It’s been just under a year since Novocastrians made the trip to Ryton, and some mixed emotions come straight to mind when we think about it. From going down 3 tries to nil within 10 minutes of kick off battling against some horrid wind, to charging down a last-minute drop kick attempt to secure the game after an epic comeback.

The weather this week however, looks set to be easier to manage than it was this time last year, but nontheless we are well aware of the dangers that Ryton can pose in the early exchanges of any fixture so we are going to be on high alert as we have been in the last couple of weeks as we go in search of returning to our try scoring ways.

The team is fairly similar to the squad that was named to face Ponteland just two weeks ago. The front row remains unchanged, Tom Taylor has been having an immense few weeks since returning to 100% after his injuries and David Lawson and Ben Rodgers have both been looking dangerous and physical at training this week.

The second-row does see a change though, Jeremy hunt slides back into the back row to make room for big Jonny Cotterill, our recently capped North of England player. He pairs up with the even bigger Johnny Allton who will be eager to replicate some magic he pulled off in this fixture last year.

Jeremy hunt will instead join captain George Bambrick in the back row as our top try scorer Rob Baldwin retains his spot in the 8 shirt. You can expect these 3 to get up to a lot of work tomorrow against an expected physical Ryton pack.

As for the backs, Michael Searle moves back into his regular center channel at number 12 and Ben Jubb joins him one step wider in the 13 shirt.

The halfbacks remain unchanged, and the regular pairing of Rhys Merlane and Josh Farley will be orchestrating the day waiting for the perfect time to strike. Finally in the back 3 we have an electric trio to be really excited about. Sam Busby, on the verge of breaking the clubs all time try scoring record will tear things up at 15, and outside him Max Cook retains his shirt after a good runout two weeks ago. The one change in the back 3 comes in the form of Adam Lambert, an electric player who has had a spell of opportunities in a 1st XV shirt but now will really be looking to make it count against a bigger set of opposition.

As for the bench, Callum Todd looks set to make his debut, after performing for Northumbria University earlier this season, he will be a huge impact to have for us on Saturday. Ant McQuillin also remains set to clean things up at scrum time when needs be and Sam Cleife will take up the final backs spot in the 18 shirt.

So, a pretty big day for the club as the 1st XV aim to secure a 2nd place finish in the league and go one place further than we managed last year heading into an important away fixture in the Papa John's cup to our friendly rivals down the road in Medicals after the end of the season.

So, it's not too far a trip to come down and support the lads in the sun tomorrow afternoon for a 15:00 kick off, we can use all the support we can get so see you there!

1st XV Meet Time – 13:00

Kick Off Time – 15:00

2nd XV Meet Time – 13:00

Kick Off Time – 15:00