REGGIE Jackson has kicked off the countdown to Newcastle Eagles' midweek title decider by revealing he is desperate to silence Mersey Tigers' motormouth Tap Toney.
Jackson and former Eagles big man “Tap” Toney were both rookies at the Eagles in 2009 and, despite diverging career paths, have remained close ever since.
However, that friendship will count for nothing at Sport Central tomorrow night with Jackson all too aware Toney will be insufferable if the Tigers clinch the win which will almost certainly hand them Newcastle’s BBL title.
Jackson said: “Tap is a great guy and a great player.
“We still talk pretty regularly and we have been in contact ever since we were together at the Eagles two years ago.
“This title race has been crazy for us. As soon as we lost at Milton Keynes the other night I came back into the dressing room and there was a message waiting for me on from Tap.
“Funnily enough, when they lost at Guildford on Saturday he was pretty quiet!
“I did not send him a message, I thought I would just leave it because we had a game the next day.
“I know he will remind me if they win the league and even though we are friends it adds a bit of spice to it.
“I am sure it is the same for all of the ex-Eagles players on their team – and all of the guys on ours who used to play with them.
“In Tap and (Drew) Sullivan they have two of the best players in the league and two players with big Eagles connections, so it all adds to the occasion.”
After another frantic weekend of BBL action, the title race is as delicately poised as ever.
The Tigers had appeared clear favourites after the Eagles slipped up at Milton Keynes last week.
However, a shock Tigers defeat at Guildford Heat over the weekend – combined with a gutsy pair of victories at Worcester and Plymouth for Newcastle – means the two sides are level at the top of the table.
To complicate matters further, the Tigers travel to Sheffield Sharks, still in with an outside shot at the title themselves, tonight – hardly the ideal preparation for such a big game.
With weary limbs across every team in the league, Jackson has pinpointed mental tenacity as the key to seeing out the season.
He added: “All three of the teams at the top have pretty much the same back-to-back schedule so there are a lot of tired players out there.
“I said to the guys after the weekend whoever is the most mentally tough between now and the end of the season will win it. We will all physically exhausted, but if you can get yourself up for this game and the other two you are going to win the league.”
Although Mersey’s manic schedule would appear to tip the balance in Newcastle’s favour, the head-to-head clearly favours Wednesday’s visitors.
In the six clashes so far this season, four have been won by the free-scoring Tigers – not a happy statistic for Fab Flournoy to ponder. Jackson has a simple way for the Eagles to reverse that record.
He said: “Defence is the key to this game. Now we have lost Trey (Moore) we have had to alter our style.
“We could rely on him to get 20 to 25 points, but with him gone we have had to make sure the opposition don’t score as many. The Tigers have so many dangerous players – we cannot let that record slip now.”
