Saints No.8 Eadie eager to make his mark in final four games

Mitch Eadie is ready to put a frustrating first season at Saints behind him as he bids to make his mark in the final four matches.
Mitch Eadie is desperate to impress in the final four games of Saints' season (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)Mitch Eadie is desperate to impress in the final four games of Saints' season (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)
Mitch Eadie is desperate to impress in the final four games of Saints' season (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)

Eadie has been unable to gather much momentum since moving to Northampton from Bristol last summer.

He was forced off just 15 minutes into his debut after picking up an injury in the Aviva Premiership opening-day defeat to Saracens at Twickenham.

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Since that day in early September, he has gone on to make a further nine appearances for Saints.

But the No.8 role has largely been played by Teimana Harrison, with Eadie starting just three games in total.

And the 25-year-old said: "It's always hard because you do all the hard work in pre-season and especially starting at a new club, I wanted to make an impression.

"You play the pre-season games, do all the hard work and fitness and then you play the first game and I did my ankle in the first 15 minutes of my debut.

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"I was out for about eight to 10 weeks so that was frustrating, but we've got a good bunch of strength and conditioning staff and physios here who got me through it.

"I have been in and out of the team because of injuries and I would have liked it to have gone better so far.

"The injury at the start pushed me back a little bit, but I'm ready to go now and hopefully we can really make a statement in this last part of the season."

This weekend, the season comes full circle for Eadie as Saints again square up to Saracens.

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And he said: "I want to put a performance on for the fans because they come here week in, week out, pay their money and we need to put on a display for them.

"A big thing for us is pride.

"We're in a good place at the minute and hopefully we can see a bit of an upset this weekend.

"It will be good if I get to play this weekend and I'm just going to try to push for the shirt."

So what has Eadie learned since swapping Bristol for Saints?

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"For me, it's more the game management side of it," he said. "Being in situations and learning from them is important.

"Prem Rugby has been a learning curve so I'm just taking everything I can from each game."

Saints will welcome Harrison back from a one-match suspension this weekend.

Eadie has enjoyed working with his fellow Northampton No.8.

And he said: "Tei's been wicked.

"Me and Tei get on really well and we're quite similar players in that we like wide, expansive rugby.

"He's been brilliant and we help each other on and off the pitch.

"Us back rowers are really tight as a unit and we try to push each other and get the best out of each other."