Midlands Hurricanes v Doncaster RLFC Pre-Match Preview

Date: Sunday 28 January 2024

Time: 2pm Kick-off

Location: The Alexander Stadium, Stadium Way, B42 2LR

Tickets:

Storm Card Holder 2024 - FREE

Adult - £15 online (£17 on gate)

Concessions (o65) - £10 online (£12 on gate)

U21 - £10 online (£12 on gate)

U16 - FREE with paying adult

BUY YOUR TICKETS FOR SUNDAY HERE.

After our narrow 24-20 home defeat to Wigan Warriors last Saturday, Mark Dunning's men turn their attention to the first group stage game of the 2024 1895 Cup.

As its our first competitive game of 2024, the lads will be keen to give a good account of themselves and test their skills against a team in a higher league.

The opposition

Our opponents on Sunday are Doncaster RLFC, who won promotion to the Betfred Championship this season by beating North Wales Crusaders 18-6 in the 2023 Betfred League One play-off final. Doncaster had their first match of 2024 last Sunday as they welcomed Super League outfit Hull FC to the Eco-Power Stadium for a pre-season friendly. The two full-strength sides provided an entertaining clash but it was Hull FC who emerged victorious 42-24 against an impressive Dons performance.

Prior to their promotion this year, Doncaster had been a mainstay in Betfred League One over the last decade, first joining the league in 2016 following relegation from the Championship in 2015. The Dons were regularly at the top of the table and never failed to make the play-offs, but were unable to make the final leap and attain promotion until last season.

Their Head Coach, Richard Horne, has been with the club since mid-2017. We look forward to welcoming him, Chief Executive Officer Carl Hall and the rest of the club to Birmingham this weekend.

Head to head

The Dons will be no strangers to Canes' fans – this will be our 14th meeting since the club entered Betfred League One in 2015.

Last season, the Canes had their most competitive year against the Dons. Whilst the visitors comfortably won 50-28 at The Alex in early June, Mark got his first win after becoming the Hurricanes Head Coach with a thumping 41-10 victory at the Eco-Power Stadium in July.

The 1895 Cup

The competition has undergone a significant revamp for the 2024 season. Rather than the final four sides that enter Round 6 of the Challenge Cup competing in the 1895 Cup semi-finals, 13 sides from the Championship and 8 sides from League One have been split into 7 groups of 3.

The Hurricanes have been drawn into Group 7 with Championship sides Doncaster and Sheffield Eagles (the latter of whom are one of our Dual Registration partners for the 2024 season).

Each team will play the other two teams in their group once, with the group winners (and the best-second placed team) advancing to the Quarter-finals. Where a League One side is drawn against a Championship side, the League One team will always have home advantage.

A foot in both camps?

Veteran second-rower and Hurricanes' fan favourite Liam Welham may once again face his former club, where he scored in 24 tries in 93 games both in the Championship and League One between 2014 and 2018. Liam currently has 22 tries in 54 games for the Canes as he goes into his fifth season with the club.

Doncaster's fullback Elliot Hall could potentially return to face the club where he won 2019 Player of the Year for his prolific try-scoring ability (17 tries in 20 games). Now with 54 tries in 84 games under his belt (8 in 14 for the Dons), we're sure Hurricanes fans will give him a warm welcome for his previous service if he takes to the field.

Thoughts from the gaffer

Head Coach Mark Dunning:

"As a club led by Carl Hall and Richard Horne I want to take the opportunity to congratulate Doncaster on their success in 2023, where we enjoyed two really good challenges against them. We wish them all the very best for 2024 in the Championship (barring Sunday, of course!).

On the field last week we welcomed a competitive Wigan Warriors to The Alex and got everything we wanted from that game. As a group we have studied in depth our holistic and individual performance against Wigan and highlighted the areas that we feel we need to improve as we progress, as well as continue the various good things that we saw. We thank Wigan for that and have taken the learnings needed in preparation for Doncaster who will pose some different challeneges."

The venue

We welcome the Dons to The Alexander Stadium, the venue for the historic 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Because of operational reasons beyond the club's control, this game (as well as our 1895 Cup game against Sheffield Eagles on 18 February)  will be taking place on the warm-up pitch next to the stadium. Entry to the warm-up pitch is to the side of the High Performance Centre. Fans driving to the stadium can park in front of the High Performance Centre/Gymnastics and Martial Arts Centre (GMAC for short) for free.

Please note that we are a cashless venue and only accept card payments.

Match coverage

For those fans unable to attend on the day, full match updates will be available on our Twittter/X account (@HurricanesRLFC) with half-time and full-time updates to our Instagram (@HurricanesRLFC) and Facebook accounts (Midlands Hurricanes).