All Golds v Newcastle Thunder IPC 2016

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RUGBY LEAGUE ON THE TOON WRITTEN BY GEORGE COWBURN UNTIL RECENTLY THE TYNESIDE CITY OF NEWCASTLE WAS NOT SYNONYMOUS WITH RUGBY LEAGUE BUT THIS IS CHANGING WITH THE MOVE OF GATESHEAD THUNDER TO KINGSTON PARK AND THE CHANGE OF NAME. 6 The huge success of last season’s Magic Weekend in Newcastle (to be repeated again this season) also increased the profile of the game in the city. So you may be surprised to know that in the early days of the game, two test matches were played against Australia at the famous St James’ Park ground in Newcastle. On 23rd January, 1909 Great Britain defeated Australia 15-5 before a crowd of 22,000. Tries by Wigan’s Johnny Thomas, Oldham’s George Tyson and one of the earliest RL superstars Salford’s James “Jumbo” Lomas plus three Lomas goals gave Great Britain the victory. (In an effort to expand the game the other two tests were played in London and Birmingham). Despite the in-goals being described as “dangerously narrow”, a further test was played on 8th November, 1911 although the crowd only totalled 6,500 on that occasion. Australia won their first ever victory over the host by 19-10, two Johnny Thomas goals and two tries by Jim Davies (Huddersfield) completing Great Britain’s tally. It was an inauspicious way for the great Harold Wagstaff to make his international debut. In the 1929/30 season, Australia returned to St James’ Park where they defeated a Northern Rugby League side 32-22 in front of 9,690 spectators. Rugby League continued to be staged in the north east in the 1930s and a non-test England-Australia clash was arranged for Redheugh Park, Gateshead football club’s home ground in the Teams area of the town. A healthy crowd of 15,576 saw the final game of the Australian tour settled by a 77th minute try from Leigh centre Frederick “Fred” Harris. There was also a Newcastle club in the league for two seasons - 1936/7 and 1937/8. Admitted to the Rugby League on 13th May, 1936, their first match at the 6,000 capacity Brough Park stadium was attended by the Lord Mayor and other dignitaries but resulted in a 33-12 defeat by Huddersfield. Winning just five and drawing one of their 38 games, Newcastle finished next to bottom of the league. A move to the White City stadium in Gateshead brought no more success - again Newcastle finished second bottom winning only two and drawing four of their 36 games. The White City was a grand 24,000 capacity stadium built on a 12-acre site near Scotswood Bridge, principally to host greyhound racing. The club played its first game on 28th August, 1937 but left the league at the end of that second season after their application for re-election was rejected at the 1939 Rugby League AGM with the club owing £1,200 to the game’s authorities. Over half a century passed until the game returned to the north east and Gateshead when the International Stadium hosted the pre-season Charity Shield games between Wigan and Hull (22-8 in 1991) and Wigan and St Helens (0-17 in 1992). The Australian tourists beat Great Britain Under 21’s 54-10 in 1994 before the stadium hosted its first full international between England and France in February 1995. Hopes were high that Newcastle United would pursue an interest in applying for entry to the rugby league but this never materialised and the last rugby league game prior to the Thunder’s arrival was Australia’s 66-8 trouncing of Fiji in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. Happily, Rugby League is back in the city, hopefully for many years to come. www.allgoldsrugby.com
THUNDER IN THE NORTH EAST WRITTEN BY CHRIS WILSON NEWCASTLE THUNDER’S STORY REFLECTS THE TURBULENT TIMES RUGBY LEAGUE HAS GONE THROUGH OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS OR SO. Both beneficiary and victim of the Super League vision of big city franchises which would involve mergers among the smaller clubs on the fringes of the heartland of the North, the Thunder were both an expansion franchise and a club in an outpost of the game. In 1998, Gateshead was officially granted a franchise in the Super League ahead of bids from Swansea and Cardiff. The club was named Gateshead Thunder following a public contest, with Shaun McRae, who had won the inaugural Super League title with St Helens, as head coach. McRae assembled a squad largely comprised of experienced Australian players that gelled only after a slow start. The most high profile of them was former Brisbane Broncos, Queensland and Australia hooker Kerrod Walters who was named the club captain. Aboriginal winger, Matt Daylight, was signed from the Adelaide Rams and became the joint leading try scorer in Super League IV with 25 touchdowns in 30 appearances and winger Ian ‘Chook’ Herron became one of the leading goal kickers in the league with 105 goals after signing from Parramatta Eels. Former St George Dragon Luke Felsch was a rugged, hardworking loose forward who regularly topped the tackle count while scrum half Willie Peters from South Sydney racked up 11 tries, a goal and six drop goals in his 27 matches. Following an 18-8 defeat in a preseason friendly at Castleford, Thunder lost their opening two games to Leeds and St Helens before winning five of their next six matches to announce that they would be a force to be reckoned with. Just under 6,000 people braved incessant rain to see skipper Walters lead the side out against Leeds Rhinos at the Gateshead International Stadium – now christened the Thunderdome. The Rhinos triumphed 24-14 in an entertaining match despite the appalling conditions. Professional Rugby League had arrived in the North East. Part 2 follows in the next issue of the All Gold. 7 @AllGolds facebook.com/AllGoldsRugby
Page 1 and 2: INSIDE THIS ISSUE >> NEWCASTLE PREV
Page 3 and 4: ALL GOLD CONTENTS AND INFO 04 WELCO
Page 5: THE ALL GOLD WORLD OF SPORT LAST WE
Page 10 and 11: DUAL REGISTRATION YES OR NO? WRITTE
Page 12 and 13: ALL GOLDS vs. NEWCASTLE PREVIEW WRI
Page 14 and 15: ALL GOLDS vs. COVENTRY BEARS REPORT
Page 16 and 17: UPDATE FROM THE BIRTHPLACE OF INTER
Page 18 and 19: PATHWAY TO PROFESSIONAL GAME BEGINS
Page 20 and 21: WEST OF ENGLAND UPDATE WRITTEN BY C
Page 22 and 23: ALL GOLDS CLS FIXTURES & DATE K.O.
Page 24: ALL GOLDS CLS vs. RLC REPORT THE LO
Page 28 and 29: THE SUPPORTERS VIEW A FEW WORDS FRO
Page 30 and 31: 2016 PLAYER SPONSORSHIP Whether you
Page 32 and 33: ALL GOLDS FIXTURES & RES DATE K.O.
Page 34: ALL GOLDS HEAD COACH: LEE GREENWOOD

All Golds v Newcastle Thunder IPC 2016

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