The Icing on the Cake - Noon Signs!
By Mally (23/04/03)
April 23 2003
Jonny Wilkinson's signing of a new 2 year contract made all the headlines this week but another Newcastle Falcon had already put pen to paper.
Jamie Noon may not be a quite as big a name as Wilkinson, but without Noonie we would have been far worse off this season. Jamie has been one of the Falcons most consistent players all season, his efforts won him a spot in the England A squad during the Six Nations, aswell as securing his place in the England Squad which recently retained the Hong Kong Sevens title.
Rob Andrew described Noon as having "a special talent", which is now matched by his consistency.
"We can rely on him to perform at the top level every week, When they make that jump, you know you have a really good player."
There was much speculation about the possibility of Jonny Wilkinson playing in National Division One, how can the 'world's best fly-half' play in a lower league etc... surely it would damage his international career? Possibly it would, but personally I believe relegation would have less of an effect on Wilkinson precisely because he is so well established in the England set up. For a fringe player like Noon, National Division One rugby could have more of an impact on his international prospects, as Nick Cairns pointed
out in
The Sunday Times on April 20th:
"Noon’s decision could be career suicide. No player with serious aspirations of making the England team can afford to play in the First Division."
Luckily for Newcastle Falcons Jamie is positive about Falcons' ability to avoid relegation.
"If Newcastle go down, I will go with them and try to help them to get back up,” he told the Sunday Times, "But I don’t believe we will, because our past five games have shown
that we deserve to be in the Premiership."
Jamie Noon is a class act, a brilliant player who has given 110% throughout the season, and the news of his signing was the icing on the cake this weekend!
Jonny Signs At Last!
Falcons' Great Escape, Again!
