PRE-MATCH INTERVIEW | Titus Gwaze

25/07/2024

Titus Gwaze knows the Eagles need to be better this weekend against Whitehaven having fallen to back-to-back defeats in the Betfred Championship in recent weeks.

The Eagles are back at home this Sunday for the first of two successive home games, and Gwaze is looking forward to being back in front of our home fans as we look to return to winning ways.

We caught up with the forward earlier this week to gather his reflection on our recent performances, his preview ahead of Sunday’s game, and how much the fans can play their part once again this weekend.

“Everyone in this team knows we haven’t been ten out of ten in recent games; I wouldn’t even say we’ve been a six or a seven over recent weeks”, said Gwaze.

“We’ve all had a word between us all to try and understand why we’ve not been performing at our best. We all have a role to play in this weekend’s game, and I’m hoping we can really turn it back on.

“I think we’ve taken the last couple of games lightly, but I’m hoping these last couple of weeks we have learnt from our mistakes. It’s time to show that we’re learning and that we’re able to respond by coming back out on top.”

Gwaze featured in our 16-42 win against Whitehaven earlier this season in Cumbria, but he knows this weekend’s game will be a completely different test for the Eagles.

“We’re expecting a tough test against Whitehaven this weekend, I think it will be a very different test to the one we had earlier in the season up in Cumbria. They’ll be looking at this game and will probably feel that they’ve got a good chance against a side who have lost their last two games.

“Whitehaven really are a strong team; I suspect they’ll come with a lot of fire down the middle and it’s up to us to be able to compete with that. We need to be on our ‘A’ game and make sure we do what we need to do to get the win.

“The league is really tight now, we’re approaching ten big games between now and the end of the season, and every single one of those games carries its own importance.

“We’ve learnt that anyone can beat anyone in this league. If you look at the previous games against Swinton and Barrow, we were really on it and we got the wins earlier in the season, but it wasn’t the same case in the last couple of games against those sides.

“It’s the first time this season that we’ve not been in the top two for a while, so that one really hurt a lot of us, so it’s time to bring ourselves back.

“Every game matters now and we all know this, we know we need to turn up this Sunday and start firing.”

In the first of two successive home games this weekend, Gwaze also hopes that the boys can deliver a performance for the fans once, but also hopes that the fans can be that extra motivation help the lads secure a crucial two points.

“The fans always play a big part, when you hear them, it makes you want to go that extra bit harder.

“You’re not just playing for yourself or the team anymore, you play for your fans. It makes a really big difference there and we really need them again this Sunday.

“We need an eighty-minute performance from the boys this Sunday and hopefully we can give our fans something to cheer about.”