PROFESSIONAL rugby league returns to Goole for the first time in 122 years following the Vikings’ accession to League One for 2025.
Having been accepted into the third tier ahead of Bedford Tigers and Anglian Vipers, the East Yorkshire outfit wasted little time in signalling their intentions by bringing in former England prop Scott Taylor as head coach.
Taylor had to build a squad from scratch, but has used his contacts troughout the game to bring together a group with experience of all levels of the game.
With 2017 Super League Grand Final winner Brett Ferres as captain, plus Taylor’s old Hull FC team-mate Jamie Shaul and Samoa international Misi Taulapapa among some high-profile recruits on the playing side, Goole will be expected to be competitive from the off.
Longer-term though, the Vikings will be aiming to firmly put the town on the rugby league map in a way their forerunners were unable to over a century ago.
Watch out for… The Vikings’ first home game in League One, with Goole hosting Midlands Hurricanes when the season kicks off on Sunday, 23rd February. By then they will have already played a Betfred Challenge Cup tie away to London Broncos, which they won, and an 1895 Cup game on their own patch, but the opening match of the League One campaign will surely draw a crowd to the Victoria Pleasure Grounds eager to see how they fare.
Squad: 2 Tom Halliday, 3 Josh Guzdek, 4 Thomas Minns, 5 Manoa Wacokecoke, 6 Mackenzie Harman, 7 Reece Dean, 8 Joe Phillips, 9 Jeylan Hodgson, 10 Jack Aldous, 11 Brett Ferres, 12 Bailey Dawson, 13 Lennon Burrell, 14 Misi Taulapapa, 15 Alex Holdstock, 16 Harry Aldous, 17 Jack Coventry, 18 Tyler Craig, 19 Callum Shaw, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Ben Dent, 22 Mike Ogunwole, 23 Ben Hodder, 24 Callum Rutland, 25 Ryan Wright, 29 Jamie Shaul.
Rugby League World predicts: 8th
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 505 (February 2025)