Easts go south in Battle of the Compass with Wests
To paraphrase the late, great US singer Meat Loaf, “don’t feel sad, nine out of 10 ain’t bad.’’
The Stara Easts Tigers suffered their first defeat in the StoreLocal Hospital Cup since 10 August 2024 when they fell to a 46-29 loss at the hands of Wests at Sci-Fleet Stadium in Round 11.
The nine-game winning streak to open the 2025 title tilt came to an abrupt end for the high-flying Tigers as the Bulldogs piled on five tries after halftime to be the only team to lower Easts’ colours this season.
Easts were without injured powerhouse no.8 Nuku Swerling, lost influential fullback Meli Dreu for the second half while hardman centre Matt Smit was forced from the field after the break as the undermanned Tigers fought the good fight all day.
But they eventually succumb to the overwhelming momentum enjoyed by the home side that was bolstered by the inclusion of a number of Queensland Reds squad members while Wests wingers Ben Navosailagi and Denzel Samoa ran rampant.
The stoic and desperate defence, that has been the calling card of the Tigers, was off the boil as was the decision-making and execution in attack with uncharacteristic errors making it difficult to build the pressure that has been at the core of the nine-match winning streak.
On multiple occasions, the Tigers failed to find touch after receiving a penalty to hand the ball back to the Bulldogs on a silver platter and the tries conceded either side of halftime were critical blows to the competition leaders.
But none of the issues are terminal and no side can operate at full throttle all season so lessons will be learned and improvements will come.
If the Tigers had been told in March that they would start the season at 9-1, they would have taken it, so no panic buttons need to be pushed at all.
The Bulldogs got off to a flyer with two tries in the first 12 minutes to open up a 12-0 buffer.
The Tigers did not panic and worked their way back into the contest with Max Craig crossing for his 10th try of 2025 after another trademark Easts rolling maul.
Easts then levelled the scores through winger Gus Godwin after going wide and finding open spaces.
The Tigers surged to the lead when Godwin crossed again after the visitors chanced their arm by letting the Gilbert sing.
The Bulldogs scored in the shadows of halftime to take a slender 19-17 into the break which was a significant for the Tigers who were still in the game up to their eyeballs despite Wests dominating for large sections of the opening 40 minutes.
Wests scored just after the resumption of play and crossed two more times to open up a 36-17 advantage but the Tigers refused to quit and clawed their way back into the match.
Easts earned a penalty try in the 65th minute when the Tigers’ rolling maul was illegally dragged to the ground with the tryline looming large and co-captain Eli Pilz breathed some life back into the fixture with his 73rd minute five-pointer.
However, the Bulldogs put the game on ice with a late try to snuff out any hope of a Tiger revival similar to that seen in the last-gasp victory over Sunnybank.
The Tigers will get the chance to make amends in Round 12 when they host Bond University at Bottomley Park on 21 June.
