Homecoming hero George McGuigan sets new PREM record

Newcastle Red Bulls hooker George McGuigan has created a Gallagher PREM record by rejoining the same club twice, with the latest return to Kingston Park certain to be his last.

McGuigan, 32, never wanted to leave the club he joined as an academy player, but circumstances and the financial problems that have bedevilled the Newcastle Falcons, leading to their takeover by Red Bull, saw him pack his bags twice and head down the A1 only to return at a later date for a third spell.

According to rugby stats guru Stuart Farmer, McGuigan has a unique place in the English professional game. There have been 17 players who have returned to play for Newcastle once, but no one can match McGuigan’s homing instincts.

The first time he left took him to Leicester Tigers in 2016 after Newcastle left it too late to offer a new contract, while his second departure, having returned “home” after two years in the East Midlands, came as a total shock.

McGuigan, born in Richmond, North Yorkshire, joined Gloucester in December 2022, midway through the season, during an outstanding run of form that saw him drafted into the England training squad.

McGuigan and his family were settled in Newcastle, but with the club beset by financial problems and needing to offload some of its wage bill, he found himself shipped off to Gloucester, where he spent four months apart from his wife.

On being told about the record, he said: “There cannot be many players who have left a club and come back twice, and I thought Freddie Burns may have done it. I started at Newcastle in 2011 and have come back twice.

“The Leicester move was more of a contract mess-up more than anything else. It was a weird one. We weren’t doing very well at the time, and I was playing a lot, and Leicester came in with my contract not being done until January, which was late.

“If I was doing the recruitment of a young up-and-coming player, I would sort it out early in the season rather than that late.

“It was one of those things that happened. I never really wanted to leave Newcastle and it was the same the second time.

“Dean Richards had left by then (as director of rugby) and I got a call on a Thursday from the club, and I went to Gloucester on the Monday.

“I was told that Gloucester could offer me a longer contract and Newcastle couldn’t afford to keep me. Newcastle needed to save money, and Gloucester wanted me, and I didn’t really have much choice in the matter, which was a shame.

“It was a case of the financial constraints Newcastle were going through and it was a way of getting me off the books.

“It was a real hassle because my wife had a job up here and had to finish that, which meant we were in two places, living apart for four or five months.”

McGuigan’s hopes of putting down long-term roots in Gloucester were hampered by a serious injury that eventually led to a parting of the ways and a short period with Ospreys before that third trip to Newcastle in his career.

“Playing for Gloucester in the PREM Cup final, I ruptured my hamstring off the bone and that was five-and-a-half months out,” explained McGugian.

“I got one week of running in and then it went again. In total, I was out for 11 months. I didn’t get as many playing minutes for Ospreys, which was frustrating, but I wanted the chance to show people I was fit and available.”

During this frustrating period, the dark clouds gathered around Newcastle, which saw key players such as England internationals Jamie Blamire, captain Callum Chick, Adam Radwan along a host of talented youngsters such as Guy Pepper head to more stable clubs.

Did he worry Falcons were going under?” I was very concerned about the situation and at that time I was without a club,” he added.”

“I was looking at opportunities outside rugby and then the Red Bull deal got done. I knew coaches here, like Micky Ward and Scott MacLeod, and they said if the deal came off, they would love to have me back. But you didn’t know if it would happen.

“The second time I played here, having been at Leicester, was probably the best rugby of my career and it was shame I had to leave. Now, the excitement is something you can feel around the place and we had 9,500 for a PREM Cup game (against Harlequins).

“That is crazy when you think about it, and things are changing. Rather than flying to Exeter and then a long eight-hour coach trip back, we are flying both ways.

“There are Red Bull cars with the logo in the car park and lots of branding around the ground, while the fridges are full of cans of Red Bull – but it’s only sugar-free to be drunk in the week.

“Having such a positive outlook off the pitch means everyone can buy into the vision and the new lads coming in have a job to do.

“We know it won’t be perfect. But the standard of training has already gone up and that will only help on the pitch.”

With established stars such as Liam Williams and Christian Wade now on the books, the Newcastle squad is starting to take on a different shape and McGuigan believes the constant raiding of their young players by rival Premiership clubs can be halted.

He said: “Going forward, the fact that Newcastle will be able to keep their academy players will mean they can have a hell of a side in the future. If they get the same crop of players like the recent ones, then there will be a strong team here and that’s exciting.”

McGuigan has collected 49 tries in 166 Newcastle appearances, with his latest coming in the recent Cup win, which signalled the arrival of the Newcastle Red Bulls as the latest incarnation of professional rugby in the North East.

It will come as no surprise to those who have followed the hooker’s career that the try against Quins was the result of his accurate lineout throw and a driving maul he directed from the back, which allowed him to ground the ball over the line.

This scoring tactic has its critics who believe there should be a ban on a driving maul within five metres of the line to open up – so they argue – the attacking game and create a better spectacle than 16 bodies pushing against each other with the ball largely hidden from view.

McGuigan, as you would expect, takes a very different view but will be happy to mark his 50th, regardless of how he crosses the line.

His try-scoring prowess saw him finish joint second on 15 behind Max Malins in the PREM try table in 2022. “I played for 55 mins in the last game of that 2022 season and they took me off and Jamie Blamire came on and scored a maul try – if only I had stayed on!” he said.

“A driving maul try is about patience and staying in there longer than people think – they break out too early and get held up short. It is about feeling the way the maul is going and picking the right time.

“It would be a shame if they took the five-metre driving maul try out of the game because I do like that aspect of the sport. But to be honest, tries aren’t why I play the game.”