Noah Whittingham has penned a deal keeping him at Newcastle Thunder until the end of the 2027 season. Thunder have appointed former Tigers and Trinity prop Craig Huby as coach, succeeding Castleford legend Graham Steadman.

Whittingham, a product of the Oulton Raiders community club, came through Rhinos’ academy system and played in their reserves’ Grand Final win against Warrington Wolves last year. His final game for Leeds was the academy defeat at Warrington in the 2025 under-18s title decider and he joined Thunder in January.

He made 30 appearances this year, scoring six tries, as the north east side finished second in the Championship. Of staying at Newcastle, Whittingham said: “The club have done a lot for me off the field this year. I wouldn’t want to play Championship rugby at any other club.”

Huby, 40, joined Thunder last week after spells as an assistant-coach at Halifax Panthers, Dewsbury Rams and Sheffield Eagles since retiring as a player in 2019. Newcastle will return to semi-professional status next term, having trained full-time alongside Super League club York Knights this year.