mens
Gallagher-Prime Minister
Newcastle Red Bulls Boss Dan McFarland says his side are intent on breaking their duck for the season and becoming Kings North beating Sale Sharks on Friday night.
Red Bulls and Harlequins are the only two teams in the Gallagher PREM without a win this season, and the four bonus points they have taken in the first three games keep them further up the table.
They are five points behind the seventh-placed Sharks, who, like the six teams above them, won two games and lost one in the first block of games before last week’s European competition break.
In May, Newcastle secured a dramatic 45-42 last-gasp victory over the Sharks after coming back from 35-10 down to win just their second game since January 2, giving them bragging rights, something McFarland wants to make permanent.
“First and foremost, we have to focus on our strengths and what we’re trying to achieve. But at the same time, we have to recognize that they’re a big physical team, and that’s something they’ve prided themselves on in recent years.”
“We also recognize that they have developed from a more advanced team to one with real threats around the world. But the key focuses around us at the moment are team development.”
“We are not at a stage where we want to spend too much time in the opposition, but we also recognize the type of team that Sale are. That’s a big deal, right? It’s derby day. It’s a battle for the north.
“Although they are really Cheshire, which is sort of the Midlands, it’s a battle for the north, and it’s one where Sale, over the last few years, has had the upper hand and deservedly so.
“Alex and the boys there have built a team that is a very recognizable identity. They have been challenging for the top of the league on several occasions. They have recruited incredibly well this year.”
“We’re also proud of who we represent and where we come from. And, as I said at the start of the year, we’re starting at the back of the net, but our eyes are firmly on picking the people in front of us.”
“And, you know, in the fight for the north, we want that supremacy. We don’t have it right now, but we want it,” McFarland said.