 |
| Walker The Conversion King |
 |
| Alex Walker celebrates his try against Albi on his home debut |
| 5 November 2009, 2:20 pm |
|
| Newcastle hooker Alex Walker has spoken of his move across the front row, as he forms part of the Falcons team for Saturday's LV= Cup trip to Worcester. |
The Aussie joined from Saracens over the summer months, and has revealed himself to be only a recent convert to the hooking role.
“I was always a prop right throughout my junior career, and played prop for Australia Under-21s,” said the 25-year-old, who rose through the ranks at Falcons legend Matthew Burke’s former club, Eastwood.
“I received offers to trial with both Leicester and Northampton as a tight head and was keen to go, but my club wouldn’t let me at that time,” he said, looking back four years.
“Once my season with Eastwood was finished I basically took the first available option to get in the UK shop window, which at the time was with Otley in National One.
“After that I played a couple of games for Gloucester in the Guinness A League, and it was when I was at Gloucester that the coaches there suggested I was more suited to playing hooker than prop.
“An opening for a hooker came up at Saracens, so after a lot of hard work I gradually progressed my way through there and would now class hooker as my sole position. It suits my game a lot better, and really I should have looked to make the move a lot earlier in my career when I look back and think about it.”
Despite his recent conversion Walker is already a deadly thrower at the line out, insisting: “It’s like many things in life, you’ve just got to get on with it and put in the hard work.
“Last year I improved my throwing a lot when Eddie Jones came to Saracens, because he basically said to me that I needed to do a minimum of 100 throws per day. That meant I was hitting somewhere between 500 and 1,000 throws a week, and it made a big difference.
“I still try and practice my throwing a lot even now that I’m more used to it, maybe around 50 a day, and it’s no coincidence that guys who practice more in any walk of life tend to improve their skills all the time.”
Now settled in the North-East and set for his second start as a Falcons player this Saturday at Sixways, Walker said: “I’ve fitted in really well, and I love the club from the short time that I’ve spent here so far.
“The players are excellent, the coaches have a very clear vision and the whole system here just seems to work. As a town I love Newcastle, the people are very friendly so there’s no complaints on any front at the moment.”
With starting places at a premium in competition with Matt Thompson and Rob Vickers, Walker revealed himself up for the fight, stating: “That healthy rivalry is something that is driving all of us on and improving standards across the board.
“I had the same thing at Saracens with guys like Fabio Ongaro, Andy Kyriacou and Matt Cairns, so it’s something I’m used to and we’re all relishing the chance of fighting for a starting place and supporting whoever has the jersey at any given time. I prefer that battle rather than being handed the starting shirt on a plate, and it brings out the best in players to have that competition.”
Moving from Premiership matters on to the Anglo-Welsh circuit this weekend, he added: “The LV= Cup is still a tough competition, and I think Worcester will come in with a pretty strong side this weekend in front of their home fans.
“Last season they had one of the best scrummaging units in the country, they gave us a good test in that department last weekend up at Kingston Park and I wouldn’t have thought it would be any different second time round.”
Packing down alongside Micky Ward and Laurence Ovens, he said: “Micky has been around for a long while now, and he has an excellent overall knowledge of the scrum which we have to use to our advantage.
“I’m very much looking forward to packing down alongside Micky, and then Laurence Ovens on the loose head side is someone who has come in over the summer and made a really good impression. He’s a very strong player, has got a couple of tries under his belt already and will be keen to put in a big performance.
“There’s no shortage of options in the line out either this weekend, I have a lot of quality jumpers to hit and I’m extremely happy with the group of players I’ll be alongside. We’ve been training together all week, it’s coming together and on Saturday afternoon we’ll be ready to give it a good go.”
Having already defeated Worcester once last weekend with a 14-3 triumph at a windswept Kingston Park on Sunday, Walker spoke of his desire for a more open game.
“If everything goes to plan then we will look to play a more expansive game than the conditions allowed last weekend in Newcastle,” he said.
“We know that we have to earn the right to do that by putting in the hard yards up front, and down the middle with our big ball carriers. We can look to go wider once we’ve gained that momentum, but we have to work hard to lay the foundation and that’s where the focus has been this week.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
