Hayman gone, but not forgotten says James Hudson
Aug 27 2010 by Nick Purewal, The Journal
EXACTING skipper James Hudson believes Carl Hayman’s Newcastle Falcons legacy will endure long after his summer Toulon switch.
Lofty lock Hudson said the All Black powerhouse’s comprehensive report into last term is proving the bedrock of Newcastle’s pre-season preparations.
Hudson explained how the 45-cap Kiwi tighthead prop refused to leave the North East without ensuring the Falcons push in the right direction – even in his absence.
Paying tribute to his Kingston Park predecessor, former Bath and London Irish lock Hudson said a nucleus of senior Falcons players were itching for off-field changes to be made.
He said: “It would have been easy for Carl to have known he was leaving the club and to have just drifted off, but he was desperate to see the boys do well.
“He was the one who really initiated doing this review.
“As soon as he mentioned it, we jumped straight on to it, and said ‘brilliant, we will help you do it’.
“We sat down towards the end of last year, I got on really well with Carl, as a mate as well as a colleague.
“There were a lot of guys here last year who were vocal about trying to improve the club, because we desperately want to be part of something successful.”
Frustrated by the pace of change last term, Hudson said trusting in improved habits and routines ought to rub off where results are concerned.
He added: “Things did not move probably as quickly as we would have liked.
“Some of the habits which we needed were not happening quickly enough too.
“More than anything it is about building habits whichbreed more success really.
“Jimmy Gopperth, Carl, myself and other senior players, guys like Mark Sorenson and Adam Balding, they wanted to share that input as well.
“When we got to the end of the year Carl was keen to leave and not feel like he had put everything he had wanted to across to the management. So a few of us had a think about how to approach it.
“We sat down and put together something to put to the boys, something they could then give us feedback on if they chose.
“A great deal of them responded, and we split everything up into each facet of the club and asked them where they thought we were doing things well and where badly.
“We collated it all, thought about it and tried to give reasonable ways which we thought those things could be actioned, and fortunately it was taken on board.
“Taity really embraced that input, especially from Carl.
“Carl desperately wanted to feel like all these things he was so keen to help happen would get done somewhere along the line.
“That gave Taity a great idea of what as players we feel we need to make a success of things.
“A lot of that report has been listened to, but there is still some work to be done.”
Newcastle open their Aviva Premiership season against Sale at Edgeley Park next Friday night, before hosting London Wasps at Kingston Park on Friday, September 10 (kick-off 8pm).
Impressed by the changes, Hudson said performance still comes down to the players.
He said: “The changes just give us as a player group the opportunity to perform.
“It does not guarantee anything of course, but it means if as a group we embrace those changes then we are heading down the right route.
“Having food twice a day at the club, not leaving people to their own devices.
“I am pretty boring and find all that enjoyable, but I have had to embrace all of that to be better.
“A lot of the younger guys who have been here a few seasons have not necessarily had that, they have not had the exposure to those things, and you will see guys develop at a greater rate.”
