Prince asks team to get him another shot

Mar 9 2008 Sunday Sun

THE Prince last night pleaded with his Newcastle team-mates: “Keep my season alive.”

Charles Smith missed last night’s trip to Birmingham after sitting out Friday night’s nervy win against Scottish Rocks with a fractured knee cap.

And a player enjoying a vintage campaign in an Eagles vest faces a six-week spell on the sidelines.

“It’s down to the other guys to give me another shot this season,” said Smith.

“If the worst comes to the worst then I won’t be back until after the Play-off quarter-final.

“So I’m banking on Fab and the players winning that one and focusing on getting fit for the Final Fours in Birmingham.

“I can’t face the possibility that I might already have played my last game of the season.”

Smith avoided ligament damage as he tumbled to the floor in the dying stages of Newcastle’s dismal Trophy final defeat to Guildford seven days ago.

But scans showed a hairline fracture across his kneecap and total rest is the order for the foreseeable future.

“I’d really been enjoying this season and people were saying it was my best ever,” added a forward averaging 14 points per game.

“It hurt to get injured in the way I did at the end of a game everyone would like to forget.

“The mood was pretty bad anyway coming back from Plymouth without the pain of my knee.

“We knew that wasn’t Newcastle Eagles out there and we knew we’d let everyone down – including ourselves as players.

“But the guys got back to what they know best against the Rocks on Friday and started playing some defence.

“That’s what we’ve built our success on in recent years and that’s where we will do well again.”

Smith is in his FOURTH spell with Newcastle after first signing for Craig Lynch way back in 1999.

And a series of vintage displays earlier this season had rolled back the years as a player plagued by injuries finally nailed full fitness.

Now Smith faces a fresh battle to get back to his best in time to resurrect the Eagles’ season after successive Cup final defeats.

“On our day I don’t think I’ve seen any team in this league which can live with us,” he added.

“The problem is that we have to be at our very best to win the big games because there are a lot of talented sides out there.

“The finals have proved that this season. In one-off games anything can happen and we haven’t picked it up.

“Now it is a case of finishing the season as well as we possibly can and I will be with the guys every step of the way. I’m relying on them big time!”

Newcastle face Sheffield Sharks in front of the Setanta Sports cameras on Wednesday night at the Metro Radio Arena.

The action gets underway at 7.15pm with tickets still on sale.