Fury fired up for pre-season fixture
Speaking ahead of Newcastle Falcons first pre-season home fixture against Rotherham Titans this Saturday, scrum half Warren Fury is positive about a summer of change at the club, not least the club’s new 3G synthetic pitch at Kingston Park.
“I’m really looking forward to playing on the new pitch; I really enjoyed playing against Saracens last year and it’s a great surface. It suits the way we play too so we’re really looking forward to getting on it.”
Off the field too there have been big changes, with new Skills and Attack Coach Dave Walder working closely with Fury and other players on the team’s new game plan for this season.
Fury, 28, said: “Dave’s been great. He’s very approachable and his philosophy of the game is really good. We’re all enjoying working with him and the stuff that he and John (Wells) are doing with us and that showed in the first pre-season game with us scoring four tries. There’s a real buzz around the place and we look forward to coming and training with each other.”
Speaking of the Falcons’ first pre-season fixture away to French side Bayonne, the three times capped Welsh international was typically positive, “The last game we all played was back in the Premiership against Exeter so it was nice to have a kick out and put the stuff that we’ve been doing in training into practice against a quality opposition in a great place.
A veteran of pre-season training, Fury has been impressed with his colleagues’ performance this summer.
“All of the boys are working their socks off and there has been quality work from the conditioners, so they’ve been helping us and looking after us. You’ve got to put the hard work in to pre-season and put the foundations down for the season ahead. It’s a long old season and it stands you in good stead for the season commencing.”
Having originally moved to the Falcons in September 2012, Fury signed a two year contract extension at the end of last season and says he has settled well in the North East. “It’s a home from home for me. We were at the fan forum not so long ago and some of the fans asked what the similarities were from home. I was shocked when I came up here because I thought it was bigger than it is, but it’s quite similar to Swansea; you’re a quarter of an hour away from the city centre, quarter of an hour from a nice beach and there’s a lot of countryside as well. It’s a really nice place with everything on your doorstep and I’m very fortunate because there’s a lot around.”
Asked about his own personal goals for this season Fury is relaxed, looking to simply enjoy his game and take things as they come. However, that doesn’t mean he’ll be taking his foot off the gas at all.
“At the end of the day you’re representing the fans, your family and the jersey, and if you’re not putting 100% in then you’re not only letting them down but more importantly you’re letting yourself down.
“I think it’s just going to drive us on to work even harder, and with the demands of it I think we can play a faster brand of rugby and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s all about pushing each other and getting that win at the end of the day.”
Newcastle Falcons play their first home pre-season fixture of the summer this Sunday against Rotherham Titans (ko 3pm). Tickets for the game cost £10 for adults and £5 for juniors and can be purchased [online][1] or by calling the club’s 24 hour Ticket Hotline on 0871 226 6060.
[1]: http://www.newcastlefalcons.co.uk/tickets/info
