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Walder insists ignominy of finishing bottom will keep Falcons fighting

Jamie Blamire of Newcastle Falcons looks dejected after the Gallagher Premiership match between Newcastle Falcons and London Irish at Kingston Park, Newcastle on Sunday 5th March 2023. (Photo by Chris Lishman/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Newcastle Falcons boss Dave Walder believes the ignominy of finishing bottom of the Premiership – despite the absence of relegation – will ensure his players continue to battle for vital points starting with the long trip to Exeter Chiefs.

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While the players are flying to Exeter, Walder is making the 740-mile round trip by car following a second operation to deal with a cyst on the right leg that brought him more than 1,000 Premiership points for Newcastle and Wasps.

Bringing points back from Exeter, who are chasing a playoff place, would help ease his pain with Falcons just one point ahead of bottom-placed Bath who are at Northampton this evening. Newcastle face an Exeter team looking for revenge after going down 24-21 to the Falcons at Kingston Park in November.

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Walder said: “Finishing bottom is demoralising and we are not talking about it. We have to focus on getting as many wins as possible before the end of the season.

“Even without relegation, I have said from the start of the season that no one wants to finish bottom. Your competitive nature means you want to finish as high as possible and ultimately we have to worry about our processes to give us the chance to win our games. The players are flying to Exeter and I will be in the Land Rover after my operation with our physio driving. I had the cyst removed once and the surgeon is going back in for a second go. It is my kicking leg but I don’t think I will have to be on crutches at Exeter.”

Meanwhile, in an unusual preparation for the finale of the season, Falcons players have been getting lessons in ballet from professional dancers in a bid to help them avoid injury.

The Birmingham Royal Ballet are in Sunderland with a production of Swan Lake and Falcons full-back Tom Penny told ITV Tyne Tees: “It was good, learning some new stretches and seeing what they get up to. They were telling us they warm up to a total of thousands of warm ups in their career.”

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Campa Gabriel 2 hours ago
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𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 (𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐬𝐩𝐲𝐦𝐚𝐱 ) 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐢 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐮𝐩𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞.𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 ( 𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐇𝐒𝐏𝐘𝐌𝐀𝐗 @ 𝐠𝐦 𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐜 𝐨𝐦 ) 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐢 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐲. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢'𝐦 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐩𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬, 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭, 𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞...

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