NRL: Eels get breath of confidence

Willie Tonga of the Eels. Photo / Getty Images

Parramatta centre Willie Tonga says last week's win over Manly has breathed a wind of optimism through the club ahead of Sunday's NRL clash with Newcastle.

The Eels' shock victory over the premiers came on the back of four successive defeats and calls for coach Stephen Kearney's head.

However, Queensland centre Tonga denied there was any negativity within the camp after a decision was taken by the players to avoid reading the newspapers.

"The boys are a lot more upbeat and there's a really positive vibe around the joint," Tonga said.

"It was good to get that first win.

"The pressure was coming from outside and we were told not to even worry about that, not to read the papers or watch the news or anything like that.

"We just wanted to focus on what we could control and we came up with a good win on Saturday."

The Queensland centre has endured a slow start to the campaign following a torn pectoral and a hip injury sustained in last year's Four Nations campaign.

However, he believes his improvement can help the Eels climb the ladder, starting with victory over the Knights at Hunter Stadium.

"I feel I've had a slow start to the season due to not having a full pre-season under my belt but I'm slowly getting to where I want to be," he said.

"Maybe the boys were feeling a bit down after that first month but after the win the boys have got a lot of confidence from that."

"We're hoping to build on that and we're starting with Newcastle on Sunday."

Kearney echoed Tonga's sentiments about the spirit in his camp, and believes the new-found confidence make them a dangerous proposition for the Knights.

"There's not many headlines about us this week," Kearney said.

"The guys seem in better spirits obviously after the performance on Saturday night.

"I think the perception was there was pressure but we were just trying to find a way of working through what we though was going to get us a good performance.

"That was our focus last week amid all that was going around on the outside."

- AAP

-AAP