On-loan Widnes Vikings centre Zach Eckersley has reflected on a whirlwind week which ended with a debut hat-trick away at Swinton Lions on Friday.
Last week, the 19-year-old joined the club on a one-month loan from Wigan Warriors.
He trained with his new team-mates for the first time on Wednesday, before making his competitive debut for the Vikings at Heywood Road less than 48 hours later.
It proved to be a Good Friday for Eckersley as he claimed three tries in their 48-16 victory in Round 8 of the Betfred Championship.
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Reflecting on his debut, Eckersley said: “It was great. The lads helped me through the game, and I suppose a hat-trick is the best way to start the season for Widnes.
“I wanted to ease my way into the game at the start, but I got an early try and we did well on our edge, especially in the first half.
“We were under pressure a couple of times on our line but cleaned the ball up and went well.”
Speaking about his situation at parent club Wigan, Eckersley admitted that competition for places at the club meant the chance to feature more regularly for the Vikings was one he was excited for.
“At the start of the season, a few of us [from Wigan] went out on loan, so it’s a bit of a new experience compared to that,” he said.
“In the reserves competition, there’s not many games this year, and obviously we’re knocking on the door of the first team. There’s competition back at Wigan, so this is a good way to get game time.
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“I loved training throughout the week, and I suppose the game went as good as it could really!”
On Sunday, Eckersley could make his home debut for the Vikings, as John Kear’s side welcome Barrow Raiders to the DCBL Stadium.
“I’m looking forward to it,” the young centre added.
“It’ll be a tough game against Barrow, but we played well [against Swinton] and if we can keep that momentum going into next Sunday, we’ve got a good chance of putting in a performance.”
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