Sale Sharks v Newcastle Falcons | Matchday Programme

SALE SHARK S V NE WC A STLE FALCONS Friday 17 th November, KO: 19:45

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A WORD FROM THE A XE Welcome back to the Salford Stadium and welcome to ‘Derby Weekend’.

After a week away I can’t wait to get back home and watch the lads under the Friday night lights. It also means that we get a weekend off which everyone will be grateful for at this stage of the season!

But before we get to that weekend off, we’ve got a big challenge against Alex Codling’s Falcons.

Newcastle haven’t won this season and that makes tonight a very dangerous fixture for us, because at some stage their luck will change and they will win. They’ll keep fighting and knocking on the door and sooner or later they’ll get their rewards. We have to make sure that’s not tonight.

We know they are going to come and try to frustrate us and it’s up to us to keep our heads when maybe things aren’t going for us.

We also know all about their fantastic back three and we have to be aware of their running threats because they can attack from anywhere. If we’re caught napping or resting during any part of the game, that back three can cut you open. They’re probably one of, if not the, best running back threes in the league and with lads like Adam Radwan, they’ve got plenty of outand-out gas.

WE KNOW NEWCASTLE ARE GOING TO TRY AND FRUSTRATE US AND IT’S UP TO US TO KEEP OUR HEADS WHEN THINGS AREN’T GOING OUR WAY. But that’s not their only threat.

Their set-piece is third best in the Premiership in terms of dominance so our big lads up front are going to have to put in a big shift. They beat us away from home last season and they beat us earlier this year in the Premiership Cup when we felt we

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had a good side out, so you take them lightly at your own risk. We have to be on our guard and at our best if we’re going to get a win.

But as we say so often, this is about us and what we bring to the table and we know that if we get our basics right, we have the weapons to hurt any team. I think the forecast is for it to be dry and cold, but whatever the weather we’ll try and put on a good performance tonight for you. We want to start quickly and get points on the board early on, but you can’t make it all about the scoreboard because if we don’t score first we don’t want the wheels to fall off.

Last week against Bristol there were times in the game when we had to wrestle the momentum back and that was one of the most pleasing aspects of our performance. I have no doubt those testing moments will come around again tonight and I want to see the same reaction.

The derby rivalry is the big selling point for the weekend’s fixtures as far as the league is concerned although for us, I think it’s a little different to some of the other games given that we’re not very close geographically to Newcastle.

That said, we are the only two northern clubs in the league so there are some regional bragging rights at stake. But there’s a bit more at play than just that. It’s an opportunity for us to cement what’s been a really good start to the season.

It’s also another chance for some of our new lads to get more gametime and on that note, tonight you’ll get your first Salford Stadium glimpse, in a Sharks shirt anyway, of Luke Cowan-Dickie. From the moment Luke joined us he’s been chomping at the bit to get on the field and

last weekend at Bristol he got his chance. I thought he threw himself into everything and although he didn’t score the three tries he had promised us, I was really happy with how he went.

After the game he was absolutely knackered but he came through it unscathed and that’s the most pleasing thing. He’s fully ready to go again this weekend and I know you’ll give him a big welcome.

Our scrum probably hasn’t been where we want it to be so far this season and there are mitigating factors for that, but you’ve seen the improvements in the last couple of weeks with the additions of Luke and Gus Creevy. One man doesn’t make a scrum, but in a way it does!

Hooker is now an area of real strength for us and with Tommy Taylor and Etahn Caine fit again after their concussions, we’re in a really good place in that position.

As I mentioned earlier, Newcastle’s scrum and set-piece is a real are of strength for them so these lads are going to have to step up tonight. I know they will.

I know that we can count on your support too. Enjoy the game.

Al

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FORDY: I WANTED TO PLAY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER a campaign that surpassed the expectations of even the most optimistic Twickenham attendee, England’s World Cup

stars have been drip-fed back into the bread and butter of Gallagher Premiership action over rounds four and five.

But while some of Steve Borthwick’s men took the chance to grab a few extra days of rest, for fly-half and drop goal extraordinaire George Ford, there was never any question about whether or not he wanted to come straight back in.

Fordy made a winning return against Gloucester at the Salford Stadium in round four and then popped over a signature drop-goal and was awarded man of the match as Your Sharks tamed the Bears at Ashton Gate last time out.

He might not be involved tonight, but he’s got his eyes firmly fixed on a big season and going one better.

“It’s brilliant to be back at Sale,” he said. “We were away with England for about 20 weeks in the end and that was a long time to be away – both from the club and from my family.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the World Cup experience. We went on a real journey through the tournament,

WE WERE TESTED PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY DURING THE WORLD CUP BUT I FEEL REALLY GOOD AND ENERGISED

BY THE TIME AWAY. 9

and the success we had up until the semi-final was amazing to be a part of.

“But being away for that length of time can get tough at times and I was really happy to come home and get back to normality.

“I feel really good and energised by the time away. Obviously physically and mentally you get tested during a World Cup campaign, but I always think that you feel it most when you stop. So I’m trying not to stop! It’s why I wanted to come back in and play as soon as I could.

“Al gave me a call after the Argentina game to get my thoughts on when I wanted to come back and I wanted to be involved in the next game. I love playing and I want to play as many games as I can.

“When you’re lucky enough to go away with an international team, it can be tough to come home and reintegrate yourself, but we’ve got such a good club and a fantastic environment here and so I was really excited to come back and get stuck in.”

George was keeping tabs on the team’s fortunes as they won their first two games before slipping up against Exeter in round three And he says the winning start to the season is down to a good preseason, which took the lads to Poole and Formby.

“The lads had a great start with two fantastic wins,” he said. “They had a blip against Exeter but we’ve come back strongly again with another good win at Bristol. You can tell the

boys had a brilliant pre-season by the way they started. I know it’s still early in the season but now we want to kick on again and keep improving.

“The final last year showed us where we were short so we’re all focused on getting better every day and we’ll see where that takes us.”

AL GAVE ME A CALL TO GET MY THOUGHTS ON WHEN I WANTED TO COME BACK AND I TOLD HIM THAT I WANTED TO BE INVOLVED IN THE NEXT GAME. I JUST LOVE PLAYING AND I WANT TO PLAY AS MANY GAMES AS I POSSIBLY CAN.

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CAPTAIN (C)URRY Welcome back to the Salford Stadium for a game that we always look forward to against our northern neighbours, Newcastle Falcons. Whether it’s home or away, Newcastle always give us

a tough game – in fact, I’ve never won at Kingston Park so I know full well how dangerous they can be.

I really respect Newcastle and the way they play. They’ve got a big forward pack so as forwards, we know they’re going to challenge us physically and we’re going to have to front up. They’ve balanced this with a quick back line too so defensively we need to make sure we’re fully focused.

AGAINST BRISTOL IT WASN’T PERFECT BUT THAT MAKES Although results haven’t gone Newcastle’s way this season so far, IT EVEN MORE there’s no danger of anyone in a Sharks shirt taking their eye off the SATISFYING. ball. We’re only five games in to a new season and we know how tight it will be come the business end. Our WE CAN PLAY approach doesn’t change – we go about our business and make sure MUCH BETTER we execute our plans.

THAN THAT BUT Last week against Bristol was my first start since I got injured in the WE RESPONDED semi-final last season. It was brilliant to start a game again although my REALLY WELL TO shoulders and knees were stiff the next morning! It’s hard to describe SETBACKS. but it’s a satisfying soreness, and although I get out of bed a little bit

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slower, I’m glad to be back playing.

That is the feeling you have right through the season when you’re on that “hamster wheel”. You go from training, to recovery, to playing, to recovery and there’s really only about 24 hours in the week when you’re actually feeling good.

The game itself didn’t start that well with my yellow card but the response from the lads was class and the on the back of that, it was a great result. It wasn’t a perfect game by any stretch but that makes it more satisfying. We can play much better than that but we controlled the game against a good team and we responded really well to setbacks.

That’s a key thing for us and I know Alex has talked about it too. Every team in this league will cause us problems and there’ll be moments in every game when we’re up against it. It’s about how we wrestle back momentum and respond when it’s not going our way. Last week was a good example of how hard we’ve been working to make sure we step up in those big moments.

We’ve got back-to-back home games now with Bath coming to the Salford Stadium next Friday night.

It’s the start of a really busy period with the Champions Cup starting up too and the coaches are working really hard to manage our loading to make sure we’re ready for the challenges ahead. As players it’s a really exciting time and we are just focused on putting in 100 per cent in every training session.

For me, after so long out, I’m just

so happy to be back and playing again.

I can’t wait to feel sore on Saturday morning!

Ben

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THE NORTHERN DERBY returns to the Salford Stadium!

Despite it not really being a derby, and Newcastle (wrongly) adamant that we are not Northern, the name seems to have stuck so we’ll roll with it. Listeners to the podcast will know we have always had a soft spot for the Falcons and want to see them do well to support northern rugby, so while we’re hopeful for a Sale win tonight, we’re just hopeful for another entertaining game of rugby as we continue on a pretty impressive start to the season.

minutes and is no doubt quickly becoming a fan favourite alongside fellow new signing Ernst van Rhyn.

Aside from signings, academy talent continues to impress, Gus Warr picking up where he left off last season bossing the game (and saving tries to boot!), while on the wings Tom Roebuck and Arron Reed are looking more and more dangerous as the season goes on.

That academy

Last time we arrived at the Salford Stadium it was off the back of a serious hammering away at Exeter, which dulled an otherwise bright start to the season. We expected a response from the team and got it in that Gloucester game with Sale securing a try bonus point and denying the opposition anything.

There were some particularly impressive performances from returning internationals – we’ll go on about George Ford in detail later, but the highest praise has to be reserved for Gus Creevy who put in a monster 80

talent was a theme that carried from the Gloucester game into the Bristol game too, with 15 of the matchday 23 being academy graduates a really positive stat for the club. The Bristol performance was another outstanding one, made more impressive by the fact it was on the road, and to secure another bonus point and concede just 13 points is something that shouldn’t be understated. This team really is looking just as strong as the one that did so well last season.

A couple of unsung heroes that we mentioned on the pod after the Bristol game deserve a mention here too – Sam Bedlow the first, who has been quietly excellent at 12 all season. Offering not just the distribution and kicking option of a Premiership quality 10, he’s also brought physicality alongside it and deserves much more credit than he will get. The second mention goes to Jamie Langley after a defensive masterclass against Bristol – stepping into the shoes of Mike Forshaw after all his success was no easy task, and it’s a credit to Jamie that our defence continues to be one of the most feared in the league.

said we have a soft spot for the Geordie boys so to see their tough start to the season has been hard.

Make no mistake though, that only will increase the drive and determination they’ll bring tonight and there’s no room for error.

Hopefully we see another fantastic performance from our boys, and both sides can keep flying the flag for Northern Rugby. Because as we all know, it Matters!

Alex, James and Lewis

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