{"id":421652,"date":"2026-01-18T18:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T18:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/421652\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T18:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T18:00:09","slug":"newcastle-thunder-earn-first-win-since-2023-at-midlands-hurricanes-total-rugby-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/421652\/","title":{"rendered":"Newcastle Thunder earn first win since 2023 at Midlands Hurricanes \u2013 Total Rugby League"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

MIDLANDS HURRICANES 10 NEWCASTLE THUNDER 28
IAN GOLDEN, Avery Fields, Sunday<\/p>\n

AUSTRALIAN signing Cody Hunter touched down twice as Newcastle sealed their first win since September 2023 to spoil Midlands\u2019 new-home party.<\/p>\n

Thunder, who lost every game in both 2024 and 2025, have completely overhauled their squad during the close-season with the help of their partnership with Super League newcomers York.<\/p>\n

Halfback Hunter has come in from Queensland Cup side Sunshine Coast Falcons, and played a key role in Newcastle\u2019s first win in 46 attempts.<\/p>\n

Birmingham-based Hurricanes have moved from the Alexander Stadium to Avery Fields, the ground of Bournville Rugby Union Club \u2013 and during the build-up to this match, announced contract extensions to 2029 for coach Mark Dunning and assistant Leigh Beattie.<\/p>\n

But it was Newcastle team chief Graham Steadman who was smiling after his side chalked up five tries.<\/p>\n

Newcastle were Midlands\u2019 opponents in their final game at the Alexander Stadium in September. The match even had the same referee, Adam Williams.<\/p>\n

Then the home side won easily, but this contest was in complete contrast.<\/p>\n

Of the Newcastle side who turned out in the fixture last season, only winger Brad Ward lined up again. There were 15 club debutants, with prop Bailey Antrobus making just his second appearance.<\/p>\n

For Midlands, halfbacks Danny Craven and Lewis Else, centre\/secondrow Toby Warren and forwards Tyler Dickinson, Zach Jebson and Brandon Moore made first outings.<\/p>\n

It was a tough and error-strewn affair. Thirteen scrums were given away, eight by Midlands, and Newcastle took advantage with a side who played well and look like they mean business.<\/p>\n

After a perfect first few sets, the first mistake resulted in the first try. After Newcastle picked up a dropped ball on halfway, Hunter went over on the final tackle of the set and Jack Smith converted.<\/p>\n

The second try came on 21 minutes. Noah Whittingham broke from the 30-metre line and outpaced everyone to score. Smith added to extras.<\/p>\n

Midlands hit back eleven minutes later. Matty Chrimes picked up a high lob from the final tackle of a set and slipped through to score wide out, but Else couldn\u2019t improve.<\/p>\n

The visitors were closest to scoring again before the break, but despite three successive sets in the last few minutes of the half, couldn\u2019t get over the line.<\/p>\n

They did extend their lead 14 minutes into the second half. Will Roberts finally found a gap to break through and score under the posts, with Smith converting.<\/p>\n

The match was played in good spirits until the 63rd minute, when a brawl could have resulted in cards, but the referee, who had a good game, controlled it all well and allowed the match to continue with a full complement.<\/p>\n

With 14 minutes remaining, Newcastle sealed victory. Following a penalty, there was a good set of six and Hunter slipped in for his second try, with Smith again kicking the goal.<\/p>\n

Will Dagger crossed wide out for Newcastle\u2019s fifth to put the icing on the cake, although Smith was for once off target from the tee.<\/p>\n

The last word went to Midlands as Ryan Johnson found his way through and Sully Medforth converted.<\/p>\n

GAMESTAR: This was a good team performance by Newcastle, but Will Dagger was the stand-out.<\/p>\n

GAMEBREAKER: Cody Hunter\u2019s second try after 66 minutes. With Jack Smith\u2019s goal, it was 24-4.<\/p>\n

MATCHFACTS<\/p>\n

HURRICANES
1 Todd Horner
2 Matty Chrimes
3 Ryan Johnson
4 Ross Oakes
5 Luis Roberts
6 Danny Craven
7 Lewis Else
8 Jon Luke Kirby
9 Aiden Roden
10 Tyler Dickinson
11 Tom Wilkinson
21 Zach Jebson
14 Brandon Moore
Subs (all used)
13 Mikey Wood
16 Zeus Silk
19 Sully Medforth
20 Toby Warren<\/p>\n

Tries: Chrimes (32), Johnson (79)
Goals: Else 0\/1, Medforth 1\/1<\/p>\n

THUNDER
21 Will Dagger
2 Andy Djeukessi
3 Joe Law
25 Jack Smith
5 Brad Ward
6 Cody Hunter
7 Will Roberts
8 Bailey Antrobus
9 Taylor Pemberton
10 Ryan Jackson
11 Harvey Reynolds
12 Noah Whittingham
22 John Sagaga
Subs (all used)
14 Maxime Rostang
16 Leo Tennison
18 Ukuma \u03a4a\u2019ai
23 Aidan McGowan<\/p>\n

Tries: Hunter (8, 66), Whittingham (21), Roberts (54), Dagger (74)
Goals: Smith 4\/5<\/p>\n

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 4-12; 4-18, 4-24, 4-28, 10-28<\/p>\n

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Hurricanes: Tyler Dickinson; Thunder: Will Dagger<\/p>\n

Penalty count: 6-6
Half-time: 4-12
Referee: Adam Williams
Attendance: 413<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIDLANDS HURRICANES 10 NEWCASTLE THUNDER 28IAN GOLDEN, Avery Fields, Sunday AUSTRALIAN signing Cody Hunter touched down twice as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-421652","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}