Bit of a Banana skin this one for me. A game we should win, but it will be a big crowd which will inevitably raise their performance level. They will certainly have a fair bit of support from SL fans that have decided to watch the game. I think i'm right in saying they play on a 4g pitch. Also even though they aren't on the m62 corridor, we shouldn't mistake Newcastle for being a development side, they are very much a club challenging for the play-offs. Good performance needed.

Startled to learn that Newcastle has its own time zone, unlike the rest of the UK, which up to last night was still using GMT+1. According to the Bulls' website the kick off is 1945 (local time), though it doesn't say if this means CET or some other yet unspecified time zone.

For the game I very much agree with BM, yes we may start favourites, and the game is very winnable but it needs to be taken seriously, as it is no 'gimme' and only our best will do. I'd also suggest going up on Thursday night, as that should take care of any jetlag..

They're above Hunslet in the table so no mugs at all. I hope we shake off the complacency that's in our game and hand them their Geordie backsides on a plate.

Might be interesting to know how many geordies they have.

My "concern" is for the next time the game is tight after an hour which I doubt but is possible on Friday, Newcastle are a good side play on plastic and have reportedly sold plenty of tickets. This sport imo is riddled with examples of teams hammering sides then losing close games because they usually cruise through the last quarter.

Again just an untrained opinion but I think this was a factor in the Workington defeat, the last 15 minutes or so having a whiff of panic and also why the Aussie Test Team are so hard to beat, fewer blow-outs in the NRL and very rare in SOO.

Well my mate is there goal kicker and I can tell you he ain’t a Geordie!

Squad should be announced today. Hoping to see Keyes back in there and maybe even McNally? It's gone a bit quiet on his injury status recently, not sure if he's still crocked or if Kear just wants to keep Pickersgill in there while he's playing well.

Mcnally had a setback with his quad injury 4-6 weeks from the Doncaster game at end of April.

Hopefully after the London game they've had Kear's boot up their crevice and they'll be fired up for a very important game.

19 announced.

Bustin
Chisholm
Crossley
Flanagan
Garside
Gibson
Grant
Halafihi
Hallas
Kirk
Laithwaite
Milnes
Milton
Minchella
Peltier
Pickersgill
Ryan
Smith
Wood

Nice to see it looks like Milnes will keep his place.

What's happened to Liam Johnson? Is he injured?