On Saturday 4 members of our U10's team travelled up to Winlaton to take part in the first festival of the year hosted by Gateshead Storm. Lucy, Oscar, Sam and Faith joined forces with Jerry and Joseph from Storm and they also had players from Rockets rotating in, 2 at a time. The "Barbarians" took on Cramlington Rockets over 2 x 15 mins halves. Despite being thrown together that morning all the players worked together and ensured they passed the ball round and got plenty of runs in each. For Crusaders, Faith was absolutely on fire, with jinking runs and some great tries. She also wasn't scared to let her shoulders do the talking with some great tackles. Oscar built his confidence throughout the game. Offloading the ball when in contact but also making good decisions to just take it in. Again he stuck in some tackles and was always there for the assist. Lucy was dependable as ever, and like Oscar built herself into the game. Usually taking the shortest but most defended route, up the middle, she displayed some great footwork to avoid the defenders. Sam certainly started quiet but after a little bit of encouragement he got himself ready for his first touch of the ball. What a first touch it was, he picked a great gap to run at and crashed his way some straggling defenders to score a try! All 4 of our young Crusaders played extremely well, and clearly had lots of fun. Well done boys and girls!

On Saturday Crusaders U8's enjoyed their first festival of the season, hosted by Gateshead Storm. Max Brown, Henry Lowther and Jacob Lawton all made their debuts for the team. All 3 had cracking performances......... well done boys. The first game was against Rockets 1. The team worked well together and listened to their coach throughout. Both Noah Friend and Tom Gerard bagged a try each in this great game. The next game was a close one against Rockets 2. Crusaders put plenty of scores on the sheet with tries from Austin Gee, Oscar Pennington-Foster, Leonard Waikari and Noah Friend, but it was Tom Geldard who stop Rockets putting on the boosters with some amazing tackling. The final game was against Gateshead Storm. Another great game but despite it end to nature Crusaders were restricted to just one try through Noah Button. This game was definitely one about defence and our youngest Crusaders really showed their tackling skills! Well done Crusaders, a great first hit out!

On Saturday the Crusaders U8's and U10's get their season underway with a festival, hosted by Gateshead Storm. Having got back together in February both sides have been having lots of fun building to the season start. All the players are now excited to take that fun up a level and meet some new faces from the clubs from North East Rugby League. For the U8's Max Brown, Jacob Lawton and Henry Lowther all pull on a Crusaders jersey for the first time, go well boys, we're all rooting for you! In the U10's, Lucy Cawthorne, Archie Lee and Oscar Dorrian all play up as True 9's. Again, boys and girls, everyone wishes you the best at your new age group. Go well, go have fun! The festival is due to kick off at Winlaton RUFC at 10:30am on Saturday. All spectators are welcome. Tea's and coffee's are available but the bacon butties won't be as good as ours! Thanks to Storm for getting the season underway.

Saturday 18 March, see's Newcastle Thunder have their first home game of the season after a month on the road in the Betfred Championship. The great news is, there's plenty for Community Players and Parents to do on match day. Two events precede the big kick off. First up is the Junior Thunder launch which starts at 13:30. Attendees will receive a first team poster, a membership card and 10% discount when they purchase from the club shop. At the event they'll be able to take on first team players at games on the Xbox, or at table tennis, Batak or Corn Toss. Running concurrently with Junior Thunder will be the U12 and U14 SPARC festivals starting at 13:00 until 14:30. Again, Thunder players will be in attendance cheering everyone on and passing on a few tips. For the main event itself Thunder would love you to "Wear Your Colours" to celebrate the start of professional Rugby League at Kingston Park for 2023. Thunder would love to see as many fans as possible in Thunder shirts, or their favourite Superleague, International or Community Club shirt. Let's see plenty of Crusaders colours up there! All juniors involved in Junior Thunder or SPARC will also be involved in pre match activity such as Guard of Honour and flags.

On Saturday 04 March, Catterick Crusaders Masters team got the clubs' 2023 playing schedule underway. The team traveled to West Yorkshire to take on Boothtown Terriers. John "Longers" Longden (black shorts) made his debut at hooker and he clearly hadn't lost any skills in his dummy half pass. Also on debut was Romoi "Bas" Baselala (white shorts) who wreaked a fair amount of havoc at Stand Off and then Centre. The game was started in the usual manner with both sides shaking each other's hands and wishing each other a good game. The spirit of Masters continued throughout the game with some lively chat and banter but also some great Rugby League on display. The comedy moment came from mouth of Boothtown and the boot of scrum half Jason "Jase" Grant, when Jase listened to the shout of "5th and last" without looking at the referee. Whilst admiring his own hefty kick Jase soon realised, by the shrieks of laughter from Boothtown that they'd stitched him up and it was only the 4th tackle (in Masters you can only kick on the 5th and last!). The Boothtown loanee who fell over his own feet trying to clear the Crusaders line does come a very close second though! At the end it was the usual joint huddle before taking advantage of some Boothtown hospitality. Catterick Crusaders Masters would like to thank Boothtown Terriers Masters for a very enjoyable afternoon and we look forward to the return leg. Final Score: 0-0 (Masters don't keep score). Crusaders Master of the Match: Jase Boothtown Master of the Match: Chinny Next Game: Saturday 15 April v Guiseley - away

The 2022 season started with a bang for Crusaders as junior training resumed at Robertson Rd on Saturday morning. Prior to our morning of fun, our Social Touch set up had its usual get together on Friday evening with over 30 players in attendance. The first juniors out of the blocks on Saturday were our youngest groups - the Cubs - who enjoyed a great session under the watchful eye Sarah. Next to get going were the U8’s and U10’s who had great fun with coaches Stephen and Christian (U8’s) and Adam who was assisted by potential coach Dan (U10’s). The focus of the session was about fun. There was plenty of passing and catching and movement skills to get everyone going and to settle the nerves of our newbies! 10:30 saw the U12’s, U13’s girls, U14’s and U16’s get going. The U16’s boasting an impressive 20 players at training. Coaches Gavin, Ian and Ben oversaw an energetic session for the lads, who were more than a little bit excited to see each other again! Jase took the fledgling U13 girls team working, in slow time, on their tackle technique. Sean held a joint session for the U12‘s and U14’s, with over 20 players in attendance from those age groups. In all, over 80 juniors attended our opening session of the season which is outstanding. We are looking forward to next weekend already!!

Since the inception of its junior teams Crusaders have always taken pride in providing Lasting Memories for it members. On Sunday 30 October we’ll be able continue that ethos when we provide player escorts and flag bearers for one of the teams at the Tonga versus Cook Islands, Rugby League World Cup clash. Our Primary ages will escort the players, whilst the Junior Ages (12-16) take care of the flag. If you’d like to get involved in the day, Crusaders are recruiting now, for the 2022 season, and would love to hear from you. Just drop us a message.

Fancy trying your skills out in Rugby League? Catterick Crusaders are actively seeking players to join our club. We run activity from the age of 2, to the age of ….. probably should know better! If you have a boy or a girl, under the age of 18 that fancies giving it a go please follow the link below. If you are a man aged 18 or above, that fancies playing (full contact variant only) please also follow the link. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask! https://membership.mygameday.app/regoform.cgi?aID=25795&pKey=b8a4c24a61c37548abe74dbda1f880c1&cID=24

Former Crusaders junior Oliver Redding has recently been looking to secure sponsorship for his 2022 season campaign with Newcastle Thunder U18’s. We are delighted to announce that 3 sponsors have stepped forward to support Oliver on his journey. Kevin Tasker from The Old Sweet Shop Hawes, Stephen Horsley from TSA and an anonymous sponsor have stepped forward. On match days the sponsors will be displayed, on Kingston Parks big screen, as Catterick Crusaders and TSA, should Oliver be selected. Again a massive Crusaders thank you to those supporting Oliver on his journey.

Four of our players have recently been selected for the Newcastle Thunder U16’s Scholarship. Elijiah Delaidriti, Harry King, Noah Bangura and Seth Clapham are now looking for sponsorship to help support their journey into the Scholarship set up and the forthcoming season. They are looking to raise £120 (inc VAT) each, the money is used to support the Scholarship team throughout the season by supporting the provision of training and playing kit and travel. In return your company or individual name/logo will be displayed on their player profiles and displayed on the big screen at Kingston Park when they are selected to play. Crusaders will also display your name and/or company logo in a thank you article for supporting these players. We are looking for full or part sponsorship. It can be shared by all four or set against an individual, the choice is yours. Any excess funds raised will go towards some kit for the lads. Please PM us if you can help.

On Sunday 23rd January, rugby league fans get their first chance to see the new-look Newcastle Thunder in action at Kingston Park with SuperLeague side Wigan Warriors making the trip to the North East. 2022 marks the start of a closer partnership with the Betfred Super League giants, with Thunder enjoying dual-registration status with the Cherry and Whites and the warm-up making the most of the links. Kicking off at 3pm the match is set to feature extended squads as both sides look to give opportunities to an array of players on their books. For the Thunder side, further interest comes with former Warriors Mitch Clarke, Craig Mullen, Jake Shorrocks, Josh Woods and Nathan Wilde. Tickets for this match are on sale now with Under 16s priced at £5 and all others at £10 and can be booked via the Thunder website, calling 0191 214 5588 (opt 1) or by visiting the Kingston Park Stadium box office. Hospitality options are also available, with Wigan legends Denis Betts, Sean O’Loughlin and Kris Radlinski on hand to share their experiences over pie and peas before the match starts.

Crusaders Open Age are kindly sponsored by Gary Hannah in support of his chosen charity Combat Stress. On Saturday Crusaders took on Durham Tigers at Robertson Rd, in the league, after a disappointing outing, the previous week, in the cup. Despite their position at the foot of the table, Durham Tigers were always going to give Crusaders some trouble (of the right kind) in what is almost a local derby. With the Army’s Inter Corps competition starting and a niggling injury to Jonathon Williams Crusaders had to draft in some former juniors to cover the halfback positions this came in the form of brothers Jeremy and Rupert Civil, who were both outstanding and a massive physical presence. Crusaders kicked off the game, and Tigers immediately started with some penetrating runs up the middle which caught the Crusaders defence a little off guard. However having easily fielded the last play, the Crusaders started their attack by shipping the ball Fred Work on the second play, who broke the line to feed Pita Banivanua who slipped the ball back inside for PJ Fincken-Hayes to carry on the run and score between the uprights. In Eaun Kitching and Tee Vakalevlevu Tigers possessed two fabulous kickers and this hampered Crusaders at almost every restart and Crusaders would find themselves defending rather than attacking from the restart. However once the ball was back in Crusaders hands they carried on delivering the tries. Before the break Pita Banivanua would grab a brace, as did Maika Bose. Manasa Ravulo also grabbed a try and Nemani Tuvakasiga finished the first half scoring with his first try for the club. The second half started in breath taking fashion for Crusaders with centre and winger partnership Fred Work and Pita Banivanua accounting for the next 5 tries between them in blistering fashion! Crusaders play then became a bit disjointed and they came away from their effective structures which played into the hands of Tigers. Despite the disjointed approach Crusaders still managed to post another 3 tries courtesy of PJ Fincken-Hayes and Nemani Tuvakasiga (2). The final score was 76-28 to Crusaders. Crusaders would like to thank the Tunstall Meat Company for providing us with some great quality burgers and sausages to enjoy after the match. Despite the overcast conditions they went down a storm al fresco outside the pavilion. Thank you everyone that tipped up to cheers us on. Our next game is a friendly at home against Yarm Wolves on Thursday.