The Teesside Tornado was one of the stars of last season playing predominantly on the wing, but has also been used at outside centre during a three-game pre-season run which has seen the Falcons winning all of their games.

“It’s been good being involved in the pre-season games against Glasgow and Edinburgh, having missed the back end of last season with a wrist injury,” said Stevenson.

“I got 20 minutes off the bench up at Glasgow just to get back into it, and then started in the centre up at Edinburgh last weekend.

“I enjoyed both of them, and playing at 13 again was a bit different after spending most of last season on the wing.

“I’ve played a lot at centre earlier in my career, so it’s a position I’m familiar with. It involves a lot more passing, organising and controlling things, whereas on the wing you’re more of a strike runner and taking more high balls.

“I enjoy both of them, to be honest, although it’s always nice to get your hands on the ball as much as possible.”

Part of the Newcastle side which defeated Harlequins 25-22 on their last visit to Kingston Park Stadium back in February, the 23-year-old helped create a try for Callum Chick with a perfect leap and run under a midfield high bomb.

“I just managed to jump up and catch the high ball, and we scored after a couple of offloads through Schweb [Sean Robinson] and Chicky,” said Stevenson, the Durham University law graduate.

“It was one of the better games we had up here, and a good one to be involved with.

“It was one of the only games Quins lost during that real purple patch they had towards the back end of the season, even if they did rest a couple of players.

“From our side we really turned up as a group, and obviously that’s something we’ll be looking to replicate.”

Respectful but not fearful of the champions’ challenge this weekend, he added: “They’re a very attacking sort of team who will have lots of confidence flowing through them after winning the Premiership title, and it should be a good quality game.

“They’ll look to play at pace, getting their offloads away and transferring the ball quickly. It’s a big opportunity, though, and we’re in good shape ourselves.

“They know we’ll give them a really physical test, and we’re excited about challenging ourselves against the champions.

“It’s going to be massive for me to be playing in front of fans again, and hopefully we’ll get a decent crowd in.

“I got injured before we were allowed some supporters back for the last two home games of last season, so the last time I played in front of home fans was against Bedford in March 2020.

“It’ll be an awesome atmosphere because people have just missed it for so long, and they’ll be right up for it. As players it means we won’t be able to hear each other on the field as much we did for most of last season, but we’ll adapt to that and just enjoy the atmosphere.”

Tickets for Sunday’s game are available by [**clicking here**][1].

[1]: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/EDP/Event/Index/1650