CORNWALL RLFC head coach Mike Abbott has named his 21-man squad for Sunday’s home Betfred League 1 clash against Newcastle Thunder at Penryn’s Memorial Ground (1pm).

In a first ever meeting between the two sides, Cornwall will be searching for a so far elusive win on home soil this term, whilst for an improving Newcastle outfit they chase a maiden victory in 2024.

Chris Thorman’s side pushed Rochdale Hornets close at the Gateshead International Stadium seven days ago while for the Choughs, they outplayed Hunslet for large spells until the Parksiders pulled away in the final 10 minutes to prevail.

For Newcastle to even exist in the third tier is something of a minor miracle after it was initially indicated that the side would pull out of rugby league’s professional ranks.

But under the guise of chairman Keith Christie, they started 2024 and despite suffering some heavy reverses, they are building into a very competitive League 1 outfit.

Like Thunder, Abbott’s side have demonstrated real signs of progression since the April home reverse against Midlands Hurricanes and they welcome back powerhouse centre Tom Ashton for this Memorial Ground clash.

Loan players Josh Rhodes and AJ Boardman also make the cut, along with Sam Campbell, who made his debut at Hunslet last week, under the terms of a dual registration agreement between Cornwall and Betfred Championship side Halifax Panthers.

Decarlo Trerise returns after sitting out the past two games due to a concussion injury picked up in the win over Midlands Hurricanes on May.

Meanwhile, Kyle Marvin and Kaine Dimech still remain on the treatment table of Cornwall physio Sam Wicketts.

“We expect nothing less than a really tough game against Newcastle,” Abbott told cornwallrlfc.co.uk.

“Like us really, they have grown into the season and last week they pushed a good Rochdale side very, very close.

“But we will be focusing on ourselves and our performance. For 50 minutes against Hunslet it was very good, but then we went away from what had served us well and we came unstuck.

“We have ran well in training this week and haven’t lost anyone from the MRP (Match Review Panel) which after every game is a worry for any coach. Tommy is back for us this week after missing a couple (of games) and other then Kaine and Kyle, who aren’t that far away, we came out of the Hunslet game relatively unscathed.”

CORNWALL SQUAD: Aaronson, Ashton, Bannister, Boardman, Black, Boots, Brown, Campbell, Collins, Conroy, Cullen, Lloyd, Mitchell, Nichol, Rhodes, Ross, Rusling, Simpson, Small, Trerise, Weetman.