Thunder looking to build for the future

The club have finalised their squad for the upcoming season and have signed a collection of ex-Thunder juniors and locally-based players.

Experience in the squad will be from captain James Brame, American Hank Rivers, who lives locally, and Bud Johnston.

The rest of the squad is made up of younger players, with Jack Sunderland, Tomas Seduikis, Joe Carter, Rhys Francis, Julian Stanley. Dominic Baker, Corey Thompson, Noel Pollock, Nick Corbin, Ben Budgen and Alex Barbary all signed on.

Brame is looking forward to the season and said: “We’re going to have quite a young squad but quite a deep squad, with 14 players signed on.

“There’s lots of competition for spots and there’s no clear starting five, so there’s minutes up for grabs for everyone

“I know it’s been hard for us this off-season but the club have pulled through and this is a good, solid team we have.

“I’ve watched all these guys play from when they were kids and the improvement they have made year after year has been fantastic and they will really benefit from playing in this league

“It’s going to be a building year for us as we look to the future and we’ll take the positives out of every game we play.

“The younger players will go into the season with no fear and it will be up to myself, Hank and Bud to show them the ropes and help them out.

“There’s no real expectation this year but we still have Hank, who will probably lead the rebounds in the league and score 20 to 30 points a game, while Bud is also a proven scorer.”

Thunder chairman Frank Gainsbury added: “The club are very happy with the squad put together as we look to give our youngsters a chance at making a name for themselves this season.

“We are delighted that Hank has come back, along with Dominic Baker and Bud. Tomas Seduikis, Joe Carter and Julian Stanley were all fantastic last season and despite their other commitments, they were happy to play for Worthing and it’s great to welcome them back again.”

Thunder begin their season with a trip to Leicester Warriors in the National Trophy on Saturday (3pm).