Gateshead Thunder head coach Chris Hood has told his players they can set a marker for the season in Sunday's visit of Whitehaven in the Challenge Cup.

Thunder won two and lost two of their Northern Rail Cup games but Hood admitted his focus is on Challenge Cup and league success this season.

"We want to get the win and progress in the Challenge Cup and take into our league form," he told BBC Look North.

"We want to get a roll on, the league's huge but there's glamour in the cup."

Last season's success came as a surprise to everyone outside of Tyneside, as Thunder roared to promotion from the old National League Two as champions.

It was a far cry from the doom and gloom that surrounded Gateshead's rugby league past, as the team lost a Super League franchise in the late 1990s and dropped into the league's bottom tier.

That was 2008, and part of the progression is being able to cement yourself wherever you are which for us is in the Championship. Thunder coach Chris Hood on winning the Championship One title last season

And Hood, who was with the club during those highs and lows, is keen to oversee a new, brighter future at the International Stadium without dwelling on the past.

"If you put it in layman's terms it [winning the title] probably made it up for it," he said.

"It didn't at the time, but being able to stand in front of 1,700 people at Kingston Park and lift the National League Two trophy and be crowned champions was a huge thing for everybody at the club.

"But that was 2008, and part of the progression is being able to cement yourself wherever you are which for us is in the Championship.

"It's been and gone, we'll keep it in the trophy cabinet for the rest of the year, but the focus is now on being a Championship side and a winning team in this division."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version