Callum Chick reflects on Newcastle exit before Red Bull takeover

Callum Chick admits that his desire and drive to win trophies and more England caps were the deciding factors in his leaving his hometown club, Newcastle Red Bulls, and making the switch to Northampton Saints in the summer.

Back-rower Chick, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Tuesday, clocked up 158 appearances for Newcastle and made three England appearances, the last coming against the Barbarians in June 2022.

And he has gambled on his chances of adding to them being better in the East Midlands, but he won’t lose sight of what will get him back into Steve Borthwick’s plans.

“The reason I moved is because I am 29 now and I want to win things. I have played for England a couple of times, and I want to win more caps. These are the reasons I moved.

“I am so happy that I moved to Northampton because I feel it is a really good fit for me, and I’m just really enjoying playing rugby again and enjoying winning games and playing well. So hopefully I can get selected.

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“That is all I am in control of. I would love to be back in camp and playing again. That is my aspiration, but I think if you get caught up in that, you lose sight of what gets you there,” he said.

Since he left Newcastle, they have been taken over by the Austrian-owned energy drinks giants, and Chick feels that the good times around just around the corner.

“It was looking pretty ominous at the end of last season. We obviously didn’t know if the rugby club was going to be around this season. I’m so glad a company like Red Bull with such a huge opportunity to grow the club.

“And make the club what it deserves to be for the fans and the people who have followed for so long. I do think good times will take time, as you can see, it’s not going to be an overnight fix.

“They have got to do some things and figure some things out, but I’m incredibly happy for the club. Give it four or five years, and they will be competing towards the top,” he adds.

Chick, who marked his Saints debut with a hat-trick against Saracens in the PREM Rugby Cup, has had to get used to winning on a regular basis again since moving to Franklin’s Gardens.

“I’m a Geordie, and the club did so much for me. Even though the past two years have been tough, I have learnt a lot about myself. Not a lot of people will experience what happened at Newcastle.

“Being bottom of the league is not very nice pressure, clawing to pick up points and wins, or even just picking up some positives from performance.

“Being a competitive bloke, call it naivety, but I thought ‘this is the week we will win’ and, unfortunately, a lot of the time it didn’t turn out like that. It is pretty draining, and it does get tough. So being down here is refreshing.

“That feeling of winning, you cannot emulate it with anything else, so to get that opportunity down here, I’m really enjoying it,” Chick told RugbyPass.