‘I was right to jettison them’ – Steve Diamond’s brutal verdict on Newcastle’s mass overhaul
Newcastle Falcons Director of Rugby Steve Diamond believes he was ‘right to jettison’ a large chunk of his playing squad this off-season, following their winless Premiership campaign.
The Falcons boss has axed around 17-20 players, and they now only have 35 senior players at the club as they look to began anew this season.
Despite now having one of the smallest squads in the Premiership, Diamond believes they are now better than when he first took the reins in January.
“The interesting thing is, 17 to 20 players left and only two have got a job in the Premiership; so I was right to jettison them.”
He added: “The six or seven who have come in are also better than the players that left, so the squad is enhanced. We’ve reduced the squad size to 35 and then we’ve got 20 kids who we fast-track through the the academy system.
“Pre-season is always good. It’s sunny up here, believe it or not, and everyone’s keen because there’s no pressure, but we’ll see where we are after the first six to eight games.”
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Building from within
Following the fallout from this mass clear-out, the likes of Cameron Neild, Luan du Bruin and Tom Gordon have all made the move to the North East, but Diamond insists he will be ‘building from within’
“I think we need to build it from within,” he said. “We’re not going to be in the transfer market buying players from the southern hemisphere, so we’ve got to create as many as we can.”
A large part of their squad will now comprise of their senior academy. The Falcons now have 20 academy players training alongside the rest of the senior squad, and Diamond’s own experiences at Sale Sharks lead him to be optimistic about this new-look set-up.
“I look back on 10 or 12 years at Sale, we had no Academy when I arrived; and if you look at the England team that went to New Zealand this year, there’s probably three or four lads in that team who came through the Sale Academy.”
“We’ll be working hand in glove with the RFU, which is a great opportunity to deliver players for the Premiership, and for England.”
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Development signings key
Alongside the three signings mentioned above, Diamond has recruited several bright prospects into his squad from the lower tiers.
Front-row duo Connor and Callum Hancock, who are identical twins, join the club after impressing for Leeds Beckett University in BUCS Super Rugby, and Diamond has been impressed with the pair since they swapped Yorkshire for the Toon.
“It’s a good opportunity for them,” Diamond said. “They’ve equipped themselves pretty well, physically they’ll be a little bit off at the moment, but we always knew that.
“When you build an academy, you’ve got to work on players coming through over two or three years, not two or three months. To be fair to them, though, they’ve equipped themselves brilliantly so far; and don’t look at a place of training, which is always a good sign when kids step up.”
Another young gun Diamond has brought from Yorkshire to Newcastle is former Sale Sharks back Jack Metcalf. Following his departure from the Sharks, Metcalf has spent time at Championship high fliers Ealing Trailfinders and Doncaster Knights but will be keen to make an impression upon his return to the top flight.
“I had him at Sale. He was a youngster then, but he has got a lot of talent. He’s probably not found his home yet; he went to Ealing, and then Doncaster.”
Diamond added: “He’s come in very good condition and he plays two or three positions. I’m looking forward to seeing when we get into game time.”
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