LEAGUE: Eagle itching to get back on field

Hamish Bidwell If Richard Eagle was a horse, he'd be dog tucker by now.
Horrific doesn't begin to describe the leg injury he suffered playing for Western Suburbs against EITSA back on April 29, or the rather bizarre complications that have blighted his recovery since.
But, ever the optimist, rather than dwell too much on his misfortune, he's quick to tell you there's been positives too.
"I dislocated my knee, so the doctors reckon," Eagle said after his team's 48-34 win over Moana Toa at Gisborne's Awapuni Stadium on Saturday.
"It swelled up from just under my hip, all the way down to my toes. Then my toes went black and I was panicking a bit.
"I went to the physio and they freaked out and reckoned I should never have been let out of hospital in the first place. But it's better now and I guess it's about time I got my bike going again.
"In some ways though, I think it's actually worked out better for us as a team, because I can concentrate on the coaching side of things now. I mean I hate watching, especially when I've got someone out there and I know I'm much better than him.
"I get a bit pissed off and I've got my mate Terry (Nikora) saying he's missing having me out there and telling me to hurry up and get myself right. To be honest, I'd set myself a little schedule and I thought I'd be back running two weeks ago and I've failed miserably.
"I can jump up and down, but I still can't run."
Without him, his team struggled initially, but they're starting to show a bit more steel now and Eagle has hopes of them causing the odd upset come finals time.
"It's great for us to have Corey Vainu back, because I've got forwards, forwards and more forwards and about two backs. It's hard when you keep having to play forwards in the centres, so having a back of Corey's ability is a big boost for us," he said.
"I have to say too, that I've been impressed with the improvement in the Gisborne teams. We should have won our game by more, but we couldn't kick a goal. It wasn't too long ago that we were beating them by 70 or 80 points, but they've come on a lot and the Panthers really took it to EITSA in the other game."
EITSA eventually won that match against the Turanga Panthers 52-24. Elsewhere, the Paikea Whalers beat the Manutuke Mustangs 60-20, while Te Rangatahi o Omahu were 56-26 winners over Tapuae.