ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

'That will be where all our energy lies' - Steve Diamond: The Newcastle Falcons five year plan

BY Jack Tunney  ·  Thursday Sep 26, 2024

In January 2024, Newcastle Falcons brought in one of the most astute operators in the game to lead their rebuilding efforts, Steve Diamond. Today the head coach laid out his five-year plan in a meeting with the media.

ADVERTISEMENT

It can be argued that no rugby fan particularly enjoyed seeing Newcastle Falcons languishing at the bottom of the Gallagher Premiership last season. It was hard to watch one of the stalwart clubs of English rugby take such a battering week in and week out during such a gruelling campaign.

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 20: Director of Rugby Steve Diamond with Joe Davis prior to the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Newcastle Falcons and Bristol Bears at Kingston Park on September 20, 2024 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Despite the optimism that came with the appointment of the former Sale Sharks boss, the results on the field failed to recover as the season progressed, with Newcastle remarkably ending the season with zero wins and just five points on the board.

That was, however, last season. Since then, Steve has had an entire summer to continue his rebuilding efforts, bringing in plenty of talent from outside, as well as developing the younger prospects already a part of the squad.

Falcons first match against Bristol didn’t quite kick their season off how they would have hoped, but Steve is confident that they’re on their way back up.

“We’re a good collective bunch with what the lads have been through here in previous regimes,” Steve said.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We should have psychologists in here daily because they’ve gone through hell and back over the last two years, and what we’ve done is freed them up and given them some confidence.

“We’re going in the right direction as long as we keep making strides week in and week out, and collectively defensively we’re getting better than we’ve ever been over the last 2-3 years.”

There’s no denying the sides’ perseverance, but when your side fails to notch a single try during the opening home game, questions start to get asked.

“We’ve got to take our opportunities”, Steve explained.

ADVERTISEMENT

“In the game against Bristol last week we had five or six opportunities and we didn’t take them.

“Part of coaching the team and leading the team is showing them the opportunities we missed. Not ‘why didn’t you do that’, but if you were a little clearer of thought then the opportunities were there to take, and we didn’t take them.

“So, if you look at the scoreline last week, if we can take one or two of those opportunities then it’d be within seven points and we would be getting a bonus point for a loss.”

These short-term goals are vital to ensuring a steady but certain rise from the ashes, but in terms of a longer view, we asked how the club could steady themselves and push on to compete with the very best in years to come.

“If you look at where Newcastle have been, and where we’re going to go in the next three to five years, this will probably be a very difficult season for us, but we will learn a lot which will stay with us for the next period of time when we build that success.

“The first thing to do is get ourselves recognised as a highly competitive team in the Premiership, and that will be where all our energy lies. Over the next two or three years the next step would be to qualify for the main European competition, which all the players want to play in.

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 20: Falcons wing Adam Radwan is stopped on the break during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Newcastle Falcons and Bristol Bears at Kingston Park on September 20, 2024 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

The club performance is of course only one part of any business growth – it’s also about taking care of those inside the setup and ensuring that they are rewarded and supported for the good work they provide – an integral part of Diamond’s journey.

“To ride alongside this I want people like Jamie Blamire, who is a super player, to get recognised by England more. I want the plethora of academy graduates coming through to want to stay at Newcastle, unlike most recent times, and stay for the right reason.

“I’m quite experienced, and probably more so than a lot in the league, of building things. I was at Sale for 10/11 years and the academy at Sale now is a hugely rich conveyor belt of talent, and we haven’t got the same conveyor belt here for one reason or another.

“Of course we don’t spend the same budget on the team as the other clubs, but what we will be doing behind the scenes is putting the right infrastructure in place. This means that if I get run over by a bus it only takes one person to come in, you’re not changing the whole thing – which basically happened at Sale if I’m honest.”

So, if the budget isn’t stretching as far as other clubs, how does a club like Newcastle remain competitive with clubs at the other end of the table?

“There’s nothing better than having kids who come within 50 miles of the club to play here. It gives you a real bonus if you’re literally picking home grown talent and Newcastle have always done that.

“If I’m honest the academy has always been reasonably successful, because the size of the region and the rugby playing area you’re going to get these kids popping up all the time. What I’m thinking is we can get miles more than we’ve ever had, so in five years time we an have 70% of this squad would be made-up from Tyne and Wear, Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria which is such a vast area.”

In this episode of Walk the Talk, Jim Hamilton chats with double World Cup winner Damian de Allende about all things Springbok rugby, including RWC2023 and the upcoming Ireland series. Watch now for free on RugbyPass TV

Related Articles

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Huge guillotine tackle divides fans in viral footage

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    How Fergus Burke can fill the Owen Farrell shaped hole at Saracens

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Dupont breaks record and 105 metre try wins top prize in Top 14 awards



ADVERTISEMENT

Great Tries

  • 1 WEEK AGO

    Harlequins winger heralded as the next big England breakthrough after weekend's performance

  • 1 WEEK AGO

    WATCH: Christian Wade secures incredible HATRICK in just second match back in the Gallagher Premiership

  • 3 WEEKS AGO

    Results: Another exciting weekend of international rugby complete

  • 4 WEEKS AGO

    WATCH: South African schoolboy leaves defenders clutching at ghosts

  • 4 WEEKS AGO

    WATCH: Innovative Springboks score incredible trick try vs the All Blacks

View All

Big Hits & Dirty Play

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    South African school boy makes the greatest tackle ever

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Huge guillotine tackle divides fans in viral footage

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Fans call for Stuart Hogg to face punishment after altercation involving ball boy

  • 4 WEEKS AGO

    Leigh Halfpenny given harsh welcome to English rugby

  • 8 WEEKS AGO

    Fight kicks off between parents and players in South African school boy match

View All

See It To Believe It

  • 10 HOURS AGO

    Leinster fly half delivers insane 50:22 after being given start for Emerging Ireland

  • 11 HOURS AGO

    French scrumhalf drills perfect shot at goal under outrageous circumstances

  • 1 DAY AGO

    Siya Kolisi makes young fans' day as he arrives at Cape Town school

  • 3 DAYS AGO

    Next big Scotland star completes IMPOSSIBLE tackle to win his side the match

  • 1 WEEK AGO

    Antoine Dupont’s latest side quest

View All

Funnies

  • 1 DAY AGO

    ‘Pitch is made of concrete’ - Fan provides much needed update following half time incident

  • 1 DAY AGO

    'I have win!' Mathieu Raynal's hilarious player interaction caught on ref mic

  • 6 DAYS AGO

    Siya Kolisi recalls ultimate 'bro moment' with Eben Etzebeth

  • 1 WEEK AGO

    Cameraman dives for the line and squirrel goes looking for Leicester opener in hilarious scenes during Bath match

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Rokoduguni scores as debate rages over validity of five point penalty kick

View All

Amateur

  • 91 WEEKS AGO

    You Won’t See Many Better Than This Silky-Smooth Try From Llandovery RFC

  • 91 WEEKS AGO

    Incredible Scenes As Caldy RFC Hand Ealing First Championship Defeat Of The Season

  • 114 WEEKS AGO

    Dubious Score Decides Result Of Rugby's Biggest Schools Fixture

  • 114 WEEKS AGO

    Incredible Scenes At School Boys Rugby Match

  • 115 WEEKS AGO

    The Next Dominant Backrow?

View All

Player Features

  • 1 DAY AGO

    Siya Kolisi makes young fans' day as he arrives at Cape Town school

  • 3 DAYS AGO

    Next big Scotland star completes IMPOSSIBLE tackle to win his side the match

  • 4 DAYS AGO

    A return to the England squad for Saracens star after six years in the wilderness

  • 5 DAYS AGO

    Marcus Smith removed from position amid injury crisis

  • 1 WEEK AGO

    Antoine Dupont’s latest side quest

View All