‘We don’t know what we’re capable of’ – Newcastle Red Bulls boss opens up on ‘start-up project’
Newcastle Red Bulls head coach Dan McFarland (left) has spoken ahead of the new PREM Rugby season
Newcastle Red Bulls are one of, if not the, most exciting projects in English club rugby right now, but they are not letting themselves fly too high just yet.
The North East outfit might be a year into the new venture with the energy drink giants, but the 2026/27 season feels very much like the true beginning of the Red Bull era.
23 new players have come through the door at Kingston Park. A new head coach is at the helm, joined by a new-look ticket at that. Even the kit has changed colour, moving towards electric blue instead of the traditional black that Newcastle have played in for so many years. It’s gorgeous, by the way.
It feels like a wiping of the slate. A clearout of the old days. A changing of the guard. Whatever cliché phrase you want to throw in here, do so. That’s what this is.
This is the true beginning of the Red Bull era.
‘It’s basically a start-up project, isn’t it’
“It’s basically a start-up project, isn’t it?” said Newcastle head coach Dan McFarland. “It’s awesome. It’s a huge, huge challenge in a sport that relies on cohesion, to pull together so many new people.
“I have no idea (how long it will take), but all I can do is answer the most important questions when I come in and connection and cohesion are one of those. We’ve got to get going on that pretty fast. It’s a complex game; you rely on connections and people knowing each other and playing and training together over a long period of time, and we’ve had to accelerate those relationships on and off the field. It’s also about being really clear about the way we want to play, so the guys know what we’re going after when things don’t quite click.
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“You’ve got to build the foundations first. That’s difficult for coaches, who love to be in the weeds and love the real detail of stuff, but we’re starting simple with a key idea. That doesn’t mean the rugby looks boring, far from it, but it does mean you have to start with the basics and get them right to build relationships on a foundational level.”
You’d think with all that change, and the large investment into the club, that expectation would soon follow. Importantly, the expectation to improve.
Newcastle have been a club down in the dumps in the past few years. Since their last play-off finish back in 2018, the club have finished bottom of the PREM table five times and also underwent a run of 14 months without a victory.
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“The pressure is only around trying to do your job well,” McFarland detailed. “I’ve been around a long time in rugby, and for me the enjoyment comes when you get into a job where you’ve got good people around you, you’ve got a challenge to face and believing in what you can do and do that on a day-to-day basis.
“Newcastle has a rich heritage of rugby, and success as well, and with that comes a toughness with rugby in the north of England. I have to recognise that and that’s something I choose to be a part of. I love that.
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“But I’m also coming into a situation where Red Bull are the owners. So there’s an expectation around the style, high energy and intensity that we bring to the game. It’s not a question of me stamping (an authority); it’s a question of me coming into a challenge that I’m choosing because of the things we need to put in place, and I want to be a part of that. I want to be involved in that.”
Change might be demanded at some point, but the club remains realistic. This won’t happen overnight. It won’t happen instantly. McFarland is fully aware of that.
“This season, in all honesty, we don’t know what we’re capable of,” the coach continued. “We don’t know what we’re going to achieve. The bottom line is, over the last four years, Newcastle haven’t won a lot of games. We’ve got a brand new set of players and some ambitious young men, but we’re building a team to compete in one of the top leagues in the world. That’s going to be a huge challenge.
“Progress, from my perspective and Red Bull’s perspective, is building that brand of rugby, building that excitement around our team, to see us progress on the pitch, the way that we play and how efficient we are.
“What are we capable of achieving in terms of number of wins in the league? I don’t know, I don’t think anybody knows, but we’re sure as hell going to find out.”