First Team
TEAM NEWS: RED BULLS SIDE TO FACE DONCASTER
Oscar Usher captains Newcastle Red Bulls in their first pre-season friendly on Friday as they host Doncaster Knights (7.45pm).
The lock-forward (pictured) leads a starting XV including four debutants, with wingers Obi Ene and Brandon Jackson, fly-half Zack Henry and back-rower Allan Ferrie all running out for the first time in Newcastle colours.
An expanded bench could also see debuts for a further four summer signings in Rusi Tuima, James Harper, Cam Jordan and Werner Kok, with academy products Charlie Evans, Ollie Ashton, Elvis Kitenge-Fuki and Alfie Warwick in line for their first senior outing.
Scrum-halves Fergus Callington (Durham University) and Ben Douglas (Darlington Mowden Park) are named among the replacements having trained with the Red Bulls squad during the summer, with new head coach Dan McFarland relishing the prospect of his first game in charge.
The guys have worked really hard throughout pre-season and I’m excited to see them out there on the pitch
“The guys have worked really hard throughout pre-season and I’m excited to see them out there on the pitch,” said McFarland, who last season helped Kobelco Steelers to the Japanese title.
“We’ve had two blocks of pre-season training – the first which ended with a fantastic camp in Austria, and the second here in Newcastle where we’ve again got through a lot of hard work. But it’s all about what you do on game day, so it’s great for us to see things we’ve been working on in that match scenario.”
With a significant summer influx having arrived in the North East, the head coach said: “We’re probably different to the other teams in the league in that we’re a virtually brand new squad.
“Yes, we have a number of people who were here last season, but with having brought in so many players it’s effectively a new group from a cohesion perspective and how the guys work together.
“Those connections and combinations are so important, and these pre-season games are especially valuable from that perspective. It doesn’t happen straightaway, and this is the first run-out for this group, so I’m interested to see how we start putting those things in place.
“We’re going in with a pretty big squad against Doncaster on Friday where we’ll look to spread the game time, and it will be great for us as coaches to see what these players can do.
“It’s a new dawn for all of us, but you can really sense the excitement building as a result of the hard work we’re doing in training and the wider buzz around the club at the moment.”
Season ticket holders are entitled to free entry to Friday’s game, but must reserve their ticket by clicking here.
For non-season ticket holders, match tickets are priced £10 for adults and £5 for juniors. Season tickets and match tickets can be bought by clicking here.
Supporters are advised Friday's game is not being televised.
Newcastle Red Bulls team v Doncaster Knights (Friday, 7.45pm, Kingston Park)
15 Oli Spencer
14 Obi Ene
13 Rhys Beeckmans
12 Sammy Arnold
11 Brandon Jackson
10 Zack Henry
9 James Elliott
1 Micky Rewcastle
2 Ollie Fletcher
3 Murray McCallum
4 Oscar Usher (captain)
5 Finn Baker
6 Adam Scott
7 Ollie Leatherbarrow
8 Allan Ferrie
Replacements
6 George Bolam
7 Charlie Evans
9 Fergus Callington (Durham University)
10 Ethan Grayson
11 Nathan Greenwood
12 Cameron Hutchison
13 Ollie Ashton
14 Werner Kok
16 Samson Adejimi
17 Elvis Kitenge-Fuki
18 James Harper
19 Rusi Tuima
20 Cam Jordan
21 Ben Douglas (Darlington Mowden Park)
22 Alfie Warwick
23 Harrison Obatoyinbo
Referee: Henry Pearson
