Fielden wants to seize Falcons chance
Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:27
Falcons fullback Luke Fielden insists he is ready to seize his second chance at Kingston Park, having rejoined Newcastle three years after leaving the North-East.
The free-scoring 25-year-old helped the Falcons to the 2007 Middlesex Sevens title during his time as a student at Northumbria University, but having returned to the club via Cambridge and Bedford Fielden believes the time is now right to step up to the professional ranks.
"It's a lot different from being a student player up here, but it's a new challenge and I'm thoroughly enjoying it," said the fleet-footed back, who featured for the Falcons' second-string during his time as a degree student on the sports development with coaching course.
Having completed his studies Fielden headed for hometown club Cambridge, where he ran in an incredible 27 tries in 24 matches in National League one, including five hat-tricks.
Graduating to England's second tier with a move
to Bedford last season, a fruitful campaign saw him cross the try line 14 times in 25 starts as the Blues reached the Premiership promotion play-offs.
"When I left uni I perhaps felt I'd missed the boat a little bit, but I still had the belief that I could make it," said Fielden, who is one of the Falcons' five Championship recruits alongside Glen Townson, James Hall, Luke Eves and Redford Pennycook.
"You do see people in the top flight who mature a little bit later, and even though I'm 25 now I've always backed myself and felt that I had a chance.
"Thankfully more and more Aviva Premiership Rugby clubs are increasingly looking to the Championship as a good source of talent. We've seen guys come through over the last few years, and it's definitely a boost to the players there to know that the top flight sides are monitoring their progress rather than just automatically looking overseas when they have a recruitment need."
Explaining his
return to Kingston Park, Fielden said: "The way it came about really was just getting a phonecall from Alan Tait, which I thought was a nice personal touch.
"He basically said he had been following my progress for a while, he was thinking about signing me and he just wanted to have a chat to see what my take on things was. We had a good talk just about rugby, and from there it was left to my agent to obviously handle the contractual side of things once Taity had decided that he wanted to proceed with it.
"I was relieved in a way to get the opportunity I had always wanted in playing Aviva Premiership Rugby, but I know that this is just the start and that I've got to work hard every single day to put myself in the frame for selection along with so many top players here."
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