Preview - Newcastle Falcons 2021/22
“We took our lessons and this group of players really has that northern grit - we don’t feel sorry for ourselves and we want to make our home fixtures really difficult for visiting teams.”
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@AndyGoode10 @WorcsWarriors @WaspsRugby @Steve_Dimes Yet you had @FalconsRugby in the championship without any rega… https://t.co/6Pr2asdR0a -
RT @FalconsRugby: 🤯 In case you didn't know, our 2023-24 season tickets are on sale 𝐍𝐎𝐖. 🤩 With some 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 up for grabs, secure your… -
RT @FalconsRugby: 🔜 Coming to Falcons HQ this June! 🫡 Celebrating UK Armed Forces day in style, Kingston Park will host a fixture between…
Season Expectations: 12th
Key Signings: Mike Brown, Nathan Earle
Newcastle returned to the Premiership after being relegated in 2018/19, Dean Richards’ men finished 10th on the ladder in a season full of mixed results. Newcastle’s start to the season was a pleasant surprise for Falcons fans, after five rounds they were perched on top of the table following wins against Bath, Sale, Wasps and Gloucester. However, from there Newcastle’s premiership form was inconsistent to say the least. The Falcons lost 10 of their remaining fourteen fixtures, including a 74-3 drubbing at the hands of Exeter, to leave them 10th in the table at the end of the season.
Over the summer Dean Richards has kept the core of the squad intact and on top of that brought in Nathan Earle and Mike Brown (both Harlequins) from the Premiership champions. Mike Brown will bring a wealth of experience to Kingston Park, the all-time appearance leader for Harlequins will bring some much-needed security at the back along with good link play in the wide channels. Nathan Earle is also a great addition to the squad, he will provide strong ball carrying out wide and when given space, use his blistering pace to add to his stellar Premiership try scoring record. One notable loss for Newcastle was Toby Flood, the fan favourite retired in September after his second 4 year stint at the club. Dean Richards will hope that Joel Hodgson and Brett Connon can take the reins in the number 10 jersey.
Newcastle’s success in their opening five games was attributed to a dominant set piece, physically bullying opponents, Joel Hodgson’s pinpoint kicking game and most importantly doing the basics well. The Falcons were able to keep ball in hand throughout long periods of the game, the lack of mistakes combined with excellent territorial kicking gave Newcastle the chance to take advantage of other teams unforced errors in good field position. The blueprint for Newcastle this season is simple, keep the unforced errors to a minimum. We saw how effective the Falcons can be when they do this. If they can stop gifting possession back to other teams, their forward pack led by Mark Wilson and Gary Graham can compete with teams physically. However, the consistency of good performances throughout the season just wasn’t there, I fear the same problem may be true for Dean Richards' side this upcoming year. In a league where it seems most teams have improved significantly in the off season, I predict that Newcastle will finish outside of the top 10 this season.