Confidence is soaring at Sheffield Eagles

Just over a month ago, the Eagles looked down and out as they spiralled towards the bottom two positions in the Kingstone Press Championship.

Fast forward six weeks, and add a sprinkling of quality in the shape of Nathan Chappell, Stan Robin and Thibaut Margalet, and Aston’s side now look to have a genuine chance of lifting silverware at the end of the season.

Aston confirmed that confidence amongst his squad is now sky high, and he now has to consider reigning one or two in, a situation he could never have envisaged during some of the dark days of this season.

“The Halifax result will give us even more confidence,” Aston told The Star.

“We played well but I had to be honest with them about certain things like Mark Mexico chipping over the top, we don't train that. Stan Robin not putting the ball down correctly is another example; they are some of the things that drive me mad.

“We need to keep working hard, keep our heads down, let people talk about us if they want, but we have improved in this last month and it is certainly encouraging. We have the likes of Garry Lo and Cory (Aston) doing well, the French lads - there is plenty of positives.”

Aston was delighted with his side’s performance last weekend, but such is the standard that the Eagles are now setting, there were areas that disappointed the long serving coach.

The Eagles chief has now called on his side to continue to strive for the required consistency, with the prospect of a backlash from relegation threatened Whitehaven this coming Sunday at Bawtry Road.

“I am happy that we got the right result,” Aston exclaimed.

“I thought that we would because we have had a great week of training, but there is a lot of work to do and all the hard work done atHalifax will count for nothing if we don't get the same result against Whitehaven.

“The challenge now is to be consistent. You are starting to see some of the things that we are capable of doing. The culture and the environment is much friendlier and players have smiles on their faces.”