Newcastle Falcons Season 2014/2015 - Closed, use new one.

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UPDATED FOR 2015 / 2016

Manager: Dean Richards
Head Coach: John Wells
Forwards Coach: John Wells
Defence Coach: Graham Steadman
Attack Coach: Dave Walder

Current Squad (A= Academy):
Forwards
Props: Taione Vea, Jon Welsh, Scott Wilson, Ben Harris, Rob Vickers , Eric Fry,

Hookers: Scott Lawson, George McGuigan, Rob Hawkins,
David Nelson (A)

Second Rows: Dom Barrow, Callum Green, Kane Thompson, Josh Furno,
Glen Youngs (A), Will Witty (A), Sean Robinson (A), Harry Snowdon (A),

Back Row: Ally Hogg, Will Welch, Richard Mayhew, Nili Latu, Mark Wilson, Uili Kolo'ofai, Dan Temm,
Brian Tuilagi (A), Joe Craggs (A), Calum Chick (A)

Backs
SH's: Sonatane Tukulua, Ruki Tipuna, Micky Young,
Dan Taylor (A),  Ruaridh Dawson (A)

Fh's: Tom Catterick, Mike Delaney,
Craig Willis (A), Brett Connon (A)

Centres: Juan Pablo Socino, Adam Powell, Gonzalo Tiesi, Andy Tuilagi, Chris Harris ,
Adam Redman centre (A), Tom Penny (A)

Wing: Sinoti Sinoti, Alex Tuilagi, Giovanbattista Venditti, Marcus Watson, Zac Kibirige,
Dan Marshall (A)

FB's: Alex Tait, Simon Hammersley

Contracts yet to be agreed:
Oliver Tomaschyk
Scott MacLeod
Warren Fury
Jamie Helleur
Noah Cato
Rory Clegg - Going to Australia

Yes we do need that in the back row Sgt and Dean hasn't done many bad signings (we'll ignore Fry) but I just think we can surely uncover a young power packed Islander rather than an aging one...if that's the route we are going.

Personally I don't think Saul has really had a fair crack at that 7 spot to see if he can really perform.

Gents

On a slightly different note, How do you see Newcastle taking to hosting some RWC games? We've tickets to the Scotland matches and just wondered if the après match would be good considering Newcastle's pretty much a football town.

Tattie Scones RRN wrote:Gents

On a slightly different note, How do you see Newcastle taking to hosting some RWC games? We've tickets to the Scotland matches and just wondered if the après match would be good considering Newcastle's pretty much a football town.

I've only been out in Newcastle once. Brace yourself. It's somehow colder than it is in Scotland, and yet the people wear an awful lot less. The local talent have also taken the phone slogan "the future's bright, the future's orange" a tad literally.

Great fun though. Much like going out in Glasgow, only slightly cleaner.

It'll be fab guys. Im a proud Geordie and its a great party city.

It is a football city but its also a great sporting city and everyone is looking forward to the World Cup.

Also we are lucky to have separate "drinking sections" of the town...so it depends what type of night your after.

Is it true Andy Saull has signed for Yorkshire?

If rumours are true it is. I know he wants to be first choice 7. 

Makes sense signing this old tongan to be honest, hardley wanting to be first choice and great for Welchy and younger lads to pick stuff up from.

Yeah, but who are the younger lads at 7 Driver?

We have Welch and Dan Temm who doesn't seem to be rated hugely by his lack of 1st games.

Who else is there?

Another inept performance

I also think the captaincy needs to be rethought next season.

Didn't see the game GF, little late for me.

Getting hammered at Sandy Park is no surprise, we always struggle there. Agree on Welch, he's not quite up to it as a player & captain.

Have we run out of gas a bit...or were we just playing above ourselves for a few games. Has normal service resumed...

A bit of everything maybe, we've certainly had a good run with a pretty average squad.

The new additions will help next season, we've put a lot of responsibility on Catterick.

Do you think we'll be getting out of the Bath game?

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Didn't see the game GF, little late for me.

Getting hammered at Sandy Park is no surprise, we always struggle there. Agree on Welch, he's not quite up to it as a player & captain.

I'd rather Welch goes to Leeds and we keep Saull to be honest.

I think we need better than both Driver tbh

Driver,

Was that an April Fool about Helluer? I suspect he'll be on his way but surely not to Rockliffe.

Falcons team v Bath

Dean has mixed it up a little bit from the last few. Whats your thoughts. I think we'll get overpowered.
1. R.Vickers
2. S.Lawson
3. K.Brookes
4. C.Green
5. K.Thompson
6. R.Mayhew
7. M.Wilson
8. C.York

9. R.Tipuna
10. R.Clegg
11. S.Sinoti
12. JP.Socino
13. A.Powell (c)
14. C.Harris
15. S. Hammersley

Replacements: 16. G.MGuigan, 17. E.Fry, 18. JP.Orlandi, 19. J.Furno, 20. S.Robinson, 21. S.Takulua, 22. T.Catterick, 23. G.Tiesi

Dangerous back 3

Yes it is...will they get enough ball. Is that pack good enough?

Well its Gloucester away next.

The lads just look like their running out of steam.

Do we ring the changes? Give some of the kids a run out? Witty, Robinson, McGuigan, Penny.

Harris needs to have a run out at 13...not wing.

Well its confirmed Saull is off to Leeds.

Do you think he had a fair crack at the whip...or is he just not good enough.
Personally I don't think he really got enough of a chance.

Im not convinced on Welch....nor his captaincy.

I don't think he's good enough GF. He's not physical enough for AP rugby, I can't recall him making much of an impact when he got a chance.

Agree on Welch, he's not captain material or good enough imo.

So does that mean a possible permanent switch for Mark Wilson?

Possibly, also a new backrower?

Yeah i'd like to see a couple of back rowers come in. If you look at our current stable.

Ally Hogg - Not getting any younger
Will Welch - Questions starting to be asked of his captaincy and ability
Richard Mayhew - Good solid player
Andy Saull - Away to Leeds
Mark Wilson - Class
Uili Kolo'ofai - Sicknote - Will he play again?
Chris York - Probably on his way in the summer
Dan Temm - Has looked good in the A league...untried at AP level
Ben Morris - Doubtful if he'll make the grade
Calum Chick - Academy lad...looks very promising but too early.

Its not actually that good reading.

Others:
Possible - Furno can play 6 but he is a lock
Kane Thompson - Can play 8 to a very high level but mostly used as lock

Yea we could do with 1 or 2 coming in, let's see if Latu comes through.

He'll do for a season Sgt but not a hugely inspiring one for me.

If we're going that route...can we not unearth a couple of raw 20yo beasts from the islands...
Or go to SA and find a couple of monsters?

Is there much else coming through in the academy?

Saull has never been physical enough for top level Rugby in my opinion. I've definitely warmed to you Falcons fans over the past few years (probably my favourite fans in fact) but I do remember getting a bit peeved off when someone on here was saying Saull was better than Treviranus (one of Irish's best players)...

What do you guys make of Welch by the way? I think you can do better as a player and a captain, although admittedly I don't watch him every week.

Aw shucks thanks SB

Well Welch is starting to raise a few questions....for both ability and captaincy.

He is a decent player....but we are now beginning to question if he is good enough to command the starting role at 7.

Also some are questioning our on field leadership. Whilst you need a few leaders on the pitch (im not sure we have a huge amount) the buck stops with him .

Maybe he needs to have the captaincy removed and just focus on that 7 role. Give the captaincy back to Hogg.

Something needs to change though.

I think that sounds like a good shout. Or perhaps Wilson as captain? He is a player that I am always highly impressed with - should have a Saxons cap. His versatility across the back row means you could play him regardless of who else is in form (more or less).

I'd of rather seen Mike Blair skipper the side this season than Welch. Andy has captained the 'A' team this season and they have had some great performances and results.

I'd rather have kept him over Welch.

Wilson should definitely have been in the saxons by now. He's class.

I see we have signed the Tongan captain who plays 7 latu

Lets hope he's still decent.

I remember him being a good carrier and strong at the breakdown about 4/5 years ago.

This is a signing I'm totally unconvinced by so I'll have to judge on performance.

Not much of a surprise but Ben Morris is off to Nottingham.

What team do you want out v Glos this weekend then.

I swear to God, only Falcons could have lost that, given the position we were in! Great game though!

Amazing game to watch.

Some big performances from Welch, Lawson, Furno, Socino and Clegg to name a few.

Harris showed potential alongside Socino and Powell was excellent when he came on.

Only negatives were the scrum in parts and the defence was poor. On the scrum it was probably more to do with depth. We bring on Fry and they brought on Afoa.

Can we fix this problem we have ?

Interesting talk coming from John Wells in the chronicle...

Insisting Latu will not simply walk into the side, Wells said: “Like any player he is going to have to compete for a position, but he has been brought in because he can play a fast style of rugby.

“He is a dynamic ball-carrier, he can hit hard and cover the ground, and that is what we need on our new synthetic pitch.

“It would be very interesting to see how a team like Toulon would play on a pitch like ours, if they were up against a real fast team.

“Would they struggle or not?

“They are predominantly big physical players, whereas we are looking at it slightly differently. Our signings reflect the rugby we are trying to play.”

That would appear we are not looking for massive players , we're looking for fast athletic forwards...dare I say how England have tried to go....

If we can get a set piece that holds its own it's an interesting thought.

With poor ball we've looked threatening, if we could tighten up defensively and stop conceding pens in the scrum I'd back us to win more games.

Many have been very tight (Irish x 2, Sarries, Bath etc) and we've lost too many points in the scrum alone. I'm certainly enjoying the brand of rugby and at least Deano has a vision, we'll never climb the table with 10 man rugby.

We need a fitter team though as we've ran out of steam in last 20 of games too often. Interesting times ahead.

Yeah maybe we should be looking for some new coaches - fitness, scrum and defence coaches.

Its very much how Quins play....only I do think they have missed on or two big lumps in there ....especially with Kohn getting injured.

Is it a coincidence that they play that style and its being described here....Dean the common factor....

Little surprise but it looks like Phil Godman is away...according to the unoffy...to be head of Sports at Dundee School.

Does anyone else wonder if synthetic pitches will lead to a slow culture change in English rugby, where speed and skills are emphasised over blunt force trauma? If i was being optimistic I'd say so, but after a promising start from Sarries where they were playing a lot of ball in hand they seem to have gone back to a more structured 10 man game.

I'd love to see England develop a faster game through the club game, but one that was married with a traditional emphasis on set piece and the uncovering of some huge bruisers...but maybe it's not realistic. I suppose even with synthetic pitches, a wet greasy top isn't idle for handling.

In any case, it's nice to see us develop a genuine 'brand' of rugby. It's taken me a little surprise as I've been thinking we desperately need some big ball carriers, but perhaps a focus on speed and accuracy is preferable. Not sure you'd have backed a team like Newcastle to be focusing on this!

Its a thought Hood....but personally I believe you need a team that can mix it.

Quins play a similar style to that which I think we are looking to play...but can really be undone by a team with some brute force up front.

I think that's why Sarries are mixing it up.

You need need the skills and fast pace...but you still need some good old power in there as well.
That's something I do think we have a good blend of in our squad...for the monster Dom Barrow at second row...we have Josh Furno an athletic livewire second row.

Hence the signing of Nili Latu and ejection of Andy Saull. He offers more Dynamic power than Saull.

Likewise big Ben Harris is a very mobile LH prop who will offer big carrying capabilities as opposed to Eric Fry and Vickers.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Little surprise but it looks like Phil Godman is away...according to the unoffy...to be head of Sports at Dundee School.

Those kids can only dream about what he's achieved with Scotland - playing 2 reasonable games and 21 sh!te ones.

Ha ha was his record that good?

I see we have announced a pre world cup game against Georgia....at least we'll see how good our scrum is then!!!

I see Lee Smith has also left the club already (requesting to be released from contract) . Currently in Australia to play Rugby Union.

I see we have signed Italian Wigner...Giovanbattista Venditti.

Now that's a decent signing....a big unit...

Means for next season our wings will be:

Marcus Watson - From England 7's
Alex Tuilagi
Giovanbattista Venditti
Zac Kibirige - Who scored a try on his Blaydon return this week.

and of course....

Sinotti Sinotti...

GeordieFalcon wrote:Its a thought Hood....but personally I believe you need a team that can mix it.

Quins play a similar style to that which I think we are looking to play...but can really be undone by a team with some brute force up front.

I think that's why Sarries are mixing it up.

You need need the skills and fast pace...but you still need some good old power in there as well.
That's something I do think we have a good blend of in our squad...for the monster Dom Barrow at second row...we have Josh Furno an athletic livewire second row.

Hence the signing of Nili Latu and ejection of Andy Saull. He offers more Dynamic power than Saull.

Likewise big Ben Harris is a very mobile LH prop who will offer big carrying capabilities as opposed to Eric Fry and Vickers.

YEah i agree, my hope though is that synthetic pitches lead to a new culture of fast, skills based players that, in a perfect fluke, blends at some point with our old style of set-piece, up the jumper stuff, producing a world beating combination....yeah, it's not going to happen i realise.

Very pleased with Venditti, an excellent addition.