YOUNG GUNS
Adam Radwan has been a revelation for Newcastle this summer, so it is hard to imagine the young flyer was released by the Falcons only a year ago.
A member of the club’s junior academy while at Hartlepool College, Radwan wasn’t offered a full-time academy contract so he started last season in National Three with Billingham.
Not one to feel sorry for himself, the 19-yearold put his head down in the lower league and got a chance to impress the Falcons coaches again.
He took it with both hands, earned himself a new contract and turned a few heads in the Premiership Sevens with his speed and scoring abilities grabbing the headlines.
“It’s amazing how much can change in a year,” he told The Rugby Paper. “It was tough to get released but I didn’t take it as the end of the road for me.
“I just put my head down, worked as hard as I could and hoped I’d get another chance. Newcastle wanted me to get more experience and that’s what I did playing some Sevens in the summer before joining Billingham.
“While I was at Billingham I played in an A-League game for Newcastle against Leicester and I got signed again after it. I finished the season with Darlington Mowden Park in National One before linking up with Newcastle in pre-season.
“They told me they’d keep an eye on me and they did. They kept their side of the bargain so now it’s up to me to show them they were right in giving me a second chance. “All I wanted at the start of the summer was to get used to the professional environment and make an mpact in the team should I get the chance to show the coaches what I could do. “The Premiership Sevens was really good fun and it gave me a really good chance to impress. I managed to carry that form going into the pre-season games and even managed to score a tries.” About his new ambitions for the season, he added: “I’m not sure what the plan will be in terms of the club I’ll be playing for this season but I really want to stay with Newcastle. “I’m only on a oneyear deal so I’m determined to try my hardest to earn another contract and playing as much rugby as possible will help me in that sense so returning to Mowden Park on loan might be a solution too. “It’s my first time training full-time so preseason has been really tough. But I get to train with some great players which is exactly what I wanted. “It was hard to train every day at first but what you also get in this environment is all the off-field help like conditioning and nutrition. That helps your recovery massively and I felt up to speed after a couple of weeks. “All the wingers in the squad have been really helpful and I’m
very grateful for all the little pointers they give me. Simon Hammersley is more a full-back but he’s spending a lot of time with me and I’m improving a lot as a result.”