Newcastle Thunder Academy squads confirmed for 2023

Newcastle Thunder is delighted to announce that the squads for the club’s academies and scholarship pathways have been confirmed for the upcoming season.

In total an impressive 80 players from across the North East, Cumbria and North Yorkshire will represent Newcastle Thunder across the age-grades from under-15s to under-18s.

Seven community clubs as well as Tyne Met College are represented in the player pool. Gateshead Storm (26), Yarm Wolves (19) and Cramlington Rockets (15) offer a strong presence in the academy programme with a total of 60 players featuring between them.

Reflecting positively on the effort and dedication those clubs put into their junior sections, there is also great representation from four other clubs including Catterick Crusaders (9), Whitley Bay Barbarians (4), Hensingham (2) and Aspatria (2) as well as players from Tyne Met College (3) who work closely with the Newcastle Rugby Foundation.

Introduced early this year ahead of the 2023 season, Newcastle Thunder launched a new player pathway programme that included a series of training sessions across north and south areas of the region, with two origin fixtures between the two camps also taking place.

The success of the programme is clearly reflected in both the numbers and quality of players selected to represent Thunder at age-grade level. It is also a testament to all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make rugby league as accessible and as competitive as ever before in the North East. 

The academy programme is currently being led by passionate Geordie and Thunder man Graeme Neighbour, who said: “The player pool is definitely expanding, there’s a lot more players that are able to access pathway this year due to us splitting into North and South areas, or origins as we like to call it.

“This is because this year it's been allowed for us to have more players access the programme, which is always what we want and what we're looking for.

“We want to make it more accessible and gain those numbers, and this year there’s been a great buy-in which is great to see.

“A huge thank you must go to all the community clubs, the community coaches and the community staff working here at the club, because at the end of the day that’s where the players are coming from.”

Alluding to the standards he’s seen across the board, Neighbour added: “The standards are rising each year, which is only a good thing.

“Players are starting from a younger age, and when they commit to the scholarship or academy programme they already have good core skills we’re looking for.

“We just need to continue to push them so they can improve and get them ready for the next step up.”

Reflecting on this year’s success so far and what he envisions for the future, Neighbour said: “The programme is something we can definitely build on. Even though we introduced the North and South pathways this year we’re already thinking ahead to how we can expand to different age groups, like the under-12s for example.

“It gives players the opportunity to be in the system for longer, and in turn the club has more time with the player. We know as a club that players will develop at different ages, so having that spread across the age-groups is really beneficial.”

Speaking on the confirmation of Thunder’s academy squad, head coach Chris Thorman said: “I've said it plenty of times now, that if this club is going to thrive and be sustainable in the future then we need thriving academies and scholarships.

“Graeme Neighbour has been doing a great job with it. I’ve been working with him relatively closely for the last two months, and I’ve seen what he puts into it and how hard he works. Hopefully our scholarship programme and academy set-up are going to be a reflection of all his hard work.

“You use any good Super League club as a template of success, and all the top teams have outstanding scholarships and academies, which is absolutely what we must strive for.

“I've already worked with a lot of these kids, helping aid their development, and I really enjoy doing that.

“It's something that that needs to happen and will happen going forward, and I'm just really excited to watch them develop and watch them play the not-too-distant future”

The academy squads will play regularly throughout the season, with home fixtures taken place at Kingston Park.

2023 season ticket holders gain access to these home games for FREE, and from as little as £99 for adults and £10 for U16s, you can get yours today. To purchase, click HERE.

2023 Newcastle Thunder Academy squads

U18 Academy

Joe Bradley (Catterick Crusaders)

Oli Breeze (Catterick Crusaders)

Zach Ikwue (Cramlington Rockets)

Thomas Luke (Cramlington Rockets)

James Snowden (Cramlington Rockets)

Andrew Ripley (Cramlington Rockets)

Nathaniel Ohimor (Gateshead Storm)

Alfie Gray (Gateshead Storm)

Tom Siddle (Gateshead Storm)

Harry Lowery (Gateshead Storm)

Jacob Rennison (Gateshead Storm)

Osian Bodman (Gateshead Storm)

Ollie Shaw (Yarm Wolves)

Jack Harvey (Tyne Met College)

Andrew Berry (Tyne Met College)

Kane Deakin (Tyne Met College)

U17 Academy

Cameron Cullen (Cramlington Rockets)

Tom Stringer (Cramlington Rockets)

Aaron Nokes (Cramlington Rockets)

Seth Newstead (Cramlington Rockets)

Ryan King (Cramlington Rockets)

Flynn Bolton (Gateshead Storm)

Leo Bradley (Gateshead Storm)

Dylan Bragg (Hensingham)

Nathan Proctor (Whitley Bay Barbarians)

 

U16 Academy

Seth Clapham (Catterick Crusaders/St Francis Xavier)

Noah Bangura (Catterick Crusaders/St Francis Xavier)

Owen Tyler-Cole (Catterick Crusaders/Hummersknott Academy)

Elijah Delaidriti (Catterick Crusaders/Richmond High)

Harry King (Catterick Crusaders/St Francis Xavier)

Max Lyon (Cramlington Rockets/KEVI Morpeth

Harry Spedding (Cramlington Rockets/KEVI Morpeth)

Fin Lawless (Cramlington Rockets/KEVI Morpeth)

Matty Smith (Cramlington Rockets/Marden High)

Isaac McIntosh (Cramlington Rockets/Emmanuel College)

Flynn Taylor (Cramlington Rockets/John Spence)

Evan Bradford (Gateshead Storm/John Spence)

Matty Rolls (Gateshead Storm/Whitley Bay High)

Noah Thompson (Gateshead Storm/Whitley Bay High)

James Burns (Gateshead Storm/St Leonards)

Bobby Wilson (Gateshead Storm/Kepier)

Harrison Elliott (Gateshead Storm/Harton Academy)

Sam Higgins (Gateshead Storm/Whitley Bay High)

Joe Miller (Whitley Bay Barbarians/Astley High)

Robbie Turnbull (Whitley Bay Barbarians/Whitley Bay High)

Seamus Knight (Whitley Bay Barbarians/St Marys Catholic School)

Kieran McNeil (Yarm Wolves/Our Lady & St Bedes)

Robbie Carr-Riley (Yarm Wolves/Our Lady & St Bedes)

Joe Banks (Yarm Wolves/Egglescliffe)

 

U15 Academy

Saul Campbell (Gateshead Storm/Venerable Bede)

Thomas Brewis (Gateshead Storm/Whickham School)

Dylan Hodgson (Gateshead Storm/Emmanuel College)

Sam Parks (Gateshead Storm/Whitburn CofE)

Dan Wilkinson (Gateshead Storm/St Bedes Roman Catholic School)

Thomas Dobinson (Gateshead Storm/Whitburn CofE)

Ramsay Wake (Yarm Wolves /Ian Ramsey School)

Leo Ayton-Ridley (Yarm Wolves/St Michaels)

Charlie Benn (Yarm Wolves /Our Lady & St Bede School)

Preston Meloy (Hensingham/St Benedicts)

 

U15/16 Development Academy

Alistair Abraham (Aspatria/Nelson Thomlinson)

Jayden Johnston (Aspatria/Trinity School)

Jake Remmer (Catterick Crusaders/Carmel College)

Myles Michaels (Catterick Crusaders/Richmond School)

Ryan Oxley (Gateshead Storm/Heworth Grange)

Dylan Moody (Gateshead Storm/Cardinal Hume)

Zak Brooks (Gateshead Storm/Cardinal Hume)

Adam Rocks (Gateshead Storm/Heworth Grange)

Nathan Murray (Gateshead Storm/Harton Academy)

Edward Cook-Smith (Yarm Wolves/MacMillan Academy)

Robbie Turnbull (Yarm Wolves/Carmel College)

Charlie Hunter (Yarm Wolves/Ian Ramsey)

Ryan Scott (Yarm Wolves/Egglescliffe)

Rhys Mungwadzi (Yarm Wolves/Our Lady and St Bede Catholic Academy)

Cian Murray (Yarm Wolves/Our Lady and St Bede Catholic Academy)

Noah Patterson (Yarm Wolves/Ian Ramsey)

Ashton Patterson (Yarm Wolves/Ian Ramsey)

Kenzie Paxton (Yarm Wolves/Our Lady and St Bede Catholic Academy)

Danny Harris (Yarm Wolves/Egglescliffe)

Fenton Burns (Yarm Wolves/All Saints Academy)

Bobby Cornforth (Yarm Wolves/All Saints Church of England)