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It was a super sunny morning in Gateshead last Saturday for the first Primary Rugby League Festival of the season. Crusaders U10’s turned up with 13 enthusiastic players. Who were joined by 3 equally enthusiastic players from Wallsend. This meant we have 16 cracking players ready to split into 2 teams. The 1st game was Catterick Cammo against Cramlington Rockets. The team showed alot of true determination. Working together. Great defense and attack. The score sheet started with Bodhi doing a cracking full length run to score. A perfect example of how to tackle a player goes to Tom G with some outstanding tackles throughout the game. Archie L had an outstanding game with some secure carries and making metres. Rockets Gave Bodhi there MOM for the 1st Game. The 2nd game of the day was Catterick strips against Rocket 2. Catterick came out all guns blazing after waiting to get on the pinch. Junior scored an amazing 7 tries, Noah B scoring 2 and Ollie making his debut also getting over the try line a couple of times. Lucy showing true girl power, pulling off an amazing try stopping tackle. Lukas, also making his debut, put in some amazing tackles and showed some sportsmanship with his compassion for an injuried Rockets player. Junior got MOM from the Rockets coach. Game 3 Catterick Cammo against Rockets 2. Herny started this off with a great run and try. Then Noah F, with his trade mark jinking runs bagged himself 3 tries in a row. Leonard and Austin showed great example of an all round player showing determination within attack and defence. Oscar D ran some great meters forward and his outstanding leadership qualities shone through, organising the team in attack. Noah F recieved MOM from the Rockets Coach. Catterick striped played the final game against Gateshead Storm. Junior showed true character by encouraging the team to move forward. Off the back of this Neil carried the ball forward and the opposition failed to get Neil down. Noah B stepped up his tacklimg, in this game showing true Crusader sprit in defence. Ollie was awarded MOM. Over the 4 games, both teams played really well. We look forward to the rest of the season. Thank you Shauna for the match notes!

On Saturday Catterick Crusaders U8’s got their playing season underway at a festival, at Winlaton RU, hosted by Gateshead Storm. Max B was the only player that wasn’t making his debut on Saturday. Bertie J had some experience having played the year before for Lancashire club Bank Quay Bulls. However, Benjamin N and the Le Cateau Primary School trio, Beauden C, Edward S and Freddie B were all new to the game. The first game was against Cramlington Rockets, who were a very good team with some strong runners and good skills. The Crusaders boys however, held their own and spurred on by some fantastic tackles from Edward, they grew in confidence throughout. Both Max and Bertie used their pace to gain good metres on the edges, whilst Beauden and Benjamin are always going to be a handful with their jinking runs. Freddie really impressed his coaches with his concentration and technique in the tackle, getting better throughout the morning. Next up was a game against Gateshead Storm who also had a number of players from Consett Eagles thrown in. Coach Jason had only asked that the players try to get more involved by maybe doing 1 tackle each or by always being available to run with the ball. They certainly did as they asked and they were all showing great character as the settled in to what was a great game. With the planned fixtures done and dusted there was still a bit of time left in the recommended playing time, and so, Rockets and Crusaders had a rematch. Again the Crusaders players boost their confidence by playing some great Rugby League and left the field with big smiles. Overall it was a very successful morning for this brand new team. Everyone had lots of fun and it was great to see them grow in confidence as the morning went on. This week Crusaders U8’s have training on Saturday at 10am. Please get in touch if you’d like to get involved.

On Saturday, Crusaders Masters travelled west along the A66 to take part in the excellent Cumbria Masters Festival hosted by Carlisle Masters. On the day Crusaders were backed up by our friends from North East Thunder Masters which allowed us a couple of subs. For our first game, Crusaders took on Barrow Masters. Crusaders look a good while to settle into the game, and struggled to get to the back end of their sets. However, once the team had settled, a great game ensued. The white, black and some of the red shorters, got stuck into each other and Crusaders we’re thankful to their yellow and blue shorters who came up with some timely touches in defence. Unfortunately Crusaders lost yellow (60+) shorter Paul Goad early in the game. It transpires that his hamstrings are as dodgy as his musical taste. Get well soon Paul, you’ve got a month until we play Heworth. After great match, Ben Smith took the Richard of the Day Award for managing to mess up the “3 cheers for Barrow” …… yes folks, we know that is nye on impossible to do, but Ben proved that with hard work, dedication and virtually no brain cells, it can be achieved. Next up was a game against Maryport Masters. Things clicked much better for Crusaders in this game and a great game of Masters took place between the two sides. Guesting for Crusaders were blue shorter (80+) and yellow shorter, George Taylor. Having both now played 5 guest games for Crusaders they recieve their heritage numbers (Jim 032, George 033). Nice one, and thank you, you pair of Masters legends! Making his Crusaders debut was yellow shorter Jeff Williams. Jeff came and watched the Boothtown game, 2 weeks earlier, and decided he wanted in on the action. Thank you Carlisle Masters for, not just, a great afternoon of Masters Rugby League, but also a fantastic spread afterwards. We were also extremely happy to be selected as Team of the Day!! Longers and Foxy, made the point that the posh Cumbrian joke had run its course. We were forced to agree and would like to apologise to their butler, who was so angry at our pre match write up he almost forgot to let the Chateau Lafite Rothschild breathe before the meat course. We take no responsibility, however, for their chef over cooking the Foie Gras, that’s a rookie error! Crusaders would like to thank our shirt sponsors, Marstons. We would also like to thank our post match polo sponsors, Burties Hair Design, eCreative Design, Lighthouse Risk Services LLP, iSecure Group and Top Third.

On Saturday Crusaders Masters will travel to Carlisle for the Cumbria Masters Festival. Unlike last year there's no fun bus on offer, which has left posh Cumbrian's Longers and Foxy with a dilemma, of whether to get the chauffeur and Bentley ready, or take the helicopter! Smudge makes his return as his kick and clap game has been moved. Having watched the devastating foot work of some dazzling halfback called Jase, against Boothtown, Jeff Williams will make his Crusaders debut. Darren missed the Boothtown game but makes himself available after a morning of coaching the Crusaders U8’s in their festival, where he’s hoping to pick up a few tips on catching the ball. Paul Goad makes his second appearance as a gold shorter and has responsibility for the tuneage for our post festival social media posts. We’re not sure Beethovens 5th symphony will go down well wiv da kidz, but we’ll give it a whirl! As ever we must thank our Masters brothers at North East Thunder for backing us up.

On Saturday, 4 of Crusaders Junior sides will get their seasons underway at multiple festivals being hosted by Gateshead Storm. The U8's and U10's will play in seperate Primary Rugby League festivals. The U8's have gathered together 4 plucky players wanting to play. Benjamin, Teddy and Beauden will be taking to the pitch for their first ever Rugby League festival. Max, our True U8, adds some experience. The U10's take a fantastic 13 players for their festival with the the majority of the players being True U9's. The U10's also have a good smattering of debutants. The U12's are entering the Spring Sixes. A fantastic concept used to get players playing game whilst early season numbers are low. The U12's will be taking 18 players and fielding two sides. The squad includes 7 debutants. The U16's travel relatively light with just 6 players for their Spring Sixes but are raring to go, have most of the players already having bagged some game time in the Thunder Lions Programme. It's great to have teams back out playing games again and we look forward letting everyone know how they got on, during next week. Crusaders are always on the look out new players please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to join us. With mixed Touch Rugby (14+), Cubs, U8's, U10's, U12's, U14's, U16's and Masters (over 35's) we have something for everyone!

Yesterday, Crusaders Masters took on Boothtown Masters in the opening game of the season. Numbers were a bit tight for the fixture due to work commitments, illness, family commitments and Darlington Rugby Union's Cup fixtures. However with help from our Masters brothers from North East Thunder Masters we assembled a squad of 14. As ever the game was played in great Masters spirit with both sets of white and black shorters getting stuck into each other as well a few red shorters who clearly indicated they were happy "their terms" were not passive terms. Longers had a cracking game putting himself around park and scored a beautiful try off the back of some slick hands. We'd have loved to have had a drink with him afterwards but his butler was waiting impatiently in the Bentley to whisk him back to his mansion in Cumbria as he had guests staying in the converted stables. Lee Kelley gave us some great go forward with some barnstorming runs, well, the ones not pinged by the ref for using a hand off were anyway!!! He'll get used to it. Two players made their debut yesterday. Simon Priestley, who previously coached Crusaders Open Age alongside Jase. Paul Goad also made his debut and played an absolute blinder. Guest player Alex Cook-Smith was awarded his Crusaders heritage number, having now played 5 times for us as a guest. Guest player George Taylor took the very well deserved Master of the Match Award. His devastating side step was even on display in the bar, where he dodged the pint off with the opposition MoM. Crusaders Masters would like to thank Boothtown for travelling up for what was a great game. Thank you Paul Clarke for not only reffing the game but also for providing the aftermatch snap. The best Currywurst you'll get outside of Germany!!! Thank you to John and the staff at The Hildyard Arms for hosting us after the match. Thank you to our kit sponsors Marstons and our after match polo sponsors, Burties Hair Design, iSecure Group, Lighthouse Risk Services LLP, eCreative Design and Top Third. Crusaders Masters are next in action at the Cumbria Festival on 27 April. For more photos of yesterday please visit the shared gallery on our Website.

Crusaders have a long history of its club coaches putting their skills into action in other settings. One coach doing exactly that, currently, is U12’s Head Coach, Adam Coburn. Adam is the current Army Rugby League Women’s Head Coach and this week he has had the side together for a pre season training camp in Chester. The ladies have had a tough but enjoyable week under Adam’s guidance, honing their skills in preparation for another season in the Superleague South competition. They will also be focussed on retaining the Inter Service Trophy in September. A competition the ARL(W) team has never lost. Speaking about the camp, Adam said "it's been a really good week and we've achieved a lot. We're setting our sights high, and want to push for a place in Women's Superleague." Adam will be back with our U12's on Saturday morning, and would love to hear from any new players that might be interested.

On Saturday 6 of our Masters team took the opportunity to guest for our pals North East Thunder Masters. The Spirit of Masters allows players to play as guests for other clubs as long as they are registered with their parent club. Thunder have had a resurgence in interest and activity in recent months and are going from strength to strength. In total they had 20 players available to them on Saturday, the majority of which were their own. The fixture on Saturday was lucky to go ahead, after initially being cancelled on Friday morning it was back on again in the afternoon after tremendous work by hosts, Carlisle Masters, to shift the game south to Penrith RU and their AGP surface. The Crusaders guesting for Thunder were, Jason Grant, Lee Kelley, Darren Cunnington, Jay Wainwright, Ben Smith and Kev Forrester. Each of them getting plenty of playing time. The match was played in great spirit by both teams, and despite the blustery conditions there was some great Rugby League on display. That is if you discount the kicking game, the wind ruined many a good kick often seeing the ball sail straight into touch. Regular fans of the page will now be putting Jase’s name against these boot to ball mishaps ........... not this time sports fans, not this time. Jase had only the one kick and it stayed well within the field of play! North East Thunder Masters, Master of the Match went to Graham Lupton on his Masters debut, very well deserved. The game was brilliantly officiated by Luke Naylor. Thank you to Carlisle Masters for working so hard to get the game on. Thank you to North East Thunder Masters for letting us be part of the day.

On Thursday 04 April, Thunder Community's Development Officer returned to Catterick Garrison to run a long awaited Coaching Camp for Crusaders. Crusaders were really happy that 18 of their juniors booked onto the camp. Crusaders utilised the excellent facilities of Wavell Rd Sports Pitches, which has been our pre-season training base since February. In the morning the groups covered Play the Ball and Catch and Pass. Combining skills phases with plenty of fun games. After lunch, it was all fun games for everyone to enjoy. Crusaders U12's coach, Adam Coburn, introduced everyone to a great game called Mario Carts - no not that one - the Thunder Community staff will definitely be pinching that idea. Also in the mix were games like bulldog, cops and robbers, Doctors and various relay games. One game the attendees certainly weren't expecting was a small team memory game, Kim's Game. Everyone scored really well at this, but team Wrecking Ball took the honours with a score of 21, which included some well deserved bonus points. Everyone left with big smiles on their faces, having enjoyed the day.

Thunder Community Rugby Camps are back! Get yourself booked on! It's fantastic news the Thunder Community Rugby Camps are back in the calendar, and Crusaders are very happy to be selected to host the first one in over a year. Thunder Community Rugby Camps are great fun, coupling Rugby League skills development with fun and games. The camp takes place on Thursday 4th April, at Wavell Rd pitches, between 10am and 3pm. Our camp can be booked following this link; https://www.rugbycamps.co.uk/thunder The camps are delivered by Thunder Community staff, who are coaching, safeguarding and first aid trained. Let's do the Crusader thing and make this a massive day with great numbers booked on.

Crusaders are pleased to announce they have partnered up the Contour Sport who will be providing our training and leisure wear for 2024. Our club shop can be found at https://www.contoursport.com/cc where you will find an extensive range of smart clothing to kit yourself out with, at great prices. As the partnership develops, in the coming months, we will be adding some bespoke sublimated items to the range. We look forward to seeing lots of Crusaders kitted out in their new stash.

Saturday marked the Launch Weekend for Masters Rugby League. Crusaders Masters decided to join forces with North East Thunder Masters and take a trip over to Cumbria for a festival hosted by Arlecdon Rams. Despite it being a dark blustery day, the joint team recieved a warm welcome over West, and were soon guided to where they needed to be etc, by Arlecdon's ladies section, Arlecdon Ewes. Also in attendance were Carlisle Masters, Maryport Masters and Barrow Masters. The joint team were drawn against the hosts and Carlisle. Both games were played in great Masters spirit and a great deal of fun despite the cold weather. Turning out for the joint team from Crusaders were, Paul Clarke, Don Payne, Darren Cunnington and Ian McKechnie. After the games we enjoyed some great Cumbrian hospitality in the impressive Arlecdon club house. Lots of memorabilia on display for Rugby League geeks. It was Crusaders shirts on display on Saturday, and we'd like to thank our shirt sponsors Marstons. Also thanks to our polo shirt sponsors Burties Hair Design, iSecure Group, eCreative Design, Lighthouse Risk Services LLP and Top Third. Crusaders Masters will next be in action, at home, against our friends from Boothtown Terriers on Saturday 13 April at Robertson Rd. All support is welcome.