Hunslet travel up to Blaydon tomorrow (June 6th 4pm) to play Newcastle Thunder in a return of the fixture The Parksiders won back in April with a penalty kick on the hooter.
Head Coach Kyle Trout has patched up his bruised and busted squad and has added some strength and size with loan signings.
Pauli Pauli and Jordan Baldwinson come in on loan from Doncaster, whilst Luka Atkinson returns after a week away.
“We’ve had some knocks over the last few weeks, Jayden Hatton who only recently joined is out for 2 months, and we miss Myles Harrop this week with a HIA, but it’s great to have Jordan back as he’s enjoyed his time here and brings great experience. Pauli is a big body and a handful, he has NRL experience and I’ve played against him so know his strengths, and Luka impressed at Barrow so it’s good to have him back.”
Another recognisable face in the squad is Alfie Goddard. The former Hunslet & Keighley man has been ripping it up at Hunslet ARLFC and Trout moved to bring him back to the South Leeds Stadium.
“I’ve known Alfie a long time as he played with my brother from a young age. He’s playing really well at Hunslet ARLFC, and it’s great to forge links with a top local Club, it’ll be different to last time Alfie was here, but it’s an exciting opportunity.”
Looking at this week’s opponents Trout is not worried about loans from York
“I’ve seen their team and they have some good players coming in, but I’m not worried. It will be a good test. They may feel hard done to after last time, but if we keep to our attacking style and cut out the errors, we’ll cause them problems. They were quick around the ruck last time, which is how they got back in the game, so we need to be aware of that. Injuries may mean we have to swap and change, but with Billy and Eddie leading the line we can throw punches and be confident we can win.”
After good performances against Barrow and London in the last fortnight Hunslet will be confident they can topple Newcastle, but Thunder are 2nd in the table at the moment and will be hoping to gain some revenge for that last minute defeat back in April.
20-man squad
