FORMER York flier Tom Lineham reckons Newcastle needs to prepare itself for a rugby league invasion this weekend - and he is hoping to cap it all with a derby success.

Super League’s annual Magic Weekend heads to the North East for the first time ever and, in among two days of top-flight action, Lineham’s Hull team take on Hull KR in one of tomorrow’s mouthwatering clashes (4.45pm).

Newcastle United’s St James’ Park hosts all the action on both days, though the 13-a-side festival kicks off tonight at nearby Kingston Park where Newcastle Thunder host York City Knights - the club that launched Lineham into the big time - in Kingstone Press League One.

Lineham - a former York RUFC junior who switched codes while at York College and was quickly picked up by the Knights - said of the event: “I’m really looking forward to it.

“Rugby League will be taking over Newcastle for the weekend and it will be great to see some of the locals coming along to St James’ Park to see us.

“I think it’s a great spectacle for the fans to be in one place over one weekend and to get to watch all the games, which is really good for the sport. It’s getting bigger and bigger.”

He added: “I’m a big football fan so I like playing in the big football stadiums, which is my favourite thing about it.

“It’s not every day that you get the chance to play there.”

Lineham, who has touched down five times in his last five Super League games, is aware of the magnitude of the Humberside derby - even if it is played 100 miles further north.

“It’s always a big game no matter where either team is in the table, but even more so in the position that we’re in at the moment,” said the winger, whose side are down in ninth, above their arch-rivals only on points difference.

“We were on a good run and then we were on the end of a disappointing defeat to St Helens last week in a really close game, so we definitely need to bounce back with two points against them.

“It is a massive game. Within the walls of Hull it’s absolutely huge and it’s all that gets spoken about in the weeks building up to it. We need to get the win for the fans and to make our way back into the top eight.”