Chick vows Falcons will not make up numbers

Newcastle Falcons captain Callum Chick wants Kingston Park to be a tough place for opponents to visit in the 2024-25 season

Newcastle Falcons captain Callum Chick is looking forward to the team being written off again this season.

He would like nothing better than to prove Newcastle are no longer the Premiership's whipping boys.

The Falcons lost all 18 league games last campaign, but with consultant director of rugby Steve Diamond working them hard over the summer, there is a steely determination within the group.

"After last year, nobody is expecting anything," said Chick. "But if people think we're just making up the numbers, they're in for a shock."

The 2023-24 season was a painful one for everyone connected with the club.

Professional pride took a huge dent with not a single Premiership victory to their name amid a mixture of narrow defeats and chastening hammerings.

They averaged fewer than two tries per match and conceded more than five, as the other nine clubs milked them for wins and bonus points.

For someone like Chick, 27, it was even harder to stomach.

As a youngster, he grew up watching stars like Jonny Wilkinson, Toby Flood and Australia World Cup winner Matt Burke from the terraces at Kingston Park, which made him fall in love with the 15-man game.

But the number eight, capped twice by England under former head coach Eddie Jones in 2021, was forced to watch as the northern citadel was stormed time and again.

"You start losing and it becomes a monkey on your back," he told BBC Sport.

"You build yourself up thinking, 'this will be the week'. It doesn't happen and there is a huge emotional drop off.

"It was a very tiring season mentally, full of peaks and troughs. When you win a few and lose a few, there is a more consistent feel, but losing every week was emotionally tough to go through."

Callum Chick played in all 18 of Newcastle's Premiership games last season

'There's an identity now'

Chick and the rest of the Falcons have had four months to wait and lick those wounds since their last Premiership game.

Attention is centred on the visit of Bristol Bears this Friday night to kick off the new campaign.

Pre-season has been long and tough, but it has allowed the players a chance to work hard with Diamond and his coaching staff.

Away from the training pitch, there was a trip to Galway races in Ireland and a few days in Ullswater in the Lake District for what Chick describes as "old-fashioned team-bonding".

The squad has been trimmed by Diamond over the summer, but the captain believes it has allowed a new spirit to be engendered - the first test of which will be in evidence on Friday.

"We didn't have an identity before, but we do now," Chick said.

"We can make Kingston Park a really horrible place to go. Last year, we only played two games in dry conditions at home.

"No-one wants to come up here. Teams don't want a fight in the wind and the rain. We've got to use that to our advantage."

Newcastle last won a Premiership game in March 2023

'We want to turn heads'

Chick has been singled out by Diamond as one of the players he wants to build his team around and someone to drive a new culture at the club.

In many sports, a season like last year would have resulted in relegation and having to start again in a level below.

But there is currently no relegation in place in the Premiership, so the Falcons have a chance to make amends.

And Chick hopes to demonstrate that the Falcons' class of 2024-25 can be disruptors to what is perceived as the status quo.

"People think it's a nine-team league, but we're not here to live up to that," he said. "We want to turn heads and make some noise.

"Everyone likes the competitive nature of Premiership rugby and we want to be part of that."