Newly appointed Newcastle Falcons Head Coach Alex Codling, has excited the Falcons fans before the 2023/24 Premiership season has even begun.
Codling has divided his squad into four ‘regions’, for a series of challenges before the first ever True North Origin match takes place at Kingston Park. This match is open to the Falcons fans, and puts the players drafted into the counties of Northumberland and Tyne & Wear in the ‘North’ squad. They will take on the ‘South’ squad of Cumbria and Durham.
The rulers of the ‘True North’ will be decided, as the Falcons stars face off against one-another. The Newcastle Falcons website runs down the ‘eligibility laws’: “Each of the four groups are made up of players from or born in that region and those who arenβt are randomly allocated to even things out.”
“The intra-squad friendly takes place on Saturday, August 12 (11am KO) and entry is FREE for all supporters. You can claim your tickets by clickingΒ HERE.”
Northumberland, captained by powerhouse back-rower Callum Chick and Tyne & Wear, captained by prop forward Phil Brantingham will form the North squad, which is as follows:
NORTH SQUAD
NORTHUMBERLAND
Callum Chick (captain), Josh Barton, Ollie Fletcher, Rory Jennings, Isaac Keller, Charlie Maddison, Kiran McDonald, Elliott Obatoyinbo, Matias Orlando, Richard Palframan, Tom Penny, Josh Peters, Iwan Stephens, Philip van der Walt.
TYNE & WEAR
Phil Brantingham (captain), Mateo Carreras, Sebastian de Chaves, Mark Dormer, Ben Douglas, Nathan Greenwood, Cam Hutchison, John Kelly, Zach Kerr, Mike Rewcastle, Pedro Rubiolo, Adam Scott, Corbin Thunder, George Wacokecoke.
A combination between Cumbria, captained by fly-half Brett Connon and Durham, captained by speedster Adam Radwan will form the South squad, with the full list of players found below:
SOUTH SQUAD
CUMBRIA
Brett Connon (captain), Finn Baker, Jamie Blamire, Bryan Byrne, Sam Clark, Luke Coulston, Louie Johnson, Ollie Leatherbarrow, Murray McCallum, Matias Moroni, Ben Redshaw, Oliver Spencer, Sam Stuart, Marcus Tiffen.
DURHAM
Adam Radwan (captain), Josh Bainbridge, Eduardo Bello, Adam Brocklebank, Louis Brown, Tim Cardall, Freddie Lockwood, Hugh Oβsullivan, Jacob Oliver, Guy Pepper, Vereimi Qorowale, Ben Stevenson, Mark Tampin, Josh Thomas.