Eagles look to return to winning ways this weekend at Widnes

The Eagles currently sit third in the Betfred Championship, but they’re hopeful they can secure a win in the North West this weekend to continue to push for a top-two finish in the league.

Like the Eagles, Widnes also have aspirations of finishing inside the top six, which would see them compete in the end-of-season playoffs, but a tough test awaits for them against a side who beat them 30-21 at Olympic Legacy Park back in June.

Foster spoke with us earlier this week to give us his reflections on last Friday’s disappointing defeat at home to Batley Bulldogs, before going on to preview the tough test that awaits the Eagles this Sunday.

“It’s a really good opportunity for us to get back on the horse this weekend”, said the 30-year-old.

“It’s not going to be an easy test for us, we’ve got a tough run-in of games coming up, but we’re setting our eyes on writing a few wrongs, and giving a proper good and honest performance.

“We need to get back to doing what we do best, and that’s competing the right way.”

“We were disappointed following the Batley game last Friday, especially following on from the defeat at Wakefield the week before. We need to put them aside now and have a good look at the games coming up over the next few weeks.

“Credit to Batley, they were good and did all of the simple things right. They got in the grind and were ultimately the better team on the night.

“I think we can learn a lot of lessons from that and take a leaf out of their book. We now need to be honest with each other and go into this Widnes game in a positive mindset.”

With only six weeks of the regular season remaining for teams in the Betfred Championship, the Eagles must face the likes of Toulouse Olympique, Bradford Bulls, Featherstone Rovers and York Knights, all sides like Widnes who are pushing for a place in the end-of-season playoffs.

Foster knows these games will all be tough, but he’s hoping that the team can thrive of these fixtures and finish the season strongly.

“These are the type of teams that we’d come up against in the playoffs, so we need to ensure that we perform and that we are in good form.

“Teams that are coming up against us also need to know that they’re coming up against a very good Sheffield team. We’ve had a great year, so we need to ensure we finish as strong as we possibly can.

All the games over the next few weeks are statement games for us, they will all certainly be big tests, but it’s something that as a group we’ll be ready for.”

Despite a recent blip in form for the Eagles, Foster knows the lads can be better as they look to rediscover the form that they showed at the start of the season, which saw them win their first eight league games of the season to go joint-top of the table alongside Wakefield Trinity.

“Other than Wakefield and Batley, we’ve been able to beat every team in the Championship so far this season, so we need to head into this game with our heads high and full of confidence.

“We know that when we are on our game, that we are one of the top-teams in the league, so it’s about getting around each other this weekend, put the wrongs right, and ultimately give a good performance for the fans.”