MATCH PREVIEW: MIDLANDS HURRICANES V NORTH WALES CRUSADERS (BETFRED LEAGUE ONE ROUND SIX)

The Alexander Stadium: Home of the Midlands Hurricanes

Two unbeaten sides to clash on Easter Saturday

After a couple of months with only being able to enjoy home comforts once a month, a nice return to the earlier weeks of the 2025 campaign sees us enjoy back-to-back home fixtures as we host Carl Forster’s North Wales Crusaders at The Alexander Stadium on Easter Saturday.

The Canes hosted recently relegated Dewsbury Rams two weekends ago, and a solid professional performance saw the Midlands pen in the West Yorkshire side to emerge 46-12 victors. Head Coach Mark Dunning’s men achieved another moment of history with their first ever win over Dewsbury, and the reaction from Rams Head Coach Paul March intimated that he and his men may have underestimated the Canes and certainly did not expect to be the recipients of a heavy defeat in Birmingham. In any event, that strong performance saw the Canes retain their spot at top of the Betfred League One table after Round Five and also saw the Canes make further history by remaining unbeaten after five consecutive games.

Turning to our opponents, it would be safe to say that North Wales Crusaders represent a serious threat to Mark Dunning’s men and will be coming into this game with bags of confidence. The Colwyn Bay-based outfit have had mixed fortunes in recent years - strong 2021 and 2022 performance saw them finish third both times before being knocked out in the play-off semi-finals, whereas a mixed 2023 performance saw them scrape a sixth-place finish before going on to surprise a number of clubs in the play-offs and only falling short in the final against Doncaster. Last season was a comparatively poor one for Crusaders, with the team finishing seventh and missing out on the play-offs.

This season looks like it could be a return to form of old, with Head Coach Carl Forster making some shrewd recruitment decisions in the off-season and acquiring a number of players from the Championship and in particular a strong Widnes Vikings side to bolster his team. Those decisions have paid dividends so far, with Crusaders winning all three of their Betfred League One fixtures so far (10-20 away to Dewsbury, 6-28 away to Goole Vikings and 14-16 away to Workington). They have, however, suffered some disruption to their campaign as a result of Cornwall’s decision to withdraw from the league just days before they were due to travel to play North Wales at Chester RFC’s Hare Lane ground, meaning tomorrow’s fixture will be their first game in three weeks.

Looking at the sides historic head-to-head record, in previous years the Canes in their previous incarnation as Coventry Bears would often use North Wales as a yardstick to assess their progress. This made sense as both clubs are outside of the traditional heartlands and were seeking to make progress in a league that - until recently - had a mixture of traditional and “expansion” clubs . However, prior to last season the conclusion for any objective bystander would have been that North Wales were a cut above the Canes and this was shown first and foremost by the fact that Midlands fans would have to point to a 28-30 away victory in 2016 for the last time they emerged victorious over the Crusaders.

That all changed in 2024, where the necessary introduction of loop fixtures meant that the two sides clashed on no fewer than three occasions. Whilst the Crusaders emerged 20-14 winners at Stadium CSM in Round Three, the reverse fixture at The Alexander Stadium in Round 10 saw the Hurricanes topple North Wales 18-10 in what could only be described as a war of attrition in challenging conditions. In the third and final fixture between the sides, a feisty affair in Colwyn Bay saw a 12-man Crusaders outfit succumb to a 18-32 defeat to Midlands in July. That result proved costly for North Wales, as a win over Midlands (and all other things remaining equal) would have seen the Crusaders replacing Workington in the elimination play-off spots.

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 can be purchased HERE. We hope to see as many fans as possible to cheer on the Canes as they aim for a fourth consecutive Betfred League One win and to stretch the record of unbeaten games in the league to six. COME ON YOU CANES!

Your www.enjoytravel.com 21-man squads:
Midlands Hurricanes
1 - Todd Horner (Sponsored by Yorkshire Ceiling Services)
2 - Matty Chrimes (Sponsored by Lowry Recruitment)
3 - Ryan Johnson (Sponsored by Hull Wyke Rugby League)
4 - Ross Oakes (Sponsored by Geoff and Maureen Hammond)
6 - Jake Sweeting (Sponsored by In Memory of Robert and Stephen Sweeting)
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 Ltd)
14 - Aiden Roden (Sponsored by Enjoy Travel Group)
15 - Aaron Willis (Available to Sponsor)
16 - Ellis Hobson (Sponsored by GLLEE UK Ltd)
17 - Kieran Moran (Sponsored by Longbridge Taiho Jutsu)
18 - Zeus Silk (Sponsored by This is Warrior)
19 - Marcus Green (Available to Sponsor)
20 - Elliott Morris (Sponsored by GLR Energy Ltd)
21 - Sullivan 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)

North Wales Crusaders
1 - Lloyd Roby
2 - Jack Holmes
3 - Kieran Taylor
4 - Matthew Reid
5 - Patrick Ah Van
6 - Toby Hughes
7 - Jordy Gibson
8 - Jack Houghton
10 - Chris Barratt
11 - Sam Wilde
12 - Cole Oakley
13 - Olly Davies
14 - Joe Baldwin
15 - Shaun Costello
18 - Liam Cooper
19 - Josh Eaves
21 - Oliver Brookes
22 - Jamie Dallimore
23 - Paddy Jones
32 - Anthony Walker
33 - Jordan Case

#DARETODREAM