EAGLES WILL SOAR AGAIN, SAYS COACH
JAI Johnson has assured that “heads aren’t down” in the Gold Coast Eagles camp after a sorry start to their 2019 season.
Hopes were high that the Eagles would build on their run to last year’s Gold Coast District Rugby Union preliminary final after they retained their coaching set-up and added players such as ex-Griffith University Colleges trio Frank Amato, Nixon Taramai and James Uhatafe. The first two rounds have not gone to plan though, beaten 38-5 by the Knights and 66-5 by Helensvale.
Johnson called for patience as his group gradually gels.
“We’re a young side. We had five making their first grade run-on debut (against Helensvale) and within that side there was six guys under the age of 20,” he said.
“It is going to be a learning curve. Hogs were very good. We made mistakes and they capitalised on every mistake we made.
“We have got to bring back our self-belief. At the end of the day winning is a habit and a culture and we have got to get there.”
In that Round 2 clash, the Eagles were somewhat in the contest trailing 19-5 at halftime before the floodgates opened when they fell into the trap of playing catch-up footy.
The Eagles face Surfers Paradise at James Overell Park this weekend.