Falcons continuing to make most of local talent
NEWCASTLE Falcons have announced their senior academy squad for the 2022-23 season, as homegrown talent continues to underpin the club’s development.
The 17-man squad sees five players signing new deals, six remaining under contract and a further six joining from the junior academy, while a number of players will be invited to trials during pre-season training.
England Under-20s prop Mark Dormer has signed a two-year extension, while back-rower Marcus Tiffen signs a one-year deal after scoring on his first-team debut at Northampton in March.
Scotland Under-20s No.8 Matt Deehan, who also made his senior debut in that game, is another to have signed a one-year extension, as has scrum-half James Blackett and centre Ewan Greenlaw.
Already under contract and remaining part of next season’s senior academy squad are England Under-20s hooker Ollie Fletcher, prop Phil Brantingham, flanker Guy Pepper, three-quarter Chidera Obonna winger Zach Kerr and England Under-20s fly-half Louie Johnson.
Joining the senior academy are six players who have either played for or trained with England Under-18s within the last year.
Scrum-half Ben Douglas, who made his Falcons first-team debut at Northampton in March, has signed a three-year deal, as has lock-forward Luke Coulston. Winger Nathan Greenwood has signed for two years, with one-year deals for prop Mike Rewcastle, hooker Charlie Smith and centre Jeremy Civil.
Conrad Cade, Freddie Lockwood and Iwan Stephens are all promoted from the senior academy into the first team squad, while Oscar Caudle, Will Haydon-Wood, Morgan Passman and Matty Ward all depart.
Newcastle Falcons’ commitment to developing their own talent has been a proud theme for many years, with this season’s first-team match-day 23 seeing an average of 14.3 homegrown and local players.
With strong representation at international age-group level, the current season has also seen first-team starting debuts given to Cade, Lockwood, Tiffen, Deehan, Cameron NordliKelemeti, Blackett, Haydon-Wood and Stephens, plus first-team debuts from the bench for Brantingham, Fletcher, Johnson and Douglas.
Academy head coach James Ponton said: “We do well compared to the other Premiership clubs when it comes to having homegrown players in our squad, and those trends are rising even further.
“A lot of it I believe is around our talent identification in the younger age groups, and we’ve got a good record at spotting and developing players.
“We’re blessed with a lot of good clubs and schools on our patch who all play an important part, and when the guys do come to us it’s about giving them that quality environment and coaching where they can make the most of their ability.
“Having a number of lads pushing through the senior academy into the first team squad is obviously really pleasing, and we’ve got some real talent coming into the group this summer from our Under-18s.
“Covid obviously threw a huge spanner into the works regarding what we have been able to do with the lads over the last couple of years, but credit to the academy staff, because we’ve done more than most clubs in terms of the time we’ve had with the players and what we’ve been able to do with them. I feel like we’re now seeing the dividends of that with the crop we have coming into the senior academy.
“Ben Douglas at scrum-half has already played for the Falcons firstteam and scored the winning try for England against Scotland in their recent unbeaten Six Nations Festival campaign, and we have high hopes for him. Nathan Greenwood on the wing is a really exciting prospect. He’s a real crowd-pleaser”