BY GREG DAVIS

First came the rain.

Then came the pain of the 28-10 loss to Brothers in the top of the table StoreLocal Hospital
Cup Round 16 clash at a water-logged Crosby Park.

But the Stara Easts Tigers will get the opportunity to go again in their final home game of
the year against Sunnybank this Saturday to claw back invaluable confidence and
momentum ahead of the finals.

Injury was added to insult for the Tigers as hooker Max Craig and backrower Tau Tuisamoa
were both forced to leave the field during the scrappy and sloppy encounter played in
atrocious conditions.

Craig gingerly hobbled from the field in the first half after being wrenched backwards over a
Brothers player with his feet awkwardly stuck underneath the butcher-striped opponent.

Tuisamoa lay motionless on the saturated surface late in the second half as play was
delayed for a considerable amount of time while he was put on a stretcher and taken from
the field.

The injuries to integral members of the Tigers pack compounded a difficult day for the
visitors as Brothers lifted both the Eales-Wilson Shield and the Welsby Cup trophies on
offer.

There was no disputing the effort from the Tigers but the execution was wanting on a
demanding day as the heavens opened and relentlessly stay opened.

The scrum was dominant but the Easts lineout was clunky. The one-on-one defence,
discipline and decision-making at critical times were also not perfect in imperfect weather.

The Tigers will host Sunnybank at Bottomley Park in Round 17 before winding up their
home-and-away campaign with an away trip to Yoku Rd to take on GPS.

Two wins from those two assignments are a must if Easts want to stay in the hunt for the
minor premiership and a top two spot with the double chance in the finals, having now lost
ground to Brothers (University and Souths) and with Wests (Norths and the bye) surging.
Brothers led 7-0 at halftime courtesy of a penalty try late in the first half after Tigers co-
captain Eli Pilz was desperately trying to shut down a sweeping attacking raid from the
Brethren when his left hand knocked down a pass.

Referee Damon Murphy handed Pilz a yellow card and Brothers seven points for the only
score of the opening 40 minutes.

Easts were forced to defend for large chunks of time in the first half and had one promising
attacking foray when they drew a series of scrum penalties close to the tryline.

Reds winger Tim Ryan showed a clean pair of heels with a 30 metre dash to give Brothers a
14-0 buffer only for the Tigers to hit-back when Jake Pappin popped a lovely ball for the
hard-charging Matt Smit who crashed over to open the scoring for Easts.

Brothers iced the game with the next two tries of the increasingly error-riddled contest
before Smith claimed a double in the dying minutes with a left-foot cross-kick off the ground
from co-captain Will Sankey – his third kick of the day – finding the inside centre out wide.