MATCH PREVIEW: MIDLANDS HURRICANES V GOOLE VIKINGS (BETFRED LEAGUE ONE ROUND 13)

The Alexander Stadium - Home of the Midlands Hurricanes

Canes welcome Vikings to The Alex for the first time

Round 13 of the 2025 Betfred League One season is upon us, and the Canes are back at The Alexander Stadium after three weeks away as we host rugby league’s newest semi-professional team in Goole Vikings. The men’s clash with Goole (2pm) is one of three Canes games taking place at The Alex tomorrow, with Women’s Captain Alex Stock leading our ladies team into games against Nottingham Outlaws (11am) and Leamington Royals (12:45pm).

Head Coach Mark Dunning will be looking for his men to bounce back from last week’s 14-4 defeat to league leaders North Wales Crusaders in Colwyn Bay, however Midlands can take solace in the fact that both defeats to North Wales were separated by convincing victories over Rochdale Hornets (10-22), Whitehaven (38-8) and Swinton Lions (38-26). The Canes remain in second place with 15 points from a possible twenty, and with North Wales facing Workington tomorrow there is a possibility for Midlands to return within a point of the league leaders or stretch their gap over Workington to four points if they can do the double over Goole. In terms of his 21-man squad, Mark has made only one change with Captain Callum McLelland replaced with returning winger Luis Roberts.

Turning to our opponents, Goole Vikings are a relatively new entity in all aspects. Considered to be the successor club to Goole RLFC (which disbanded almost 125 years ago), the Vikings formed in 2018 and initially competed in the Yorkshire Men’s League, the second tier of the community game and part of the fifth tier of the rugby league pyramid. Following London Skolars’ decision to withdraw from League One at the end of the 2023 season, the RFL invited clubs to place bids to join the third tier of rugby league from the 2025 season onwards. Despite several clubs expressing interest there were only three clubs (Anglian Vipers, Bedford Tigers and Goole) that eventually submitted bids and as the dust settled it would be revealed that Goole had been the only successive bidder. The Vikings have taken this opportunity seriously, with the club appointing former Hull KR, Wigan and Hull FC player Scott Taylor as Head Coach and making a raft of impressive signings, including but not limited to former Hull FC stalwart Jamie Shaul and Captain Brett Ferres.

The Vikings Betfred League One campaign began with a weather-beaten affair at The Victoria Pleasure Ground against none other than the Canes, and until the final ten minutes it looked like the Vikings would kick their campaign off with a win. However, late tries from Luis Roberts and Matty Hanley - the latter coming from a sublime offload by Ryan Johnson - saw the Canes leave the VPG with the all important two points. That initial defeat would be followed by another close home defeat, this time to Dewsbury Rams (16-22) before current League Leaders North Wales Crusaders muscled their way to a comfortable 6-28 victory in Goole. Another competitive loss to Swinton Lions at Heywood Road would follow (30-28), and despite some strong performances the Vikings were 0-4 in the early stages of their league campaign. Their fortunes would, however, take an immediate turn for the better as they recorded back-to-back wins.

Their first win came at the expense of Keighley Cougars, with both teams scrambling for their first league victory in 2025 and a nail-biting 18-24 finish sending the League One newboys back to Goole with their first ever League One win. Goole would then travel to winless Newcastle Thunder, with a closer-than-expected contest seeing Goole eventually depart Blaydon RFC with another two points as the game finished 16-34 in their favour. Results would take a dip thereafter, with a heavy 50-6 loss to Rochdale Hornets at the Crown Oil Arena followed by a high-scoring 42-24 loss to Whitehaven at the Ortus Rec. A third successive loss to Workington at Derwent Park was on the cards, however a respectable performance saw them only fall to a 24-16 loss against one of the league’s in-form sides. Their most recent game saw them record a third league victory over Dewsbury Rams, with a scrappy affair concluding in a 14-20 win at The Flair Stadium to bring them within three points of 7th-placed Whitehaven. We have no doubt Scott Taylor’s men will be looking for a second opportunity to achieve back-to-back wins and to avoid the Canes doing the double on home turf.

Today is your last chance to save money on ticket prices for tomorrow’s fixture, with prices to rise by £2 (£1 for U16s) for those paying on the gate tomorrow. Advanced ticket prices are:

£15 Adults
£12 Concessions (O65/17-21)
£7 Student
£1 U16

Tickets - which entitle fans to watch all four women’s games and the men’s game against Goole - can be purchased HERE. We hope to see as many fans as possible to cheer on the Canes as they aim to bounce back with an eighth Betfred League One win. COME ON YOU CANES!

21-Man Squads:

Midlands Hurricanes (brought to you by www.enjoytravel.com)
1 - Todd Horner (Sponsored by Yorkshire Ceiling Services)
2 - Matty Chrimes (Sponsored by Lowry Recruitment)
3 - Ryan Johnson (Sponsored by Hull Wyke RL)
4 - Ross Oakes (Sponsored by Geoff and Maureen Hammond)
8 - Jon-Luke Kirby (C) (Sponsored by EJ Interiors Ltd)
9 - Danny Barcoe (Sponsored by St Katherine’s Carpets)
11 - Tom Wilkinson (Sponsored by JW Visual)
12 - Josh Jordan-Roberts (Sponsored by 39 Steps Consulting)
13 - Mikey Wood (Sponsored by MG Electrical Contractors)
14 - Aiden Roden (Sponsored by Enjoy Travel Group)
15 - Aaron Willis (Available to Sponsor)
16 - Ellis Hobson (Sponsored by GLLEE UK Ltd)
18 - Zeus Silk (Sponsored by This is Warrior)
19 - Marcus Green (Available to Sponsor)
20 - Elliot Morris (Sponsored by GLR Energy Ltd)
21 - Sully Medforth (Sponsored by Ideal Building Systems)
24 - Matty Hanley (Sponsored by JGE Wholesale)
25 - Luis Roberts (Sponsored by Crypto Construction)
26 - Ethan Newboult (Sponsored by Leeds Rugby Club)
27 - Liam Kirk (Sponsored by The Tennis Court)
32 - Chris Cullimore (Sponsored by Autex Acoustics)

Goole Vikings
2 - Thomas Halliday
3 - Josh Guzdek
4 - Thomas Minns
5 - Manoa Wacokecoke
6 - Mackenzie Harman
7 - Reece Dean
9 - Jaylen Hodgson
10 - Jack Aldous
11 - Brett Ferres (C)
12 - Bailey Dawson
14 - Misi Taulapapa
16 - Harry Aldous
17 - Jack Coventry
18 - Craig Tyler
19 - Callum Shaw
20 - Andrew Ellis
21 - Benjamin Dent
26 - Ryan Wright
23 - Jason Tali
38 - Andre Savelio

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