee: L. Grundy

Touch Judge 1: E. McCarthy 

Touch Judge 2: L. Breheny

Venue: Crow Trees

Kick off: 16:00

Tickets

Please buy in advance to speed up entry to the ground or use the QR codes before the turnstiles, the pricing is:

Adult (17-64): £15

Concession (over 65): £12

Student: £7.50 (bring valid I.D.)

Under 16: FREE!

Championship fixtures

As ever, there’s some cracking Championship matches this weekend, kicking off as Newcastle take on high flying Barrow. This will be tight but I think Thunder can edge it. Swinton have signed Josh Eaves but Keighley will have too much for them. Batley were disappointing at times last week, they did create but lacked composure but I fancy them to beat a jekyll and hyde Goole side. The game of the round and the one Doncaster have been looking forward to is Doncaster v London. Doncaster will fancy a scalp on home soil and this is a real challenge for London, I think London have the squad to take this one.

Oldham should beat Workington comfortably as they look to climb the league. Rochdale are on the back of a big win against Sheffield and if they find that form they can beat Dewsbury. Sheffield on the other hand need to find some form and that could start with a win against Salford. Whitehaven couldn’t back up their win against Goole the week before and although Hunslet have been short of numbers, Ant Walker and Jayden Hatton from North Wales have signed and I think they’ll be Whitehaven. Widnes v Halifax will be another good game but I fancy Widnes to take that one.

Betfred Championship

Newcastle Thunder v Barrow Raiders (home win)

Swinton Lions v Keighley Cougars (away win)

Batley Bulldogs v Goole Vikings (home win)

Doncaster v London Broncos (away win)

Oldham v Workington Town (home win)

Rochdale Hornets v Dewsbury Rams (home win)

Sheffield Eagles v Salford (home win)

Whitehaven v Hunslet (away win)

Widnes Vikings v Halifax Panthers (home win)