Barrow Raiders are the first into action this weekend of Cumbria’s trio of Championship sides.
They make the trip to Cheshire to face Widnes Vikings tonight (5pm) trying to get back into the groove after their six-game winning streak was ended by Newcastle Thunder last week-end.
It’s another tough challenge, though, for the Raiders as the Vikings sit two points below Barrow in the table, and they are fresh from a club record-breaking 116-6 victory over North Wales Crusaders last week.
Barrow will be keen to bounce back from their defeat to Newcastle by completing a league double over Widnes for the first time since 2022, following their 18-8 win over the Vikings in April.
There are four changes from last weekend’s defeat to Newcastle Thunder. Ellis Archer returns, alongside Josh Wood and Jarrad Stack.
Ellis Gillam goes straight into contention to make his second debut after returning to the club on a season-long loan from Super League outfit Toulouse Olympique earlier this week.
They replace Andrew Bulman, Matt Costello and Tom Forber.
Also in the squad is young hooker Fin Dutton-Rosconie who signed his first professional deal with the club this week.
Dutton-Rosconie came through the Furness Raiders Development Academy ranks and went on to make his debut for the first team in a 46-0 defeat at Wakefield Trinity in September 2024.
Much of his time since then has been spent in the community game, where he has represented Barrow Island.
Back in May, the 21-year-old was given the opportunity to feature for the Raiders in the Betfred Championship against Doncaster.
In that game, he scored his first professional try and played a starring role in the club’s 36-12 win in South Yorkshire.
He subsequently featured in victories over Hunslet and Workington Town and was praised by head coach Paul Crarey for his sizeable impact in such a short space of time.
Dutton-Rosconie becomes the latest Furness Raiders graduate to make inroads into the first team and follows in the footsteps of Trent Ruddy and Stevie Watson, who have also penned professional terms in the last 12 months.
The Barrow squad is: Archer, Bishop, Broadbent, Bullock, Cresswell, Dutton-Rosconie, Emslie, Gillam, Johnston, King, Knott, Makin, Richards, Robson, Singleton, Stack, Teare, Toal, B. Walker, T. Walker, Wood.
