Which is what some people have already started to do, I notice. The cliches are beginning to roll out, retrieved from storage and shaken down like any other piece of seasonal flimflam. Wasps are in fifth place, tucked behind the leaders, and therefore ready to make their 'traditional' strike on the play-off places. Apparently, although I've never been able to figure out why, we're supposed to enjoy being several positions off the lead at this halfway stage of the season. That would be fine, of course, if this were a long distance running race and we could see that those hitting the front now were going to pay for it in the final furlongs, but this is professional rugby we're talking about - is it really an advantage, in this age of individual fitness regimes, diets, rotation and physical fine-tuning, to go out slowly and build towards the end of the season? Does a squad really have finite reserves of stamina that it has to eke out over the course of a campaign? That seems to be the accepted wisdom in some quarters.

Being a cynical soul, I've often thought that our Premiership titles have been achieved despite, rather than because of, our poor starts to the season, and that we've won the finals we have because we were playing better rugby, and not because the opposition were tired after failing to pace themselves during the season. Rather than biding our time and conserving our energy, we'd simply grown as a squad and perfected a pattern of play. Maybe I'm wrong – maybe there's some science that backs up the claims of a calculated slow start. Maybe the loss at home to Leeds was all part of a grand master-plan. Still, I can't help thinking, despite what is admittedly a fairly healthy current league position, that it would be better to be where Saracens are at the moment, on top of the pile. Wouldn't that make our 'traditional strike', if there is such a thing, so much easier to achieve?

At the beginning of the professional era, perhaps it was more reasonable to suggest that stamina and fitness separated the men from the boys. In those days, rugby was still getting to grips with full-time dedication to to the sport. When you talk about the birth of professionalism, of course, you talk about Newcastle Falcons. Quick out of the blocks, Newcastle were the first club to seize on the implications of the IRB's decision, in 1995, to make the game professional. It was to Wasps that they turned. Sir John Hall, who had acquired ownership of Newcastle Gosforth in the wake of the IRB's decree, installed Rob Andrew as his director of rugby, a move which then precipitated the subsequent migration of several more Wasps stars to the far-flung wastes of Geordie-land. The story is familiar (and perhaps painful) to most Wasps fans but suffice it to say that, two years later, still at the forefront of the professional game, Newcastle won the league title. They had only been promoted the previous year.

While it is true that Wasps had won the first title of the new era, our entry into the world of professional rugby was a much more sedate one. While Newcastle were building a formidable squad made up of as many of the stars of the day as they could lay their hands on, Wasps were in the business of more routine recruitment complemented by the occasional 'marquee' player. Of these, the most high-profile was undoubtedly Va'aiga Tuigamala. Brought in as much to instil a professional attitude in the squad and put bums on seats at Loftus Road, as for his playing contribution, Inga was part of the championship-winning 1996/7 squad but departed all too soon, following in the footsteps of those previous Wasps and signing for Rob Andrew's newly promoted Falcons. Money was no object in the north-east at the time, and there was no salary-cap to prevent astronomical salaries to the most high-profile players. Their league title duly came.

After 1997/8, however, Newcastle never quite regained the same heights, despite some success in the cup. That squad was built for the purpose of winning the league and once it began to come apart, Rob Andrew seemed to lack the ability to put one as competitive together again, perhaps due in part to a lack of money. In the last couple of seasons Newcastle have lost a number of influential players in the form of Jonny Wilkinson, Toby Flood, Mathew Tait, David Wilson, Tom May, and Phil Dowson, as well as Rob Andrew and John Fletcher on the coaching side. Despite these departures, and with a relatively un-starry squad (with one notable exception), they currently sit seventh in the league and have pulled off several eye-catching results this term, most notably a win away against high-flying London Irish. In between, however, they have had some less than impressive performances, and last week became Leeds' second victims of the Premiership season, after Wasps. Such inconsistency must be hair-tuggingly frustrating for the remaining Wasp exile at Kingston Park, Director of Rugby Steve Bates. In his second stint at Newcastle, Bates has the unenviable task of creating a competitive team around the one bona fide rugby superstar at the club, New Zealand prop Carl Hayman. In a way, the signing of Hayman by Newcastle was a throwback to the early days of professionalism, a 'marquee' player in the Tuigamala mould, a statement of intent as much as an addition to the squad. Whether such a statement is affordable in an age of salary-caps, only Newcastle can say – however, it will be good to see him on Sunday. In addition to Hayman, Newcastle have (as always) quality young players in scrum-half Mickey Young, Tom Biggs and Rob Vickerman from Leeds, lock James Hudson, and ex-Harlequin Charlie Amesbury. At fly-half, always a strong position for them, is experienced New Zealander Jimmy Gopperth.

With a gap opening between the top and bottom halves of the league, it is imperative for Wasps to win this match. With a 15-8 win-loss record against Falcons, hopes should be high, but that result against London Irish ought to put the management on their guard – Newcastle are eminently capable of creating an upset. As far as selection goes, the biggest issue is probably who should start at fly-half. Cipriani had a curate's egg of a performance last week at Twickenham, but that is only to be expected coming back from injury and he needs game-time to get back up to speed. On the other hand, a motivated and in-form Dave Walder will be desperate to play against the club he called home for many years. With Simpson and Fury injured, expect Mark Robinson to begin at scrum-half. The pack should be much the same, through necessity as much as choice.

The start of the 2009/10 season has been positive for Wasps, especially in light of last season's opening months. The temptation might well be to settle for a moment, consider the club's position, and predict good things for the rest of the campaign. But we mustn't believe the cliches; we mustn't expect the 'traditional' surge, just because it's happened in the past. As ever, the squad will have to work for everything it gets, starting (let's hope) with a victory against Newcastle on Sunday.

Prediction: Wasps to win...probably

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