Rugby league: Mayfield preview

Joe Taira and Sam Wright both looking at a return on Saturday

Saturday 1 April will be a massive day at the Mayfield Sports Centre as the club will play in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup for the first time in its history. Their opponents are Championship side Newcastle Thunder.

There have been many big clashes between Mayfield and professional clubs in round three but this is the first time they have reached this stage of the competition. They have got here by virtue of two outstanding performances, beating Cornwall and Leigh Miners at their own grounds. Saturday will be totally different though, the visitors, Newcastle Thunder play one level below the Super League and will be a big step up for National Conference League side Mayfield.

That said, The Thunder have not had a good start to their campaign with just one win and one draw out of seven outings and sit firmly at the foot of the league. They are playing against some of the biggest names in rugby league week in week out, Widnes Vikings, London Broncos and Featherstone Rovers among them. They will be coming to Rochdale full of confidence and sure of the win. A win that could kick start their season. Thunder have a tie in with Super League side Hull FC and have four players dual registered at the moment with plenty of Super League experience between them. The rumour at the minute however, is that Hull will not allow these players to take part in todays game because it would leave them cup tied in any further rounds for their parent club. this could be a bit of gamesmanship though.

Mayfield have started the season strongly with some great performances. Last week they blotted their copy book with a below par performance at West Hull in the NCL Premier Division going down 28 - 10 with tries from the evergreen Wayne English and the ever improving Callum Ogden. There were a couple of players missing from that defeat who are hoping to be back for this game, big prop Joe Taira and stand off Sam Wright. Both lads have had great starts to their season and have played big parts in Mayfield's progression in this competition.

Coaches Sam Butterworth and Steve Wood take their team into this game as massive underdogs and there is no pressure on them or the team to come up with a win, as long as they put in a good performance and give a good showing of themselves all at the club will be happy.

"Despite their league showing make no mistake Newcastle are a good side a very good side," said Butterworth. "They may not be getting the results but look at the level they play at. They should be fitter than us and have more experience at playing at this level of intensity, but we are not worried. We are going into this game as with any other; we want to win.

"We won't be playing defensive rugby we will attack at every opportunity and who knows what will happen, if we get a lucky break or two or a couple of decisions go our way we could rattle the Thunder.

"For most of our lads this will be the biggest game of their careers and there may be some nerves but to counter that we have Sean Penkywicz in the middle of the park. He has shown already what a big influence he can have on a game and we will be looking for that this weekend.

"Whatever the result we will be celebrating after the game, either the win or the fact that we have achieved this milestone."

Sponsors for the big game on Saturday are long-time friends of the club and Rochdale sport in general, Recruitment Solutions and Ace Electrical.

Supporters are reminded there is car parking available at Castleton Community Centre. Please park responsibly and respect the club's neighbours.

Fixture Saturday 1 April 2023

• Challenge Cup 4th round: Mayfield v Newcastle Thunder, kick off 1pm