Kingstone Press League 1 preview: Newcastle Thunder v Rochdale Hornets

Reflecting on the 16-4 loss to Barrow Raiders last week, Newcastle Thunder coach Stanley Gene was disappointed.

“We were pretty disappointed with last week’s performance. It was out of character from my team. On the day things just didn’t click for us,” he said.

“It was a shame because one of the kids in the halves, who had been training with us all week, got called up to play first-team for Hull KR.

“We’ve got a big week against Rochdale and it’s a must-win game for us.”

Rochdale Hornets got back to winning ways last week with their 32-14 victory over Hemel Stags, but head coach Ian Talbot knows there is room for improvement.

“We needed to put in a performance after the disappointment of the week before,” he said. “Despite the win last week, we’re not happy with the level of performance that we put in against Hemel.

“It’s really tight at the top end of the table. As well as winning week-in week-out, it’s important that you pick up points against the teams who are around you in the league.

“Newcastle came to our place earlier on in the season and beat us, so we’ll be looking to go there and pick up two points on their own patch.”