• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

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The Top Newcastle Thunder Players of The 2017 Season

After winning the League 1 Shield during their second season in Newcastle, the Thunder followed that act with another exciting campaign in 2017. While that hunt fell just short of more hardware, it did help new Newcastle supporters become even more familiar with the squad’s top players en route to the League 1 semis.

Given the Thunder’s fifth place finish, the renewal of coach Jason Payne’s contract for two more seasons, and the return of Magic Weekend to St. James’ Park yet again in 2018, and the following top players representing the home side, it’s an exciting time to be a rugby league fan in Newcastle.

Lewis Young

At the end of the 2016 season, fullback Lewis Young was named the Thunder’s Young Player of the Year award. This year, the 22-year old gave that trophy company on his shelf by winning League 1’s best young player honour.

In addition to a team-high 18 tries, Young was particularly instrumental in helping the Thunder grab the final playoff spot in the penultimate Super 8s match. In that match against Doncaster, Young had a massive 35-metre breakthrough that put Newcastle up four with just outside 20 minutes to play, reminiscent of the clutch play he showed all season long.

Ali Blair

Just behind Young in try-scoring at the end of the season was centre Ali Blair. Blair’s third season with the club was as successful as his sophomore campaign as he added 13 more tries to the 9 he tallied in 2016 for the purple and gold.

Blair was also the scorer of the first try in the Thunder’s 34-8 rout of Keighley (a match in which the Thunder were small 8/5 underdogs at UK sportsbooks) in the Super 8s. Newcastle had started the format 0-4, but that try was the beginning of the turnaround that allowed the Thunder to eventually sneak into the final playoff spot. The winger has become a fixture in Jason Payne’s lineup and should be counted on to do more great things out wide in 2018.  

David Weetman

Although he wasn’t on the Thunder’s senior squad in 2017, one to watch for next season is forward David Weetman. The 19-year old academy product signed a two-year contract with the senior team for his consistent performance with junior club Cramlington as well as with Newcastle’s U19 team.

Before getting hemmed into a forward role, Weetman played frequently at hooker and the halves positions, making him as well-rounded an academy product that a parent club could hope for.

Benn Hardcastle

Newcastle’s Hardcastle was a picture of consistency yet again this past season. For the third straight season, the standoff improved upon the number of goals he scored, racking up 96 in all competitions this year compared to ‘just’ 74 in 2016.

Those 2017 numbers further cemented his place as the club’s along all-time point scorer, as did the 11 tries and three drop goals he also recorded.

Evan Simons

At this level of rugby, the road to becoming a fan favourite sometimes just means sticking around a while. While hooker Evan Simons is doing just that (2017 was his third season in a Newcastle shirt after joining the team in 2015), his attitude has also won over supporters at Kingston Park.

For him, the club is more than just a pit-stop: “I want to play at the next level and I think Newcastle as a club can do that.  Over the last couple of years, we’ve probably been a club who has had one of the higher numbers of players through, but keeping a core group of players, which I think we’re starting to put together, we’ve got every chance of success.”

Simons recorded nine tries this season for a total of 33 over the past three seasons with Newcastle. Look for him to score more next year.

By Emily