Thorman upbeat despite defeat in pre-season friendly

Newcastle Thunder head coach Chris Thorman credited his squad and the lessons learnt from Saturday’s 12-24 loss to Keighley Cougars.

Leading at the break, Newcastle fell short after a second half resurgence from the newly promoted Betfred Championship side, with Thorman saying: “We were a little bit disappointed to only get the one try in the first half.

“We didn’t quite execute on the edges with two forward passes denying us two tries.

“On a different day, we could have been three tries up rather than one.

“I thought the first half was really tidy and I was really pleased with the lads’ performance. It was much more like a league game with the changes we made throughout, and I thought our starting middles were particularly good.

“Jay and Ted Chapelhow alongside Connor Bailey really controlled what we were doing, and Alex Foster and Brad Gallagher both carried strong. Alex also defended really well, putting his body in front of people.

“I felt we had a bit more good ball than them, we just needed to be more clinical in our finishing.”

Commenting on the team’s second-half performance, Thorman added: “The second half was much more like a pre-season game.

“It was messy in areas, but most importantly it gave me a good understanding of where all the lads are at.  

“Testing out some combinations, we’ve been able to see who can play with who, so in that respect there’s been a lot of lessons learnt.

“I thought there were some good showings from players who have only recently joined up with the squad. Max Flanagan showed some nice touches and Nathan Rushworth, who might not be a big lad physically, but definitely made up for it in his intent and effort.

“We can take a lot of learnings from Saturday, we’ll get together as a group, review the footage and see how we can push forward.”

Reflecting on his first game at Kingston Park in his hometown, Thorman commented further, saying: “I really did enjoy it.

“I think I’ll enjoy it more when it’s a league game and has a bit more meaning to it, but I love Kingston Park. I loved coming here as an opposing coach and now it’s important we turn it into a fortress.

“Although the scoreline didn’t quite reflect the game, I don’t like losing and it’s not a good habit to have, so they know where I stand.

“From a pre-season point of view though, there were a lot of boxes ticked and we can be generally satisfied with the performance.”

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