Greg Peterson commits to Newcastle Falcons
The towering lock has been a mainstay of the Falcons pack this season, taking his appearance tally up to 30 having joined the club straight from Rugby World Cup 2019.
Australian-born Peterson came up through the New South Wales Waratahs system, moving to the northern hemisphere to play club rugby with Leicester Tigers, Glasgow Warriors and Bordeaux-Begles.
Consistently in the top three line-out takers across the entire Gallagher Premiership, the 30-year-old spoke of his delight following the announcement of his new contract.
“It’s a really nice city here, the people are great, my team-mates and everyone at the club are awesome, so it was an easy decision,” said Peterson.
“I just think there’s a great culture up here, and when I look at the ability we’ve got within our squad it’s really exciting to know I’ll be involved with that for at least the next couple of seasons.
“Whichever way I looked at it the best option seemed to be to stay here, and we love the place as well as the rugby.”
Director of rugby Dean Richards said: “Greg has been a really consistent performer for us who helps deliver that set-piece platform, and also contributes around the field.
“He offers that physical presence and gets through a lot of work, so it’s great that we’ve been able to keep him on board.”
Relishing his presence as a regular in the Falcons’ Premiership XV, Peterson said: “I’ve had a lot of involvement with the first team this season, and that’s been fantastic after having a couple of spells at clubs where that hasn’t always been the case.
“I’ve felt I had more to contribute previously, but to know that the coaches here have faith in what I do has been absolutely brilliant. I want to repay that faith ten-fold, and as well as thinking about future seasons we’ve also got a massive finish ahead to the current one.
“Our season started off with an absolute bang, which maybe some people didn’t expect, and even when results began to slip we always had it in our minds that we were capable of more. I don’t see why a Champions Cup spot is not still a possibility, and we’ve shown at times how dangerous we can be.
“If we can keep putting in those kinds of performances and climbing the ladder then it’s there for us to grab, and I’m really excited that I’m going to be sticking around.”
