Sheffield Eagles just love being the League's underdogs
Last season’s Championship winners Leigh Centurions have once again grabbed the headlines with a plethora of high profile names arriving over the close season. Paul Rowley’s side remain favourites with the bookies, whilst Bradford Bulls and London Broncos are also fancied.
Eagles will provide a largely unknown quantity with 10 new signings, but this season they have the advantage of being a full-time operation. Aston is convinced they have once again been overlooked by the game’s experts.
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Hide Ad“Nobody ever fancies us which is great” Aston said. “Keep writing us off, we love it. It inspires us, we just go about our business, we have a really strong close knit group here. We never get the sort of accolades that we should do. We are a good team, we have gone full-time and if we have got our recruitment right, then we will be a better team.”
Aston has largely recruited players under the age of 25. Whilst some will see this as a gamble there are a number of experienced heads remaining from last season, and Aston believes he has got the balance right. People are saying there have been too many changes, too much youth; well let’s just see if these lads can stand up because I believe they can,” he said. “We are spending 20-30 hours a week together, it doesn’t take that long to get a group together and get them believing and we have already generated a real buzz.”
Aston added: “There are people like Matty James - when I first met him he was down in the dumps. Ben Blackmore has had a bit of a torrid time recently, but they now have smiles on their faces and make no mistake, they can play.”
The early signs are positive after a fluid Eagles’ side comfortably put a strong Dewsbury outfit to the sword in a pre-season outing.
Eagles kick off the season on Sunday February 7 with a trip to Workington Town.