Newcastle Falcons - Premiership 2024 - 2025 - The Diamond Era

First topic message reminder :

Director of Rugby (Non Rugby Matters): Matt Thompson
Head Coach & DOR (Rugby Matters): Steve Diamond
Performance Coach: Mark Laycock
Forwards Coach: Micky Ward
Defence Coach: Alan Dickens & Steve Diamond
Attack Coach: Alan Dickens
Lineout Coach: Scott Macleod
Breakdown: Micky Ward & Scott Macleod
Skills Coach: Mark Laycock
S&C: Tim Payne

Current Squad:

Hookers
Jamie Blamire (Leaving for tigers in summer)
Bryan Byrne
Ollie Fletcher (A)
Jacob Oliver (A)

Props
TH
Eduardo Bello
Murray MaCallum
Richard Palframan
Callum Hancock (A)

LH
Adam Brocklebank
Luin De Bruin
Mike Rewcastle (A)
Isaac Keller (A)
Connor Hancock (A)

Locks
Sebastian De Chaves
Kiran McDonald
Tim Cardall
Luke Coulston (A)
Adam Scott (A)
Fin Baker (A)

Back 5
Pedro Rubiolo
Philip van der Walt
John Kelly
John Hawkins

Back Row
Callum Chick
Josh Bainbridge
Tom Gordon
Freddie Lockwood
Ollie Leatherbarrow
Marcus Tiffin
Cameron Neild
[b]Reuben Parsons (A)
[b]Charlie Turnbull (A)

Scrum Halves
Sam Stuart
Hugh O'Sullivan
James Elliott
Max Pepper
Ben Douglas (A)
Joe Davis (A)

Fly Halves
Brett Connon
Kieran Wilkinson
Junior Newton (A)

Centres
Cameron Hutchison
Jack Metcalf
Sam Arnold
Connor Doherty (Season Loan from Sale)
Oli Spencer (A)
Rhys Beeckmans (A)

Wingers
Ben Stevenson
Alex Hearle
Adam Radwan
Nathan Greenwood (A)

Full Back
Tom Penny - To be confirmed staying or leaving
Louis Brown
Elliott Obatoyinbo
Ben Redshaw (A)

I'm out that way....I'll have a word. Happy with that GF?

GeordieFalcon wrote:Well Let's hope the new Toon owners have a few spare millions and pop them up the road to KP....

Tigers tried that with the Thai owners of the football club. They didn't go for it, not enough promotion within rugby on the global scale I suspect. I'd wait to see what type of owners Newcastle Utd get, whether it's the Leicester City and Man City type that actually want to invest in the area and community or whether it's the Man Utd and Chelsea types who are interested in wealth development or having a show thing.

Strong supporter of good owners, and happy when they put money in (within the rules Mr Wray) but that takeover of Newcastle is pretty disgusting. Not even going down the jokey Boro schtick, you shouldn't be able to be owners if your human rights are that bad.

Was waiting for your input 7.5...do you deplore the other owners of the Premier league clubs?

Sam, they've said they'll be Investing In the city and area/ region. Sporting and non sporting.

Just a shame the parasite council we have here will try to take what they can aswell.

The ones that kill and chop up journalists; yes. Don't get me wrong there are moral questions for anyone with billions in the bank but there are degrees of evil!

I can fully understand some fans love for it as well; I think that's the point of the investment. The so called 'sports washing' of dubious regimes. And it's a good plan, it will work for a lot.

So your happy with Russian mafia and others owning clubs then?

There's lots to be said about that journalist (and his proven links to Osama Bin Laden) and many other things in Saudi and the Middle East.
I'm not qualified to know the deep ins and outs and politics....over there...

Are we so morally right over here in the UK and the west!!? No way are we!!

Plus most people are missing the point.  The majority of Newcastle fans couldn't have cared less who was coming In.. the huge celebrations are for the fact Ashley has gone....an utter parasite himself. He certainly has no morals!

The fact that the new owner is incredibly wealthy is a bonus.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Sam, they've said they'll be Investing In the city and area/ region. Sporting and non sporting.

I'd wait to see what actually comes through, Leicester had some owners who promised much before the Thai family. Mind you if they have any class you won't hear most of it. When Vichai passed the extent of his charity work came out when everyone started telling their stories of knowing him. I mean there's obvious stuff from the club but when it turned out he'd given so much with no fanfare or PR it made us all love him a bit more. 

Newcastle as a sporting city is ripe for the right investor. Big fan base, do right by the people and they'll love you forever.

GeordieFalcon wrote:So your happy with Russian mafia and others owning clubs then?

There's lots to be said about that journalist (and his proven links to Osama Bin Laden) and many other things in Saudi and the Middle East.
I'm not qualified to know the deep ins and outs and politics....over there...

Are we so morally right over here in the UK and the west!!? No way are we!!

Plus most people are missing the point.  The majority of Newcastle fans couldn't have cared less who was coming In.. the huge celebrations are for the fact Ashley has gone....an utter parasite himself. He certainly has no morals!

The fact that the new owner is incredibly wealthy is a bonus.

Yeah I get that some possibly quite probably the majority of Newcastle fans will be pleased. And there will be a few who think it's dodgy. And I do expect a lot of money to be spent on the area by them, as that's the point of buying the club ie to make themselves look good.

Most countries have some kind of shady underbelly, UK included.

Saudi tends to get targeted from the West due the obvious religious differences, but honestly, they're not better and not much worse. You don't hear many complaining when we're selling arms to them, we have made billions and billions from trade deals with SA.

I find the minority moral outcries a bit bizarre tbh....I imagine most are either jealous or ill informed. I'm not a Toon fan but I wish them good luck, they have a great fan base.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Most countries have some kind of shady underbelly, UK included.

Saudi tends to get targeted from the West due the obvious religious differences, but honestly, they're not better and not much worse. You don't hear many complaining when we're selling arms to them, we have made billions and billions from trade deals with SA.

I find the minority moral outcries a bit bizarre tbh....I imagine most are either jealous or ill informed. I'm not a Toon fan but I wish them good luck, they have a great fan base.

The Saudi government have a pretty poor reputation. As you say the UK government, particularly in recent years has taken a nose dive towards corruption. The media like to pretend to take the high line because of the freedoms that can be quickly be removed over in Saudi but as has been noted we sell them weapons and are practically a Banana Republic ourselves though as half the media are owned by Tory donors the so called free press is not quite so, the low life culture secretary has already threatened to pull shows from state funded television if they are anti-government. We are ridiculed by Europe and so really shouldn't be throwing too many stones quite frankly. Where's Guy Fawkes when you need him... (Joking for those easily offended)

No 7&1/2 wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:So your happy with Russian mafia and others owning clubs then?

There's lots to be said about that journalist (and his proven links to Osama Bin Laden) and many other things in Saudi and the Middle East.
I'm not qualified to know the deep ins and outs and politics....over there...

Are we so morally right over here in the UK and the west!!? No way are we!!

Plus most people are missing the point.  The majority of Newcastle fans couldn't have cared less who was coming In.. the huge celebrations are for the fact Ashley has gone....an utter parasite himself. He certainly has no morals!

The fact that the new owner is incredibly wealthy is a bonus.

Yeah I get that some possibly quite probably the majority of Newcastle fans will be pleased. And there will be a few who think it's dodgy. And I do expect a lot of money to be spent on the area by them, as that's the point of buying the club ie to make themselves look good.

Well after years of shambolic management by the Morally Corrupt Ashley...I'm sure the fan's will thoroughly enjoy it....

They'll be fine if they don't get chummy with the most wanted man in the world

Newcastle Falcons team to face Southern Knights (Melrose RFC, Friday 7.30pm) on our bye weekend

Lots of the kids getting a run out...

15 Alex Tait (captain),
14 Ollie Lindsay-Hague,
13 George Wacokecoke,
12 Max Wright,
11 Iwan Stephens,
10 Will Haydon-Wood,
9 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti;

1 Logovi'i Mulipola,
2 Robbie Smith,
3 Mark Tampin,
4 Will Montgomery,
20 George Merrick,
6 Josh Basham,
7 Connor Collett,
8 Gary Graham.

Replacements: Charlie Smith, 16 Mark Dormer, 17 Kyle Cooper, 18 Phil Brantingham, 19 Freddie Lockwood, 5 Matthew Dalton, 21 James Blackett, 22 Louie Johnson, 23 Zach Kerr, 14 Chidera Obonna.

Is there any reason for Dalton being listed as 5 in the subs and Merrick starting as 20?

It might be a simple typo but I'm just asking as I've seen a couple Scottish club team sheets over the season do the same thing so was curious!

Dont think so KC, dont tend to take much notice of the nubmers in these games. More an opportunity to see how our youngsters get on. And theres quite a few in this game who i suspect being falcons and some internationals over the next few years +...

That Dalton is an Irish lad (22), from Ulster who went to the US for a season or 2. Hes a big unit. but very athletic. He's listed as a bacfk 5 forward but i suspect he'll predominantly be a lock or a 6. Be interested to see how he goes...and i think the Irish set up might be aswell....if Dean can work his magic...

Mark Smith and Matias Orlando back in 2/3 weeks.

Reports are that Mark is in absolute beast mode...

6 Wilson
7 Graham
8 Fearns

Now thats a back row thats going to dish out some pain!

king_carlos wrote:Is there any reason for Dalton being listed as 5 in the subs and Merrick starting as 20?

It might be a simple typo but I'm just asking as I've seen a couple Scottish club team sheets over the season do the same thing so was curious!

Is it a superstition thing?

Also why's there two 14s listed?

Thats an old lineup Sam...

GeordieFalcon wrote:Thats an old lineup Sam...

It does help if you look at the date of the posts. 

At least we have 5 more lads in the England u20s squad.

Dormer- Lh
Fletcher - Hooker
Pepper - 7
Johnson - Fly half
Iwan Stephens - Back 3

Have they named the 6N squad yet? Not seen anything on that.

How long before the international tug of war for Iwan Stephens do you think?

Ah i think Stephens will be another who will play for the England U20s but ultimately will be a Welsh senior international.

He really is a class act Sam. He'll eventually settle at Fb...and very much like Greene at Quins. Just a hugely exciting, pacy attacking full back. And he's a kicker.

We also now have Loosehead Brantingham whos just left the England U20 squad...and now another LH Dormer going into the England U20 squad. Hopefully we develop them right and we have two quality Looseheads.

Pepper is a flying machine at 7...lightbuilt but sheer pace and aggression.

Louie Johnson is the one im watching though at 10. Hes got some size on him aswell. Sheer alrounder....

With Haydon Wood and Johnson...we might finally have some genuine top class 10's on the books.

Rumours now rhat the Falcons haven't paid the money from the RFU to our England players.

I genuinely hope this is not true.

The England money comes via the clubs? That's a bit odd.

Thats the story Sgt

I was also never sure how the fees were actually paid. Is it dirdct to the player from the RFU or via the club?

I hope its just lazy journalism on a slow day...

Bit of an odd story....it's hardly like we have 10 England players and it's 200k a game!

Yeah let's see if its a nothing story

An odd story, wouldn't it be breach of contract to withhold funds from the players?

If that's how the players are paid Sam then yes it sure would.

Apparently talks being held tomorrow with the players. All very odd.

But IF theres some truth to this story...that's Chick, Davison, Radwan and Blamire....players most clubs would  be interested in.

Isn't Mark Wilson still kicking about and on the fringes of the England side?

It would be a way of making sure that players don't re-sign for you without paying a premium upfront in case they get international caps.

GeordieFalcon wrote:If that's how the players are paid Sam then yes it sure would.

Apparently talks being held tomorrow with the players. All very odd.

But IF theres some truth to this story...that's Chick, Davison, Radwan and Blamire....players most clubs would  be interested in.

I presume it's just from the AIs as otherwise it would have kicked off before now. Don't think Chick and Davison played in the Autumn. Maybe Davison as a sub Vs Australia.

Could just be a cashflow thing. A sponsor late with an installment perhaps.

And now mutterings that we are in serious financial peril....on the brink apparently...

Sgt

Do you think its time Dean was moved on.

Who would you want in though? ....and more to the point who could we actually get. Its probably not the most attractive position.

Maybe good for a young up and coming coach who can really bring in a fresh approach with the kids...in a stepping stone to a get a bigger job.

Can you afford to move him on?

It would be devastating to rugby union in the North to lose Newcastle after not so long ago losing Leeds. I am in favour of free market forces (particularly when it comes to sport) and the RFU have let other clubs go to the wall (London Scots, London Welsh, Leeds), however surely they must be willing to do something to help find new ownership to develop the club or finding funding.

Find it weird that the RFU is the wealthiest union and can't seem to find the money to create an economic model for its clubs.

No 7&1/2 wrote:Can you afford to move him on?

Can we afford him to stay...

Hazel Sapling wrote:It would be devastating to rugby union in the North to lose Newcastle after not so long ago losing Leeds. I am in favour of free market forces (particularly when it comes to sport) and the RFU have let other clubs go to the wall (London Scots, London Welsh, Leeds), however surely they must be willing to do something to help find new ownership to develop the club or finding funding.

Find it weird that the RFU is the wealthiest union and can't seem to find the money to create an economic model for its clubs.

Yeah i feel so sorry for Seymore Kurdi. He is literally keeping the club afloat with his own personal money....and there must come a time when he says sorry i cant do it anymore.

Credit to Kurdi, he committed to Newcastle sport if memory serves with Rugby League and Basketball. At a certain point though the club has to break even and if things got to pre-pandemic levels, it still would not be enough.

Newcastle without ownership funding would probably be the best of the rest (competing with Dick Craig's Ealing) and maybe Doncaster though who knows what would end up happening.

From a Scotland perspective, we should make an offer to take over Newcastle as our 3rd team and put pressure on the RFU. Not sure how receptive fans would be though to an influx of SQ players such as LI's Dell, Bath's Rae or Exeter's Hidalgo-Clyne.

It's not we're going crazy with salaries either.....something obviously amiss in the modern game if we end up going under.

On Deano.....seemingly bigger things going on right now.

Hazel Sapling wrote:Credit to Kurdi, he committed to Newcastle sport if memory serves with Rugby League and Basketball. At a certain point though the club has to break even and if things got to pre-pandemic levels, it still would not be enough.

Newcastle without ownership funding would probably be the best of the rest (competing with Dick Craig's Ealing) and maybe Doncaster though who knows what would end up happening.

From a Scotland perspective, we should make an offer to take over Newcastle as our 3rd team and put pressure on the RFU. Not sure how receptive fans would be though to an influx of SQ players such as LI's Dell, Bath's Rae or Exeter's Hidalgo-Clyne.

We've always had a big quota of Scottish players anyway...some of the clubs greats are Scots...Gary Armstrong, George Graham, Doddie Weir, Peter Walton..etc etc...so wouldnt be a problem.

Distressing to hear of the club's finances, but also slightly surprising, wasn't there plans afoot to redevelop the north stand? I guess Covid has got a lot to answer for.

Regarding Deano, it often feels like we are being left behind. I know things have opened up a little bit more recently, but for long stretches of his tenure the backs have hardly seen the ball (and promptly dropped it when they did). It seems to take ages for him to trust younger players, whilst simultaneously trusting journeymen and guys who were never quite up to the mark. Don't get me wrong, I think the championship can provide excellent nuggety/ tough forwards, but they need to be supported by quality. I look at the squad and I see so much 'filler' there. To put it bluntly, we have a mediocre squad that plays outdated tactics and if we are not careful the good young players will follow Josh Hodge out the door.

Going forward I'd love to see a team based around players from the North East and Cumbria and (if the money is there) a couple of really top quality ringers. God knows who would manage them, but we need somebody to lay some fresh foundations.

At the end of the day we can't keep taking kickings like the weekend without change, something has got to give.

So confirmed that the falcons withheld around £100k of England payments to the 4 players...and used the money as a "Bridging gap"

The players themselves made the England RFU aware of it.

Poor show by the falcons, though they are citing the cancelled Sale game as a factor.

Stupid question perhaps but what does bridging gap mean? That the club didn't have the money so they took it from the players?

Exactly that 7.5

They are citing the cancelled Sale game.

If we are that perilous that one game pushes us over....thats massively concerning.

I mean...you just can't do that can you. it's tantamount to theft isn't it?

Well its pretty damn bad....but apparently we arent the only club who has done it.

What must the players think...loyalty etc...

if other clubs have or are doing the same thing, then it must be something about how Premiership contracts (the standardised part, at any rate) are structured. And, if other clubs are doing it, then it might have passed legal muster. Though at first read, it does seem peculiar.

No 7&1/2 wrote:Stupid question perhaps but what does bridging gap mean? That the club didn't have the money so they took it from the players?

A short term cashflow issue is normally covered by a bridging loan. You see it sometimes when people or companies are between credit facilities for example you buy your new house before selling your old house and the bridging loan would be used to cover the gap from the equity from the sale until that's completed.

By the sounds of it Falcons have lost out on what was being billed "the battle of the north" or whatever, potentially a bumper crowd. Add to that they've got travel costs for a week in France for the back to back games out there with potential Covid isolation issues. Might just be a short term cashflow issue on the back of that.

doctor_grey wrote:if other clubs have or are doing the same thing, then it must be something about how Premiership contracts (the standardised part, at any rate) are structured.  And, if other clubs are doing it, then it might have passed legal muster.  Though at first read, it does seem peculiar.  

Think its more to do with the financial solidity of clubs Doc. Some maybe arent quite as comfortable off as some think....

GeordieFalcon wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:if other clubs have or are doing the same thing, then it must be something about how Premiership contracts (the standardised part, at any rate) are structured.  And, if other clubs are doing it, then it might have passed legal muster.  Though at first read, it does seem peculiar.  

Think its more to do with the financial solidity of clubs Doc. Some maybe arent quite as comfortable off as some think....

Tigers lost millions over the lockdown period and I doubt they are recovering much at the minute with people opting for less conferencing and smaller weddings etc (good sidelines for Tigers). They ended up doing a big refinancing job with I think HSBC. If you've not got a wealthy backer happy to throw money at the problem then Covid will have left the bank accounts looking pretty bare I'd guess.