The Sky TV cameras will be present to see Thunder handed the Co-op National Two championship trophy.

That is a tremendous achievement for an outpost club, who struggle to attract crowds and local interest and finished second-from-bottom in the division last year.

Significantly, it is the second championship triumph in three seasons in the British game for Thunder coach David Woods, who was controversially axed by Castleford Tigers after guiding them to the National One title – and promotion to Super League – in 2005.

Cas clearly thought Woods wasn't the man to take them forward and there was a feeling around the club that promotion was achieved in spite of the coach, rather than because of him.

That was harsh on someone who was brought in to do a specific job and achieved exactly what was required. Cas were, admittedly, hot favourites to win National One that season and what he has achieved at Gateshead is an even more impressive feat.


Nobody would have backed Thunder for title glory this season, but they have stormed away with what is a tough competition, securing top spot with a couple of games to spare.

There's no doubting Woods' credentials now and with Les Catalans Dragons flying high in engage Super League and Celtic Crusaders set to finish second in National One, this is turning out to be quite a season for so-called development clubs.

The demise of the original Gateshead Thunder, after just one season, was one of the most depressing episodes of the Super League era.

Under coach Shaun McRae, who had won Super League with St Helens two years earlier, Thunder made an impressive debut on the pitch, winning 19 of their 30 games to finish just one place and two points outside the then top-five play-offs.

Off the field, though, they struggled. Thunder's average gate was a disappointing 3,895, though Huddersfield, Sheffield and London all finished below them in the crowd table and they were better supported than their Newcastle union neighbours.

The new club attracted three attendances of less than 2,000 and the 1,580 who turned up to see their home clash with Hull in May, 1999, was the season's poorest in the top-flight.

Establishing rugby league in the north east proved a financial nightmare and the club lost an estimated £700,000 in their only top-flight season.

Thunder's backers decided Hull Sharks – then in a major financial crisis of their own – were a better long-term bet and a merger was announced with the entire Thunder operation, players and staff, being moved to the Boulevard.

That saved Hull – who had finished second-from-bottom in Super League in 1999 – and proved the catalyst for the East Yorkshire club's revival in the first decade of the 21st century. But it ended the dream of a successful club on Tyneside and was a kick in the teeth of those keen to see rugby league expand outside its traditional heartlands of Yorkshire, Lancashire/Cheshire and Cumbria.

Fortunately, a dedicated group of Thunder fans decided their club was worth keeping and a revived club appeared in the Northern Ford Premiership for the 2000 season, under ex-Wakefield coach Andy Kelly, with a team of players based in West Yorkshire.

Since then, Thunder have gone through a series of financial crises and several different owners and coaches, have flirted with closure on numerous occasions and have regularly been rugby league's whipping boys.

Things have stabilised over the past few seasons under Sarah Garside and Steven Garside – chairman and chief executive respectively – and this year's triumph could lay the foundation for a Super League licence application in three years' time, though avoiding a quick return to National Two next year will be a challenge in itself.

Investors are once more showing an interest, there is speculation Thunder could go full-time in National One next year – which might not be the wisest move – and a permanent switch to Kingston Park, possibly with a change of name, is looking likely.

The demise of the original club proved a valuable lesson for rugby league's backers in Wales, who took the less direct but safer route into Super League, laying down roots, getting involved in the community and building a club, rather than diving head first and taking the sink or swim approach.

Thunder are now heading down a similar path. The club is still struggling to make its presence felt in a soccer-dominated area, but the progress Newcastle Falcons have made over the last 10 years proves there is an appetite for the oval ball game in the north east.

Fans in the heartlands may not particularly care about the long-term fate of Gateshead Thunder and the furore over Celtic Crusaders' elevation into Super League for the next three years has brought out the worst in a hard-core of fans who would like to see rugby league remain a closely-kept secret around the M62 corridor.

But rugby league won't thrive, maybe won't survive, without expansion.
Professional sport is now a business and rugby league needs more media exposure, more investment, new sponsors and a deeper player base, all of which go hand-in-hand with having successful clubs outside the heartland areas.

Thunder may have gone about things the wrong way round, but they are beginning to head in the right direction and it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that they could be back as a Super League club in 2012, on a much firmer footing than their first attempt.

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THERE is more to rugby league than Super League and the Co-op National Leagues.

The amateur game's flagship competition – the National Conference, now sponsored by Fraser Eagle – kicks off this weekend and wherever you live in West Yorkshire, you won't be far away from a game on a Saturday afternoon.

Rothwell-based Oulton Raiders are likely to carry this area's hopes in the Conference Premier Division, while newly-promoted Stanningley could be a force in Division One and Milford Marlins and East Leeds are both likely to do well in the bottom tier.

With a growing number of National League players filtering down into the amateur game and Super League stars coaching at several Conference clubs, the standard is improving all the time.

Not only that, but at most amateur clubs you can watch the game, buy a programme and a raffle ticket, have a pint and still get change from a fiver.

It's unbeatable value.

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LEEDS Rhinos legend Barrie McDermoitt discuses this weekend's fixtures involving Rhinos, Castleford Tigers and Wakefiueld Trinity Wildcats in the latest edition of out online show The Sin-Bin.

To view, log on to www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk.