Thommo: We will prove how good this side can be

Feb 27 2011 by Mark Douglas, Sunday Sun

DEEP in the bowels of Kingston Park’s West Stand, under the shadow of a mural depicting the four ages of the famous Blaydon Race, Newcastle Falcons chairman Dave Thompson is holding court on what it means to be a Geordie.

The Newcastle Falcons chairman is on a roll and 47 minutes into a “quick chat” over a cup of coffee that began with him smashing down talk of relegation, he hits upon the thing that sets the region apart.

The characteristic, incidentally, that he wants Alan Tait’s team to take into their crunch basement battle with Leeds Carnegie this evening.

He says: “When people ask me if I’m English, Scottish, whatever, I say no, I’m a Geordie. I can name you the team that won the 1955 Cup final!

“I know what lifts the soul of people in this area. Is it about winning? Not necessarily.

“Is it about demonstrating you love the area – and people putting their body on the line for it? About defiance? About standing up and saying ‘You all think we’re these dozy so and sos from the north but we’ll show you’? Absolutely it is.

“I’m not saying that is all it is, but by golly, it influences our fans if you’re doing that.

“And part of the reason we are where we are is because we haven’t seen that.

“We’ve got a good side, I honestly believe that. And we’ve seen some good performances but that one thing that lifts us from being a struggling side – have we seen it yet this season? I don’t think we have.”

Time, as Thompson admits, is running out to show it.

Stung by silly errors that prompted a surrender against Exeter last weekend, the Falcons are embroiled in a bitter fight at the wrong end of the Premiership table, and hostile Headingly will not be a place for the faint-hearted.

You sense “Thumper” would love to be out there, haring into tackles like a runaway freight train. Instead he has taken the unprecedented step, at the invitation of Tait and the coaching staff, of delivering a pre-match team talk.

“I’m talking to them about me as a Geordie, not as the chairman or their boss. About what this game means to the area.

“Sometimes people don’t understand how much sport means to this area. In historically deprived areas like Newcastle, sport does mean a hell of a lot.

“I know what it is like, I worked at CA Parsons. When your job is under threat, you’re struggling to get by, the other half is nagging you – you need sport to inspire you.

“People that play in the side sometimes don’t realise how much they can give to an area by being successful and demonstrating their heart is in it. Our people want to be cheered up.

“If you look at the area, we’re going to worst hit by the government cuts.

“People are under pressure at the moment.

“I don’t think some of these kids realise how important and privileged their position is. We need to get it across to them. We need them to go out and put in performances that reflect that.”

All stirring stuff, but if you think it reflects a certain panic in the Falcons ranks you’d be wrong.

Thompson – who insists relegation wouldn’t be a financial hammer blow for the club – is absolutely steadfast in his belief they will retain their Premiership status.

And what’s more, he believes recent contract renewals by key players proves the club remains in pretty rude health.

“We’re not going to go down. We’re not. I’m always asked about relegation. It won’t happen,” he said.