Josh Eaves on life in the North, room-mates and Newcastle’s Super League ambitions
Josh Eaves has discussed life in Newcastle, his ‘talented’ team-mates and Thunder’s Super League ambitions.
The 24-year-old made the switch to the Championship side during the off-season from St Helens.
Eaves came through the system at hometown club Saints, making his first team debut in 2019.
He joined Newcastle on a one-year deal, re-locating to the north and living with five team-mates and enjoying his time in the city.
Josh Eaves on life in Newcastle and room-mates
“It is better than St Helens,” Eaves joked.
“There’s a lot more going on. We’re situated bang in city centre. We’ve got two apartments, six in one and six in another. I’m currently living with Gideon Boafo, Jack Johnson, Connor Bailey, Brad Gallagher and Pat Moran.
“We’re really enjoying it. We’ve lived up here about four months now and we do pretty much everything together.
“We’ve got a good click going. On our days off we like to get out and be together.
“We’re trying to build the camaraderie off the field and try take that on the field. We are a new team and still trying to gel.
“Me and JJ are the oldest in the house along with Pat. We’ve taken on a bit of a dad kind of role!
“Everyone does chip in and we call Brad Gallagher the teenager because he is the typical teenager in his bedroom on the PS5 and when he wants food he’ll just shout!
“We’ve recently found out that Pat Moran has a secret stash in his room of sweets and chocolate. He’s been hiding that from the lads so we’ve been trying to get in that recently.”
‘I feel like we are going in the right direction’
Eamon O’Carroll’s side sit sixth in the Championship table, claiming two wins from four.
Those victories came against Workington and Whitehaven in rounds one and four respectively.
Eaves, who received shirt number nine for the 2022 season, believes there’s lots more to come from his side.
“It is a new team,” he said.
“I think there was up to 14 or 15 new players coming into one club. I think both Freddie and Denis (Betts) have done a really good job trying to gel us as a team.
“We’ve done activities away from training and obviously we’re all living up here and doing things together.
“I feel like we are going in the right direction as a team.”
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Widnes sit at the top of the table unbeaten in the opening four rounds, while favourites Featherstone also maintain a 100% record.
Leigh are also a hot topic in the Championship, and Eaves believes Newcastle will be up there too at the end of the season.
“We’d like to think so (being in the mix at the top).
“I’ve been lucky enough to play with some of the players here and against them coming through the academy ranks. I think we have got talent across the board.
“We have some Super League experience in Alex Foster, who has played loads of Super League games. He has that calm head and goes about his business very classy and a very professional person.
“You can’t look further than Josh Woods. I think he’s a class player and probably one of the best players in the Championship on his day.
“We will quietly go about our business this year. The start of the season we are disappointed with, but we’ll keep chalking the games off.
“I think the further we do get on into the season, the better you’ll see of Thunder.”
The Championship club are offering £5 tickets for their next league home clash with Widnes on April 4. They travel to Leigh first in round five.
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