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)

As of now...confirmed leaving..

Robbie Smith
Mike Brown
Schrueder
Will Haydon Wood - now looking like some bad blood between him and the club..

And of course Mark Wilsons off the salary aswell....

Logo is contracted till next season.

Ps i think 10, and 12 are the real crux positons for us.

Id' love to find a real beast at 12...like a Seilala Mapusua or someone. Not many of them about i appreciate :-)

Really what's the inside scoop on Haydon-Wood then? If there was bad blood you'd have thought he'd have been playing less unless the bad blood wasn't between him and the playing side.

Burrell and Lucock are not the most flashy 12s going but they do a job currently. Your right in that hard running centres are hard to find though Quins have the 12 that pushed Kelly into the 13 channel for the Irish under 20s and he seems to be struggling to get game time despite looking a player at age grade level so there are prospects about.

10s well you've been linked with a couple so surely one will be on their way shortly. If it is James Grayson I think both he and Falcons will do well out of that.

Well he was dropped to the development bench this weekend. Doubt we'll see him again. Seems bad blood between coaches and him....possibly. Just hearsay at the moment.

i actually like Lucock. I prefer him to Burrell. Hes a very hard carrier, with decent hands. i dont think we use him effectively enough..... As a hard carrying fulcrum to get attacking plays off.

But then huge questions about our attack on the Unoffy now...Walders position as head coach and attack coach particularly coming under the microscope.

Freddie Lockwood signs a new contract and is promoted to the seniors...Great news

Connor Collett signs a new contract. Now thats a good one. i really think next season he needs to make that 7 spot his own. Hes a really tough confrontational hard tackling, in your face 7.

Great news on Lockwood, I really like the look of him. Don't rate personally but he's a squad filler which we need with quite a few leaving.

What is it about Collett that you dont rate Sgt.

Just don't think he's good enough GF. Doesn't particularly do anything that well and lacks physicality. Must have been with us 3 years now and hasn't really made any impact of note.

I imagine he's cheap and an extra body in our dwindling squad, but at 26/27....he's not really going to get much better.

His hair annoys me too....maybe that's the real reason.

Ha ha ha yes the hairdo.

See I think this season when he's played his tackling has been ferocious. He's an in your face 7. Maybe just not given the run of games due to Wilson and welch being favorites.

We need to move on now form the Wilson and Welch types..more attacking players....we need an attack first and foremost.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Just don't think he's good enough GF. Doesn't particularly do anything that well and lacks physicality. Must have been with us 3 years now and hasn't really made any impact of note.

I imagine he's cheap and an extra body in our dwindling squad, but at 26/27....he's not really going to get much better.

His hair annoys me too....maybe that's the real reason.

Bad hair is a killer. He should hang with Joe Marler for a bit...

Iwan Stephens signs new 2 year deal! Awesome news.

Apparently Fissler is running a report today that Dean Richards is changing roles?

Stephens, Radwan and Carreras are 3 of the smallest yet most electric wingers in the league.

We NEED to give them a proper attacking platform now to actually let them show what they can do!

doctor_grey wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Just don't think he's good enough GF. Doesn't particularly do anything that well and lacks physicality. Must have been with us 3 years now and hasn't really made any impact of note.

I imagine he's cheap and an extra body in our dwindling squad, but at 26/27....he's not really going to get much better.

His hair annoys me too....maybe that's the real reason.

Bad hair is a killer.  He should hang with Joe Marler for a bit...

George! Capital punishment for sporting a mohican is slightly on the harsh side.

jimbopip wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Just don't think he's good enough GF. Doesn't particularly do anything that well and lacks physicality. Must have been with us 3 years now and hasn't really made any impact of note.

I imagine he's cheap and an extra body in our dwindling squad, but at 26/27....he's not really going to get much better.

His hair annoys me too....maybe that's the real reason.

Bad hair is a killer.  He should hang with Joe Marler for a bit...

George!  Capital punishment for sporting a mohican is slightly on the harsh side.

Pourquoi?

Newcastle Falcons team v Glasgow Warriors (Friday, 8pm, Kingston Park Stadium)

15 Tom Penny,
14 Adam Radwan,
13 George Wacokecoke,
12 Luther Burrell,
11 Ben Stevenson,
10 Brett Connon,
9 Louis Schreuder;

1 Adam Brocklebank,
2 George McGuigan,
3 Trevor Davison,
4 Greg Peterson,
5 Sean Robinson,
6 Josh Basham,
7 Will Welch (captain),
8 Freddie Lockwood.

Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Kyle Cooper, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Will Montgomery, 20 Tom Marshall, 21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Joel Hodgson, 23 Iwan Stephens.

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Kyle Steyn, 1O Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price; 1 Oli Kebble, 2 Johnny Matthews, 3 Simon Berghan, 4 Scott Cummings, 5 Richie Gray, 6 Ryan Wilson (captain), 7 Thomas Gordon, 8 Rory Darge.

Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Ollie Smith.

Referee: Tual Trainini (France).

Great to see Ben back.

Still amazed Burrell is playing Premiership Rugby. He must be 60 years old.

doctor_grey wrote:Still amazed Burrell is playing Premiership Rugby.  He must be 60 years old.

He's only 32.

Seems like he has been playing forever.

Massive changes needed.

We need coaches who can put together a proper modern game.

We have the players and they show glimpses through games of they could do...

Fed up of this now.

And rhe lineout...Scott Macleod needs to focus on the rugby not preening his feckin hair and basketball...

Nick Easter apparently told he can leave for free at the end of the season..good move our defence is awful.

..and Dean defo changing roles...

Maybe Seymour has had enough....

Mr Walder must be a little uncomfortable...

And now rumours josh Basham is going back to Irish...

Mateo Carreras has signed a new 2 year deal. Awesome...but now we HAVE to change our attack so that these young wingers get the ball!!

Tom penny signs a new 2 year deal.

Rumours that Burrell is defo off in the summer, and we have signed the Pirates 12 Rory Parata

Looks like mark Wilson defo coming in as a coach...and if Easter is off...then it pretty much says hes coming as defence coach.

New 3 year deal for Van der Walt???
He'll be 33 this summer....

I honestly dont get that one....

Quite bizarre.....he's hardly been a star performer. Deano strikes again.....

It just doesnt make sense that one Sgt....

He must have been very cheap GF, it's all I can fathom.

Yes most likely, but i still think we could find better...

Well Orlando signs a new contract.

Let's hope we get a style that's allows him to play his best

And apparently we've sounded out Joe Simpson...have we not done with these old men retiree signings!!!!!

Looks like Mark will be our D coach next season.

Tian Schoeman confirmed....3 year deal

Adam Brocklebank signs a new 2 year deal. Now that one im please with...he's probably our most improved player this season and has been really showing up well at scrum time...

With him, Brantingham and Cade coming through and Davison to cover....LH is suddenly very healthy

GeordieFalcon wrote:Tian Schoeman confirmed....3 year deal

Let's hope he gets on the park.....looks an upgrade on what we have anyway. Very happy with Brockles, him and Davison have been excellent.

And Brett Connon signs a new 2 year deal...

Now the rugby paper running an article that the falcons wanted Paul Gustard to replace Dean but he wants to honour his contract in Northern Italy.

And young Farrar going to Ealing....

Walder confirmed as DOR and seems set that Mark Wilson will be defence coach.

Flood is away also...

Ah well....lets see how he does. He's certainly well thought of in the coaching circles.....maybe without Deano hanging around he can change things.

The new academy list is confirmed and sadly Morgan Passman and Matty Ward are confirmed as leaving.

Injury robs us of two cracking young wingers.

Just shows how much luck plays its part in a successful rugby career!

Josh Thomas Signs from the Ospreys....

https://www.newcastlefalcons.co.uk/news/story/Fly-half-Josh-Thomas-signs-for-the-Falcons?fbclid=IwAR2rldRvcLJZDmaN0D_Px2dIIus4RYeguW4D_ASukkil9x2RKcOyLXoan8A

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/havent-got-that-right-richards-names-rugbys-biggest-problem-newcastle/

Do you think Dean was on the pop when he was interviewed...

Mark Wilson Confirmed back as a coach. he may be very inexperienced, but even if he can instill some of his work rate (and fitness), passion, aggression and steel, it'll be a massive boost.

Well Walder still giving us Falcons positive vibes...

A change in style to suit our players better...much better attacking play but still a style to win matches.

Mark Wilson is responsible for coaching Collisions and contact in both attack and defence whilst he will also share the defence coaching duties with Dave Walder.

Skills Coach,  the highly rated Mark Laycock who is currently skills coach and academy manager will take on the attacking coach also...

Former player Matt Thompson takes on the DOR roles not directly involved in coaching and signing players, to take those away from Walder to allow him to focus solely on the squad and on field affairs.

In other good news for Falcons your two Pumas combined in the centres from the start Vs Scotland. Bedding them in before they combine for Falcons perhaps.

So Newcastle have asked the RFU to carry out an independent investigation in to the Burrell Racism claims.

What can go wrong with the RFU involved...

Newcastle Falcons team to face Leicester Tigers (Friday, 7pm, Mattioli Woods Welford Road):

15 Alex Tait, 14 Vereimi Qorowale, 13 Ben Stevenson, 12 Pete Lucock, 11 Zach Kerr, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young; 1 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 Charlie Maddison, 3 Mark Tampin, 4 George Merrick, 5 Josh Peters, 6 Gary Graham, 7 Will Welch (captain), 8 Tom Marshall.

Replacements: 1 Phil Brantingham, 2 George McGuigan, 3 Conor Kenny, 4 Matthew Dalton, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 6 Matt Deehan, 7 Marcus Tiffen, 8 Carl Fearns, 9 Josh Barton, 9 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 10 Josh Thomas, 11 Nathan Earle, 12 Ewan Greenlaw, 13 George Wacokecoke, 14 Adam Radwan, 15 Iwan Stephens.

Referee: Hamish Smales.

Not available for selection: Jamie Blamire, Adam Brocklebank, Mateo Carreras, Callum Chick, Connor Collett, Trevor Davison, Louie Johnson, Matias Moroni, Chidera Obonna, Matias Orlando, Tom Penny, Guy Pepper, Sean Robinson, Tian Schoeman, Sam Stuart, Philip van der Walt

And the Tigers put out a very strong lineup lol....