For a man who chooses his words carefully, it's a show of confidence in the squad he has ahead of the new Newcastle Rugby Union season.

The question of course, was where, in his first season as a coach, does he aim to finish the home and away season.

Cunningham comes into the new season with a great playing record with the Blacks behind him - 270 games all up, about 185 of those as first grade halfback - but zero experience as a top grade coach.

Captain-coach of third grade at the end of his career is as far as it goes.

Why take on such a pressure role?

"I always wanted to try my hand at it at some stage and I was approached by the club in October," he explained. "In the end I thought the time was right."

His philosophy is straight forward enough.

"I want my team to play with high energy, to execute the basics, and keep things pretty simple so that everybody is on the same page," he said. "The last thing you want is to over-complicate matters because if you do that you take away the spontaneity, the joy of it.

"Having said that, of course we'll tweak our plans depending on who we're up against."

With no competition last season due to COVID, the Blacks will have a somewhat different look.

Mind you, they've done well considering because at one stage it looked like there could be wholesale departures. It has meant Cunningham has been hitting the phones hard, talking to players and he has managed to retain a good core.

"Eight weeks ago I probably wouldn't have said top three," he said. "Back then I would have thought there's a chance we'd be starting from scratch, but now we'll have a core nucleus of guys with some fresh faces added. It gives us something to build on. Certainly the commitment to training has been outstanding. I couldn't be happier with that side of things."

Probably the biggest of the losses are former captain and centre Carl Manu who has departed to try his hand with the Newcastle Wildfires, halfback Max Stafford who has left the club and No.8 Travis Brooke who has returned to New Zealand.

"We'll have a core group of eight or nine players - guys like Nick Davidson, Chris Logan, Harry Chapman and Dale Clacherty," Cunningham said. "And we'll look to props Devante Manu and Willie Soe to step up too.

"Then we'll have some young local juniors - 18 and 19-year-olds - who will get their chance. Mick Taylor in the centres, and hooker Brady Miller ... these sort of guys.

"And also other guys who have been denied their chance because they've been behind more experienced players. All up it's an exciting time for the club."

Utility back Cal Scarr who played with Hamilton is one player who will get a chance to shine.

When asked if it's Hamilton's to lose again, Cunningham was cautious.

"They'll be up there again for sure, but Wanderers are looking strong too. They'll be really tough."