Sale Sharks programme - 2021

FROM THE PRESS BOX
By Mark Smith
Newcastle Falcons media manager
Did you get what you wanted for Christmas?
I asked Santa for a never-ending free supply of Irn Bru Xtra and
pickled onion Monster Munch, although the security guards at
Fenwick’s were a bit heavy-handed in escorting me from the
premises via a fifth-floor window.
How was I to know there was an age limit of 13 to sit on Santa’s
knee!?
Hopefully his broken bones will have healed before next
Christmas.
Assuming my wish goes unfulfilled, maybe the rest of the rugby
season can offer some more grounds for optimism.
If we can win away at Exeter and have a dry bus for the entire
eight-hour drive back from Devon, then surely anything is
possible!
So, what should I be wishing for?
Aside from the small stuff like hoping the population remains
safe and that professional sport doesn’t financially implode due
to the crippling effects of Covid, of course.
Micky Ward to wear long trousers?
I would honestly think the world had ended if Wallsend’s finest
turned up for work in anything other than T-shirt and shorts.
All joking aside, I don’t think we need wish for much.
We’ve got a squad laden with homegrown talent, who have
proven they’re a match for pretty much anyone this season.
As a media manager they’re a joy to work with, and their effort
on the field is plain to see.
A win at Leicester on January 2 would be nice, but I’ll play the
boring card and not look beyond today’s assignment against
Sale Sharks.
We’ve had a bit of fun with them on social media regarding
their claims to be ‘northern’ (they are northern, of course, the
whole thing was just a wind-up!) and they are worthy of every
inch of the respect we’ll be giving them.
Let’s just hope it’s a game befitting the occasion, and that we
as a club can repay the support you have shown us by
attending in such numbers.
Straight scrum feeds?
That’s probably too much to hope for.
The BT Sport cameras actually coming to Kingston Park
Stadium?
Well, after a 17-game gap lasting more than four months, we
finally have a live televised home match to look forward to on
January 28 when Gloucester make the trip to the Toon.
A safe and seamless resolution to the European competitions?
It’s hard to see, the way things are. And with our next two
Challenge Cup games being in France within the next month, our
team manager John Stokoe sees his considerable administrative
powers being tested to the max just to get the team in and out on
successive weekends.
Something has to give there, surely.
www.newcastlefalcons.co.uk
Forwards coach Micky Ward showing
off his winter wardrobe
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