Premiership preview: Newcastle Falcons’ Callum Chick on new season

The 2023-24 season was a painful one for everyone connected with the club.

Professional pride took a huge dent with not a single Premiership victory to their name amid a mixture of narrow defeats and chastening hammerings.

They averaged fewer than two tries per match and conceded more than five, as the other nine clubs milked them for wins and bonus points.

For someone like Chick, 27, it was even harder to stomach.

As a youngster, he grew up watching stars like Jonny Wilkinson, Toby Flood and Australia World Cup winner Matt Burke from the terraces at Kingston Park, which made him fall in love with the 15-man game.

But the number eight, capped twice by England under former head coach Eddie Jones in 2021, was forced to watch as the northern citadel was stormed time and again.

“You start losing and it becomes a monkey on your back,” he told BBC Sport.

“You build yourself up thinking, ‘this will be the week’. It doesn’t happen and there is a huge emotional drop off.

“It was a very tiring season mentally, full of peaks and troughs. When you win a few and lose a few, there is a more consistent feel, but losing every week was emotionally tough to go through.”