Also mentioned in passing is this little paragraph
Viewing figures for Premiership matches on TNT Sport are up 10% on last season before Saturday’s final between Bath and Leicester, with the increase 47% when the game directly follows a Premier League match.
ETA: Redone the link
Last edited by Which Tyler on Fri Jun 13, 2025 3:03 pm, edited 3 times in total.
All positives for the sport in this country. The north east has plenty of local players and the continuation of Falcons is required to provide that pipeline for England. Red Bull coming in won't change things over night but in time it should be a massive benefit.
Excellent news for the game and the league! Hopefully will allow Newcastle to keep hold of their young talent and start building, a la Sale. I especially love the plans to build the fanbase with targetting students and partnering with the football - these kind of things need a plan, rather than just hoping people find the sport, and Red Bull are very good at it.
In related news, the Premiership is rebranding from next year, to be officially known as "The Gallagher Prem", on the basis that that's how the young folk speak. Seems risible to me, but hey ho.
francoisfou wrote: ↑Sat Jun 14, 2025 10:27 am
Good news, indeed, even if it may take a couple of seasons for them to become more competitive.
Yeah, the timing of this isn’t particularly helpful given how late it is in the window for signing new players. Even if they have the money to attract high calibre players, availability is still going to be a problem.
On the plus side, they should be in a good position to pick up some decent out of contract Premiership players who might have been hesitant to join when their finances looked precarious.
It is very late but I imagine the due diligence and risk assessment was a pig.
Diamond is just the coach for a bit of wheeling and dealing in the current market. The loss of some of the recent academy talent it is a huge loss they could have done without. Keeping the next few generations will be massive for them and something high on the Red Bull agenda no doubt.
It is late, but it is very much a buyer's market still for players, even with Worcester hoovering up a load of loose talent.
FKAS wrote: ↑Sun Jun 15, 2025 10:03 pm
Diamond is just the coach for a bit of wheeling and dealing in the current market. The loss of some of the recent academy talent it is a huge loss they could have done without. Keeping the next few generations will be massive for them and something high on the Red Bull agenda no doubt.
Very much agreed on Diamond - I think he'll get the Spanish Archer when the time to spend serious money happens, but he is so good at turning low-grade players into a middling team. If you think about how close he got Newcastle to being competitive this season, they won't actually need that much additional quality to avoid finishing bottom.
Puja wrote: ↑Mon Jun 16, 2025 1:32 am
It is late, but it is very much a buyer's market still for players, even with Worcester hoovering up a load of loose talent.
FKAS wrote: ↑Sun Jun 15, 2025 10:03 pm
Diamond is just the coach for a bit of wheeling and dealing in the current market. The loss of some of the recent academy talent it is a huge loss they could have done without. Keeping the next few generations will be massive for them and something high on the Red Bull agenda no doubt.
Very much agreed on Diamond - I think he'll get the Spanish Archer when the time to spend serious money happens, but he is so good at turning low-grade players into a middling team. If you think about how close he got Newcastle to being competitive this season, they won't actually need that much additional quality to avoid finishing bottom.
Puja
It wasn’t so much a comment on Diamond’s ability, more a question of how many ‘Prem’ standard players are available. I can’t think of many players who were released that have been regular starters? Ackermann would be a an excellent pick up (and a good statement signing) but apart from him, I can only think of Hammond at Quins?
Puja wrote: ↑Mon Jun 16, 2025 1:32 am
It is late, but it is very much a buyer's market still for players, even with Worcester hoovering up a load of loose talent.
FKAS wrote: ↑Sun Jun 15, 2025 10:03 pm
Diamond is just the coach for a bit of wheeling and dealing in the current market. The loss of some of the recent academy talent it is a huge loss they could have done without. Keeping the next few generations will be massive for them and something high on the Red Bull agenda no doubt.
Very much agreed on Diamond - I think he'll get the Spanish Archer when the time to spend serious money happens, but he is so good at turning low-grade players into a middling team. If you think about how close he got Newcastle to being competitive this season, they won't actually need that much additional quality to avoid finishing bottom.
Puja
It wasn’t so much a comment on Diamond’s ability, more a question of how many ‘Prem’ standard players are available. I can’t think of many players who were released that have been regular starters? Ackermann would be a an excellent pick up (and a good statement signing) but apart from him, I can only think of Hammond at Quins?
They'll surely have to try raiding the Championship. It's well outside my area of expertise (or even basic knowledge) but there must a few err... cough.... diamonds in the rough to be tempted over
They'll be some players from ProD2 that might be worth a look. Arnold and Gordon were two Falcons best players this season and pretty came from nowhere.
If Red Bull can give Diamond the cash to build up the tight five then that will go a long way. Falcons suffered a lot with injuries to Bello and de Bruin. Hammond in the second row from Quins would be an instant upgrade if he's still available.
Puja wrote: ↑Mon Jun 16, 2025 1:32 am
It is late, but it is very much a buyer's market still for players, even with Worcester hoovering up a load of loose talent.
FKAS wrote: ↑Sun Jun 15, 2025 10:03 pm
Diamond is just the coach for a bit of wheeling and dealing in the current market. The loss of some of the recent academy talent it is a huge loss they could have done without. Keeping the next few generations will be massive for them and something high on the Red Bull agenda no doubt.
Very much agreed on Diamond - I think he'll get the Spanish Archer when the time to spend serious money happens, but he is so good at turning low-grade players into a middling team. If you think about how close he got Newcastle to being competitive this season, they won't actually need that much additional quality to avoid finishing bottom.
Puja
It wasn’t so much a comment on Diamond’s ability, more a question of how many ‘Prem’ standard players are available. I can’t think of many players who were released that have been regular starters? Ackermann would be a an excellent pick up (and a good statement signing) but apart from him, I can only think of Hammond at Quins?
True, but Diamond doesn't necessarily need Prem starters to improve that team. Quite apart from his proven ability to turn sow's ear's into... well, into leather purses, at least, Newcastle suffered a lot from having depth that was Lidl toilet roll thickness last year, where one unavailability left them badly exposed. They can be improved massively just from signing bench players.
Scrumhead wrote: ↑Mon Jun 16, 2025 7:11 am
It wasn’t so much a comment on Diamond’s ability, more a question of how many ‘Prem’ standard players are available. I can’t think of many players who were released that have been regular starters? Ackermann would be a an excellent pick up (and a good statement signing) but apart from him, I can only think of Hammond at Quins?
Plenty of academy and ex-academy players released, who just need a little polishing, or play a position their club is stacked in.
TBH, those sound like perfect Diamond players - talented, overlooked, and with a point to prove
