Newcastle Falcons - We're back!! Championship winners

First topic message reminder :

Manager: Dean Richards
Head Coach: Peter Russell

Current Squad:

Forwards
Props:
Grant Shiels
Oliver Tomasczyk
Keiron Brookes
Scott Wilson

Hookers:
Matt Thompson
Rob Vickers
Scott Lawson

Second Rows:
Carlo Del Fava
Scott MacLeod
Sean Tomes
Frasier McKensie

Back Row
Ally Hogg
Will Welch
Richard Mayhew
Andy Saul
Mark Wilson
Chris York

Backs
SH's
Rory Lawson
Chris Pilgrim
Warren Fury
Mike Blair

Fh's
Joel Hodgson
Waisea Luveniyali
Rory Clegg
Phil Godman

Centres
Jamie Helleur
James Fitzpatrick
Tane Tu'ipulotu
Andrew Higgins
Alex Crocket
Michael Tait
Adam Powell
Danny Barnes - In from Munster

Wing:
Ryan Shortland
Andy Higgins
Suka Hufanga
Noah Cato

FB's:
Tom Catterick
Alex Tait

HHmmm im dubious about that signing Driver. Good passer and that but..just not sure.

Means one of Hodgson or Gopperth is definately off in the Summer...id guess Jimmy to Japan might the one.

Yes ....we cant forget Big Joe , Driver ....

Lol,

Fancy a big win tonight! by 30 points hopefully!

GeordieFalcon wrote:Not sure mate.

We'll be alright though...cos we've got BIG JOE ready to take his place

What you mean BIG JOE



I quite like that Rory is coming home, someone wants to have a word with him about loyalty repaid when we turn his career around though.

yappysnap wrote:So now that your over half way through the season would Falcons fans say that relegation has been a good thing for the club?

And if Sale were to get the drop do you think they'd cope?

I think relegation can be really positive - it allows a clear out of coaches and players. Newcastle are going to come back much stronger than they went down.

Hopefully an artificial pitch will be high on the agenda when they come back up.

Ha ha thats the one Cumbrian...

Driver, I saw the result...what was your thoughts

Was a decent effort , pumbled them at the breakdown..

Ref couldn't control the scrum so lost a lot of momentum there, Will Welch played a good game. Won a few turnovers and linked play up.

1st try was the best i'v ever seen from the Falcons. Goppereth crossfield to Shortland and the back inside to Catterick to finish, Ooozed class.

Mosely's 4 wouldn't go a miss in a Falcons shirt , Addison Lockley. Real Bruiser and big carrier.

Lockley was decent for the U20's last year and I was a bit surprised when Exeter let him go, although he was a little lightweight. Sounds like he has grown into his frame and he is the sort of promising young player I'd love to have in our squad.

Did you go Cumbrian?

Lockley got absolutely flattened , looked K'od but got back up after the magic sponge.

Nah I didn't pal, stuck down in the South West, never seem to get to games anymore ( other than the away days down here).

Just been on the unoffy...

Interesting many on there would be disapointed if we lost Tui'Fua...aside from his ball carrying...I dont get that. What do you think?
Also interesting that Catterick wants that 15 spot for himself. Great to see...i think hes been very good there...and think we have spot sorted totally now.

What do you make of the new young lad Ollie Stedman? Seems to have been quietly impressing since joining. Is he the carrier to replace Tui'Fua? Could make that 8 shirt his own with some good performances...he has immense carrying...and excellent handling.

Finally some rumours of Fraser McKenzie, Sale second row, coming...would this replace Hudson? Anyone know anything about him?

I'd be disapointed in the sense he makes a impact when carrying but he's not better than York or Wilson.

Heard nothing about him as a player or transfer.

you lot have recalled Mayhew back from Irish?

looked good for us when he played, he not a regular for you?

2/3rd choice behind Vickers.

He's really handy in the loose but lineout can be poor.

No mate, Vickers is first choice with matt Thompson seemingly second.

Vickers is actually quite good...but like many hookers at the moment couldnt hit a barn door with a banjo in the lineout...

We need to find a top notch hooker...and i dont think any of these three are really the answer...though i would keep Vickers as backup...

I see Chris York played in the A game against Durham Uni on Tuesday...scoring a couple. So he must be back in the frame...possible for Saturday v Pirates?

Play off place booked....

Falcons 50 - Cornish Pirates 3....

I see we have signed Noah Cato from Saints - I remember him being quite pacey when I last saw him at KP - playing for Sarries I recall.

Geordie, a play off position was never in doubt. The crunch comes only if Bedford, Bristol or Nottingham have developed sufficiently to give you a game. Leeds' are not in the frame at all. Can you imagine the scenario of Notts winning and nobody goes up or down? Crazy! Bristol seem to be gearing up for a real attempt at promotion next season and may even have ideas of doing this, unlikely though it is. When you consider what Scotland did to Ireland this weekend anything is possible.

TrailApe wrote:I see we have signed Noah Cato from Saints - I remember him being quite pacey when I last saw him at KP - playing for Sarries I recall.

Very pacey, i'm delighted by this. He's quick, has great acceleration, a good step and is surprisingly strong. Downside is he's not the best positionally and doesn't seem to pick great lines, he also sometimes gets bumped as he tackles quite high liked Varndell. In fact he reminds me a little of Varndell without the finishing instinct.

I think and hope this is partly a lack of game time. Coached well I think he could be very, very good for us.

I saw statements from Deano that you can now start preparing for the play-offs.

Does this mean that we can expect to see players being rested and fitness schedules being rejigged to perhaps sacrifice some points now to ensure peak performance come End of April?

Also did I read that last year's convoluted playoff system has been scrapped? If so what is the format this year?

LT, it wasn't really sorted the way many of us supporting Championship sides would have preferred. What's changed is that the top four clubs (instaed of 8) will compete over a two-legged semi-final and onto a two-legged final.

Two legged semi and final. So no real advantage for finishing 1st?

Not really and that's been the problem all along. Not a fan of the play offs in any division, would prefer straight league winners and if you must have playoffs for money's sake then call it something else.

Cato is an interesting signing....one i quietly like if we can get some of that potential out of him...when he first came on the scene.

V Rotherham

So interesting points...Tom Catterick is at 15 for the 6th game in a row..think that says something.

And 5 of our pack have come through the academy system. Shiels, Tomas, THompson, Wilson and Welch...

Oh and im very interested to see young Irish U20 cap George McGuigan on the bench. Could we finally be seeing a top hooker coming through...after all we played our part in Rory Bests training

1 Grant Shiells
2 Matt Thompson
3 Oliver Tomaszczyk
4 Scott MacLeod
5 James Hudson
6 Mark Wilson
7 Will Welch (c)
8 Ally Hogg

9 Rory Lawson
10 Jimmy Gopperth
11 Ryan Shortland
12 Jamie Helleur
13 Michael Tait
14 Andrew Higgins
15 Tom Catterick

Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 James Hall, 18 Sean Tomes, 19 Taiasina Tu’ifua, 20 Warren Fury, 21 Joel Hodgson, 22 Alex Crockett

Good team, how's Tait looked at 13?

Engine room lacks a bit of grunt but plenty of jumpers. Good to see McGuinan on bench.

It's another five pointer (22-34)

http://www.newcastlefalcons.co.uk/news/story/x-3

We are now 25 points ahead of our nearest competitor. To think that we could still lose out on promotion if we have a bad game at the end of the season is just a bloody joke.

Cumbrian you're spot on, it's not right. Can't see it happening though, not over two legs. Last season Bristol were the best, but were still a Championship side so the margins were not so great.... This season, Falons are clearly a Prem team. I don't think you've anything to worry about, no team is going to beat them twice, or once by so great a margin you can't pull it back. Look at yesterdays game. Did Roth really give you a game because they've closed the gap, or was it because Falcons had the game won after half an hour and fell asleep? Complacency is your only worry, and with Deano in charge I don't see that happening.

If, and it's a big if, they do get beat, then following the gracious and sympathetic comments from the likes of GF and Aithw last season, I want to be on record as saying its not right, even if it is by Bristol. Best team in the league, miles better than anyone else in fact, they've already proved their point. At this point, they should be making concrete plans for life back in the Prem, new signings etc. Play-offs shouldn't happen (its not like many Championship sides lose lots of players to international calls ups so the league needs to be balanced out is it?).

Bristolian wrote:Cumbrian you're spot on, it's not right. Can't see it happening though, not over two legs. Last season Bristol were the best, but were still a Championship side so the margins were not so great.... This season, Falons are clearly a Prem team. I don't think you've anything to worry about, no team is going to beat them twice, or once by so great a margin you can't pull it back. Look at yesterdays game. Did Roth really give you a game because they've closed the gap, or was it because Falcons had the game won after half an hour and fell asleep? Complacency is your only worry, and with Deano in charge I don't see that happening.

If, and it's a big if, they do get beat, then following the gracious and sympathetic comments from the likes of GF and Aithw last season, I want to be on record as saying its not right, even if it is by Bristol. Best team in the league, miles better than anyone else in fact, they've already proved their point. At this point, they should be making concrete plans for life back in the Prem, new signings etc. Play-offs shouldn't happen (its not like many Championship sides lose lots of players to international calls ups so the league needs to be balanced out is it?).

Cheers, I hope you're right, but I do have a nagging doubt in the back of my mind about it. I've said it before; I think there should be a cut-off point somewhere. If a team finishes the league so many points ahead of the competitors, they should be automatically promoted without the playoff. I mean, if the league results carry on as they Falcons could/should open up a 30 points + gap!

http://www.thescore.ie/gopperth-leinster-10-818109-Mar2013/

Gopperth signing confirmed by LR:
http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/newsroom/11094.php

Not overly thrilled. What do you Falcons fans think of him?

He's been a good servant, I'm pretty happy he's moving on as young Joel Hodgson has looked the better player tbh

He's a good kicker and is definetly not the flakey sort of stand off - he'll get stuck in.

Probably make ideal cover for missing international's at 10 and 15.

I never actually met him but had a few pints with his dad (who is a dairy farmer) and Gopperth Senior is a canny bloke.

Scintillating pace is not in his CV, however attitude-wise Jimmy will never let you down.

Seems he's achieved much more this season than he ever did under Tait. Had serious doubts during last couple of seasons in the Jeff but his play has been much more enterprising and controlled from what I've gathered. Anyways, stop worrying about the playoffs, there's no-one in the Championship that comes close. The improvements in other teams have not yet brought them into contention and I don't think they will in these last games.

He is a boot first type of FH...he infuriated me the last few seasons kick kick kick,,,but has actually tried to play this season...does that mean hes actually found his level....or that the team is getting better...

I think it's down to the coaching team, they've got a group that's responding to direction generally and so are overall better. He's probably reacted the way any half decent FH does when he's behind pack going forward. You know how few 10s play well on the back foot.

Thats true...

We do have a glaring gap at 10 now though...cos whilst young Joel is looking very good i dont think hes quite ready for being the starting 10 just yet...and Rory Clegg is hardly inspiring....

Has he re-signed for Falcons or is he on loan like he was at Leeds. He's only 23 so could make some progress yet with the right set up. Can't see Deano leaving himself without a decent 10 can you? Too much at stake.

We still have Luveniyali, he's looked pretty handy.

Ah i wouldnt be confident going in to the AP with Luveniyala as my starting 10 thought sarge.

I wonder if one of Peter Russels young charges is coming across from NZ. He is very popular back home...they seem to love him...as a father figure type.

And Deano wont leave us without a 10

I didnt realise Tui'fua has signed for Bordeaux Begles either...

Another big salary off the wage bill.

Some shrewd business going on, I can see some signings coming in. See Brooke's is coming back from Tigers.

Brookes?

Interesting...so that gives us Tomas, Scotty and Brookes?
Hope that doesnt mean Scott Wilson is moving???!!

Yes thats some big money off the wage bill...and actually as we have both said in the past...i think hes behind a few of our local lads..Welch, Wilson, not to mention Hogg, York etc.

Going to be very interesting watching who comes and goes...

That's possibly our 2 biggest earners gone GF, I fancy the some good AP performers with possibly one or two Internationals yet.

That's a decent trio of TH's tbh, Brooke's despite not getting much game time at Tigers was still a Saxons squad player which would make him probably the 4/5th best TH in England?

Jimmy Gopperth
James Hudson
Tui'fua

That will defo free up some money.

Thats 3 crackin TH's...if we can Brookes fit and flying...as you say he played in the recent Saxons games.
EDIT: - Forgot about James hall aswell....hes a crackin TH...really good scrumager...

Im wondering what second row options we'll have next season...not sure it'll be our current ones.

And i think some of the backs like Higgins and maybe even Fitzy might be away...

Higgins will be no major loss I imagine. Cato could be an interesting one if he puts in some tidy performances and Powell would be a good one if the rumours are true.

Yes Powell looked the part when he first came on the scene...

Its obvious Deano doesnt rate Fitzy that highly.

Cato could be another very interesting one as you. Another with great potnetial that never seemed to do it. Maybe we can give the two of them a fresh start and bring that potential out.

With the exception of the front and back rows...(obviously we need a top hooker) i think we could see big changes all over.

Newcastle Falcons are pleased to announce the signing of Kieran Brookes from Leicester Tigers on a dual registration contract until the end of the season.

The 22-year-old prop returns to Newcastle for his second spell at the club and is in line to figure against Bedford Blues in the RFU Championship this Friday (kick-off 8pm).

Duel registration?

I've just read Brookes is in now on loan, nothing about a perm deal

Odd situation...

If its simply a loan...id rather give Scott Wilson the gametime not a Tiger!