Darlington Mowden Park and Newcastle Red Bulls – Striking the balance between ambition and realism
Interview: Newcastle Red Bulls transition coach and Darlington Mowden head coach Darren Fearn discusses the clubs’ new long-term partnership and how it could boost player development and shape the future of rugby in the North East. (Photo Credit: Newcastle Red Bulls)
There is a new ‘Red Bull world’ taking shape at Newcastle.
And for Darren Fearn, that can only mean one thing. Excitement.
As rugby finds its place within Red Bull’s growing sporting empire, the scale of ambition surrounding Newcastle’s new era is difficult to ignore.
The Prem club feels transformed. Expectations are rising. New faces have arrived, but the optimism does not begin and end with the Red Bulls themselves.
It is being felt further down the rugby pyramid, and perhaps nowhere more clearly than at Darlington Mowden Park, where Fearn finds himself at the heart of a partnership designed to ‘strengthen player development and elevate rugby across the North East.’
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His role as Newcastle Red Bulls’ transition coach will dovetail with a return to DMP as head coach, taking charge of a club he represented as a player a decade ago.
For Fearn, there is something fitting about the opportunity.
“The North East is home,” he says. “I know the region very well, and I am very, very passionate about the region. I want to see Newcastle do well, the people of the North East do well, and the region do well.”
Aside from a recent coaching stint with Champ Rugby club Doncaster Knights, who he left during the summer to join the Red Bulls, Fearn’s career has been largely rooted in the North East.
Northumbria University and Newcastle University have both played a part in his development as a coach, while Newcastle Falcons – now the Red Bulls – gave him his first professional contract as a player.
“This club gave me my chance,” he says. “And bringing it to now, you now understand the vision, the excitement with the Red Bulls coming into the club, and the people that are in the club who you get to work with on a daily basis.
“From the first team right down to DMP, there’s certainly excitement and that applies to the whole region. There’s certainly going to be some cool stuff happening, but there’s going to be a lot of graft and effort.”
Fearn’s enthusiasm is understandable.
DMP have undergone a bit of a rebuild after relegation from National One two seasons ago. Last term was about resetting, finding their feet in National Two North and establishing a platform from which to move forward.
A fifth-place finish was achieved, but Fearn is not pretending the next step will happen overnight.
“Last season, DMP were a mid-table National Two team, and we’ve certainly got a lot to go after,” he says. “There’s definitely a growing excitement, but there’s a reality as well.
“We’ve got a core group of DMP lads who are very good players. We’ve still got a small squad, we’re excited about what we’re building, and we’re at the start of the journey with a lot of work to do.”
The partnership between the Red Bulls and DMP is designed to aid player development and promote rugby across the region, a remit that feels particularly natural for Fearn.
His work with Northumbria University helped to shape players who have gone on to make their mark in the professional game. James Elliott is now back at Newcastle, Josh Hodge has returned to the club, while Fearn still keeps in touch with Bath’s Will Muir.
“There are so many more,” Fearn says. “And then your Newcastle [University] lads, obviously.
“Even at DMP, there are a lot of lads who I have seen come through, Ben Douglas, Jacob Oliver, so I do take pride in seeing these lads go on and do things as individuals.
“The more people we can get to go and represent Newcastle Red Bulls’ first team, or whatever level players can meet within their ambition, whilst staying in the North East, is really exciting.”
That experience is part of what Fearn now brings to the relationship with DMP.
The aim is not simply to move players from one club to another, but to give them meaningful opportunities to play, develop and discover what they are capable of.
“There’s been a lot of people telling you what this partnership is going to be, and all this stuff, and narratives are getting spun, which is fine,” Fearn says.
“But the reality of it is it’s meaningful playing opportunities for the young players at the Red Bulls, which they can get at other clubs by the way, but we want a real purposeful one [link] with Mowden Park.”
Fearn’s words do not necessarily mean a conveyor belt of Red Bulls academy players will be heading to the Darlington Arena.
The opposite, in fact.
“I’ve heard ‘Oh, there is going to be 15 Red Bulls players starting, etc etc. That is simply not the reality.
“The key is, can we develop? Is it another tool to develop players, young players in the North East? Well yeah, it is and we are excited about that across the board.”
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The fact that DMP share the National Two North landscape with two other North East clubs makes Fearn’s stance all the more pertinent.
Last season, Tynedale reached the National Two play-offs after finishing second, while Billingham secured their Level 4 status for a third consecutive campaign.
“Tynedale are a brilliant club, and it is the same with Billingham,” Fearn continues. “Both have made steps in the last couple of seasons, but more so, they are passionate about what they do. You have still got the likes of Blaydon, Alnwick, and Percy Park lower down who also share that same passion for rugby in the region.
“We have a lot of meetings, and it all comes back to: ‘Is this best for the development of the player?’ That is the core of it all.”
For Fearn, the important thing is that young players are playing – wherever that may be.
“At the end of the day, we all picked up a ball because we wanted to play rugby,” he adds. “I think the worst thing you can do for a player, unless there’s a purposeful plan around them and it is really obvious with regards to their development, is not to play rugby.
“You’ve got to be playing rugby. If he wants to go to university and play university rugby, that’s good for them. Same with National League rugby or with DMP. It’s part of their development, and it helps.”
But for the Red Bulls and DMP partnership to reap the rewards Fearn is striving for, the National Two North club has to be strong in its own right.
Last season brought some welcome stability, but Fearn admits during this pre-season, at one stage, DMP only had “14 players” turn up to training.
“There’s definitely ambition, but there’s a difference between ambition and entitlement,” Fearn says.
“It’s those short-term to medium-term things you’re going after that are important, and setting a foundation. We need to build, and we are getting better.
“We just need to have a reality that, if we’re going to go after it, we have to work for it.”
And perhaps that combination of hard work, local knowledge and a genuine feel for what DMP represents is embodied by Fearn and those around him.
Fearn will work alongside new director of rugby Neil Young, who steps up to replace Danny Brown, while Gareth Nesbit, Richie Young and John Newton are also part of the coaching set-up.
“There’s some really good people here at DMP who care about the club,” Fearn says. “Danny Brown and John Newton, they were here when I was here as a player, and they love the club.
“Neil and Richie came in last year when, let’s not beat around the bush, the club had a playing roster of 20 at one point in the season.
“You’ve got Gareth Nesbit, who’s coached with me with England Students, coached with me at Doncaster, who’s come with me to DMP.
“We talk about clubs in the region. He coached Westoe, and he was head coach when Durham University won the BUCS Super Rugby league title a few years ago. He is also a former captain of DMP!
“So when you actually break it down, there are people here who care about the club who all want to work together.”
And that work will soon begin translating into results.
DMP’s opening fixture is away at Sedgley Park, a side relegated from National One last season, before a trip to Tynedale in Round Two.
“We’re under no illusions,” Fearn says. “Sedgley are a serious outfit. They’ve got some very good signings, dropped down from the league above, and are well coached by Scott Barrow.
“Then we’ve got Tynedale away the week after, who were in the play-off in this league. They’re a very proud club who play a certain way.
“We’ve got to get our game right. It’s not going to be right in two weeks as a whole. We’re not going to have the finished article. We’re building something here. There is a long-term vision.
“There’s definitely excitement, but there’s a reality that we’ve got to build. We can’t just say, ‘Right, that’s the plan. There we go. It’s done.’ I’ve been in this game, and I’ve built environments previously to be successful, and that is the aim.”
The balance between ambition and realism is a theme that runs throughout the conversation.
There is the Red Bull investment. There is the renewed excitement around Newcastle. There is the opportunity to create a stronger pathway for young players across the North East.
But Fearn knows it won’t just happen with the click of a finger.
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To fully ignore the excitement, though, and what the DMP partnership could mean for a region so close to his heart, isn’t in Fearn’s DNA.
“I am a genuine believer that if you get the right people, the right environment, and you all pull collectively to go after something, you stand a good chance of going after it,” Fearn says.
“There are a lot of people here at Red Bulls and DMP and in the North East who care about what we have just spoken about.
“Now, we’re going to try and add more people to that crew, and I don’t just mean players over this next year. We need to get better at certain things, and we’re actively going after that, so I’m excited.
“Where it’ll go? Let’s see. There is no lack of ambition, though. There isn’t a limit. It’s just that we’re very aware that it’s hard work to go and get it.
“And we ask ourselves, ‘Are we willing to put that in?’ Yeah, we are, so let’s see how it goes.”
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