NERugbyDad

Sorry you'd loose that bet, Newcastle Thunder and NE Rugby League do monitor that one. Successful seasons got to be promotion to the Championship since we seem to be going all in.

QLT signing now announced by club, rest of this season and through to end of 2021.

It was just a publicity stunt, actual kit is going to have no sponsorship on at all!

Thunder squad announced for the Scholars game on Saturday, full back Lewis Young back from injury and Muizz Mustapha finally in on loan from Leeds after his 4 match ban. Should be a fantastic day of rugby up at Kingston Park with the NERL u12s, u14s and U16s grand finals before and NERL Open age cup final after the main event ... and all for £5 too!

The bias and animosity toward league from union still runs pretty deep in places from what I've been told about just this year. I'm leaving club names out because I wouldn't want to cause more bother, but I know of Union club who had agreed to allow a RL Community club access to there facilities who were then threatened with removal of funds from the county and the RFU if they went ahead. Fortunately the Union club took a stand and the governing bodies backed down proving that at least in some areas the relationship has thawed.

I'm pretty new to Rugby League after being drawn in to it by my eldest son. Coming from North Tyneside and in particular Whitley Bay, football and Ice Hockey have always been my main sports but I've always watched sport in general. I got a season ticket for Newcastle United for my 8th birthday and was hooked until Ice Hockey took the number one spot in the late eighties early nineties, this was when games where on Grandstand on a Saturday afternoon and the Whitley Warriors vs Durham Wasps derby matches were just amazing with 3,500 packed in to the corrugated iron shed that is the Ice Rink . I then played Ice-Hockey through until my eldest son was born in 2005. Over my life I had watched the odd rugby league game on the beeb and Sky and had enjoyed them but never really got in to it enough to watch other than in passing as time was taken up with other things. That was until a year past September when my eldest started high school and started to play. Through his first term at high school they had a Newcastle Thunder community coach coming in each week and he loved it and was soon playing in school festivals at Kingston Park. By January last year he wanted to start playing for a team outside of school and started to watch Super League games on Sky and this is when I got pulled in. Come May last year we had tickets for Magic Weekend for our first live games and he was playing in a schools festival at St James in the day leading up to it. Both now well and truly hooked. Since then we've started to attend Thunder games when we can and his younger brother has joined in the fun, playing and watching as well. My dyed in the wool football fan father in law has even been drawn in to watching as well. My Son is definitely a poster boy for the benefits of community coaching and the Sky Try programmes, he was up for NE u12 player of the year after less than a year of playing the game and the coaching he received has resulted in 2 new players and 4 new watchers (5 if you include forcing it upon the wife) of rugby league just in our family.

Really busy week at the Thunder this week, Nick Newman and Matthew Wright signed then they've just announced they've taken Muizz Mustapha on loan from Leeds for a month. Looks like we're going all in to get promotion this year, also know as the dash to get out before Ottawa arrive. https://www.thunderrugby.co.uk/on-field/rhinos-mustapha-joins-on-loan/

Newcastle Rugby (ie Thunder and Falcons) is owned by Semoure Kurdi who is worth £8 million according to ruck.co.uk

Even poorer show is that they're not even on the OurLeague app!

Leazes Park is right behind the Leazes Stand at St James and has plenty of open space so this would work in Newcastle as well if it comes back.

Actually met him with one of my sons at a Thunder Kids festival before the Keighley game last Sunday. He was going around having pictures taken with all the teams whilst they weren't playing and doing a bit of a QA with them all, seems a really nice lad plus heard nothing but good things about him as a player, York fans seem disappointed that they didn't resign him.

New signing Joel Edwards in the Thunder squad for he first time for the game against Hunslet along with Mikey Lewis, a 17 year old half back who's arrived on an initial months loan from Hull KR. Plus Misi Taulapapa back after his 4 match suspension. Looking a strong squad right now.

Squad of 22, 20 outfield and 2 net-minders. 1 Net-minder and 5 skaters on ice at a time, changes constant with player's other than net-minder tending to be on ice not much more than a minute at a time. Net-minders will play the full 60 mins unless they're having a mare. Game in play for 60 mins as clock stops with every stoppage. Top defencemen will play up to 30mins a game, forwards more like 20. Playing games on back to back days considered normal.

If there is a sport in the UK that gets ignored by the media worse than RL its got to be Ice Hockey. The National Team over the last couple weeks has just been playing in the top level of the World Championships for the first time in over 20 years playing the likes of Canada, Finland and USA but not seen anything in the media. Last night they beat France 4-3 in overtime having been down 0-3 after half the game and as a result have maintained there place in the top level at Frances expense. I found this out on the American sports channel ESPN's website, the BBC nothing on the main page, nothing on the sport page, they don't even have an Ice Hockey section you have to look in Winter Sports where there is finally a report!

According to the Thunder web site this relates back to something that was said in the game against Coventry in February! How does it take nearly a month and a half till a charge is brought?