By Mark H
August 12 2005

The Falcons' annual media day took place on 11th August, the first indication to the rugby world of the mood within the camp.

And it's pretty good, actually, with the new faces bedding in well and there being no major injury worries as we head towards the Japan games and the home friendly with Glasgow.

I haven't actually been home yet to download the photos, so I'll stick the new team photo up later tonight, but here's a few brief notes on the day (whilst trying not to reveal too much).

6.25pm update - now I have, see below!

The open training session was a revelation, and it looks like the appointment of Colin Charvis as captain is a sound one, as he stood out during the session as a natural leader.  New signings Andy Perry and Tino Paoletti also looked very good, Perry in his mobility and Tino, as has been alluded to on the message board, is very big and an excellent addition to the squad.

It was good to see Joe Shaw looking fit and well after the injury problems of last season, and he looked particularly sharp in the training drills.  As can only be expected, there were a few players missing the session, but this was just for rehabilitation purposes rather than carrying more serious knocks.

The team photo - well, it's the biggest squad I've ever seen at Falcons, so squeezing them all into the photo was a lot of fun.  As one point, the traditional "front row hands on knees" shot was eschewed for the cross-legged look, but when normality returned, the next problem was getting the players to put their hands on their own knees rather than those of the men sitting next to them!

Owen Finegan has a very sharp sense of humour.

Ollie Phillips looks well after his leg break, and is targeting October for a comeback.

Micky Ward kindly did an interview with me and has produced a load of stuff for us that will be on the site over the next two weeks.

The mood in the press conference was pretty good; Jonny obviously just wants to get on a pitch again and gave Charva an excellent build up for the captain's role, whilst Charva was keen to stress that there are six or seven captains in the side.  I've got the full recording of the press conference which I'll try to get transcribed before the first league game.

Matt Burke was the man in most demand, still doing interviews in the West Stand as I tucked into a pint in the clubhouse.

Many thanks to Dave (long story) for the invite up; once again Smithy worked wonders getting everyone here they should be.