West go into the big game unbeaten in all games so far this season and will have the benefit of Jake Linighan back in the second row. He missed the last two games through work commitments and will partner Chris Atkins who was outstanding as a stand-in No.8 last week at Ponteland.
Chrissy moves up to allow Jay Corbett to also return with Adam Coates starting in the front row this week.
There's one change in the backs with Sam Heron away, but Max Tennant is available again so he starts on the wing with Lewis Scott returning to full back. However, Will Hilditch has been poorly this week, so there'll be a fitness check on Saturday morning with Jake Tennant on stand-by.
They'll take on a Sunderland side which has only lost one game this season - a heavy 41-0 defeat at Old Boys. That game clashed with a stag do with a lot of players missing.
The Wearsiders have a big experienced pack and some lively youthful backs with last season's games going the way of the home side - 29-19 at Brinkburn and 28-24 at Ashbrooke.
Their Shipwrights second team wil provide difficult opposition for the Stags, whose hopes of bouncing back from their defeat at Bishop Auckland were thwarted last week when Billingham were unable to get their third team out.
This week there's a big squad available with a number of players now pushing for a first team place.
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Firsts v Sunderland Kick off 2.00 |
Stags v Sunderland Shipwrights Kick off 2.00 |
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| Lewis Scott | Dom Cox | |
| Will Hilditch | Jordan Painter | |
| Davy Heckles | Zac Southern | |
| Ollie Connolly | Martin Todd | |
| Max Tennant | Matty Baggs | |
| Matt Siddle | Stu Waites | |
| Ryan Painter (capt) | Jacob Parker | |
| Adam Coates | Tim Blades | |
| Aidan Jackson-Smith | Alex Johnson | |
| Adam Hutchinson | Craig Hadwen | |
| Jake Linighan | Michael Hogan | |
| Chris Atkins | Will Corbett | |
| Isaac Robinson | Liam Liston | |
| Alex Barker | Connor McLurg | |
| Jay Corbett | Andy Turner | |
| Jack Angus | Callum Tregar | |
| Tom Robertson | Ryan Godfrey | |
| Charlie Kay | Ross Wood | |
| Cameron Allison | ||
| James Tyers | ||
| Louis Adamson | ||
| Liam Larkin | ||
| Dan Quinn | ||
| J I'Anson | ||
| Sam Miller | ||
| Charlie Caswell | ||
| Matthew Smart | ||
| Jake Tennant |