Kingstone Press League 1 Preview: London Skolars v Newcastle Thunder

London Skolars were beaten 40-10 at York City Knights last week.

Coach Jermaine Coleman said: “It was a little bit better. I thought we showed a lot more effort and a little bit more application but we struggled to control the ruck because York played extremely fast.

“Overall it was a step forward looking at where the club was at the start of the season when they played York to where they were at the weekend. It’s a huge step forward to knock off 30 points in the space of two months.

“Newcastle are playing really well this year, they’ve recruited really well and brought in quite a lot of players so it’s definitely going to be a difficult challenge for us but one that the boys are looking forward to.

“I’m certainly looking forward to testing myself against a quality opposition.”

Forwards Dave Williams and Will Lovell are likely to return this week.

Against the University of Gloucestershire All Golds last week Stanley Gene’s Newcastle Thunder lost Jordan Meads in the warm up, had Matty Barron sent to the sin bin and later Louis Sherriff sent off.

“It was pretty disruptive but the character of the boys came through,” said Gene.

“We’re travelling down to London on the day, which will test the boys mentally but we’ll be alright. In any comp anywhere you can be right at the bottom or right at the top but on the day if you prepare really well and get the focus right you can do a job.

“If you lose concentration and think it’s going to be an easy game – you never know, so we’ll be prepared for it. There’s no excuses about travelling down on the day, if the players aren’t right they shouldn’t be in the team.”