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'I was a Falcons fan growing up, they are my club,' enthuses Callum Chick after handshake with Dean Richards

By Online Editors
Newcastle's Callum Chick, who scored the last minute, match-winning try, celebrates October 2018 victory over Montpellier in the Champions Cup (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Homegrown back row Callum Chick is the latest Newcastle Falcons player to sign newly-extended terms with the club.
 
The 22-year-old was a Junior World Championship winner with England Under-20s in 2016, coming through the ranks at Ponteland RFC before moving onto the Falcons’ scheme at Gosforth academy.

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Following in the footsteps of his father Brian, who played for the club under their previous name of Gosforth, this season saw Chick score the winning try in Newcastle’s remarkable Heineken Champions Cup comeback at home to French giants Montpellier.

Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards said: “Callum is a very talented player who has already proven himself capable at the very top level of the club game.
 
“He reads the game well, he has a fantastic skill set and has shown a huge level of maturity in his performances for us, so it’s fantastic news that another top homegrown player has committed their future here.”
 

Chick, who has featured in 21 games this season for the club, said: “I was a Falcons fan growing up. This has always been my club and it’s great to have been able to extend my contract here.
 
“We have a huge pool of back row talent and it’s a privilege being able to learn from those guys every single day. I just want to continue becoming a better player, and I know this is the best place for me to do that.”

Relegation threatened Falcons are currently in the middle of producing their own version of The Great Escape.

They had won just three of their first 14 matches in the Premiership this season and were odd-on to be relegated at the end of the campaign.

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However, they have won their last three games, beating Worcester, Wasps and Sale in quick succession to leave them just three points off safety with five games remaining.

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Nickers 7 hours ago
All Blacks sabbaticals ‘damage Super Rugby Pacific when it is fighting for survival’

Sabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.

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