BY GREG DAVIS

IT is OK to be sad that the season is over. But also be proud of how far the Stara Easts Tigers
came in 2025 and the joy they gave the blue-and-gold faithful along the way.

The Tigers’ Hospital Cup tilt finished one game shy of the Ballymore big dance when a
rampant Bond University blitzed their way to a 47-14 victory over Easts in the preliminary
final at Bottomley Park on Sunday.

Bond will now take on Brothers in the 2025 showpiece at QRU headquarters this coming
Sunday and will take some beating in the decider having compiled an ominous for-and-
against of 81-14 in two finals in the past fortnight.

After their stunning 34-0 win over Wests in the minor semi-final the week before, the Mick
Heenan-coached Bull Sharks packed a truckload of confidence and momentum for the trip
up the M1.

And they essentially picked up where they left off as they put the Tigers – who had a perfect
eight wins from eight matches at David Wilson Field in 2025 – to the sword early and
emphatically.

Three tries in the first 13 minutes handed Bond a commanding 21-0 buffer with the Tigers
barely touching the ball in the opening salvos.

However, Easts stemmed the flow and swung the momentum their way and hit back
through lock Charlie Scott in the 24 th minute.

The home side enjoyed good field position and a lion’s share of possession and the
sustained pressure eventually paid dividends with Scott charging on to a delightful pop pass
from co-captain Eli Pilz and crashing through the Bond defence.

Given the early onslaught, to only be 14 points down with 55 minutes left to play was a
credit to Easts who looked back in the contest.

Bond were reduced to 14 men soon after following a yellow card for repeated infringements
and the Tigers went on the attack again only for the Bull Sharks to force a turnover and
score against the run of play for a 28-7 lead.

A dropped ball from a sweeping Easts backline move fell into the hands of the Bull Sharks in
the 38 th minute and the ensuing runaway try handed the visitors a stunning 35-7 advantage
at the break.

Easts threw everything at Bond after the resumption of play with powerhouse no.8 Nuku
Swerling injected into the match off the bench. Swerling, Alex Smit and Will Sankey did their
best to turn the tide with some crunching defence while the Tigers upped the tempo with
ball in hand.

But the stifling Bond defence held firm and their ability to quickly counter-attack from
anywhere on the field handed them two more tries and a 47-7 lead with 25 minutes to play.

The Tigers scored from the kick-off through winger BJ Oates after a Bond error but they
were unable to hit the scoreboard again as they battled manfully in the final 20 minutes of
the 2025 campaign.

As disappointing as the result from the preliminary final was, the bigger picture of the 2025
season in totality should be cause for great optimism.

After the struggles of 2024, Bottomley Park was buzzing again after the Tigers opened the
season with a nine-match winning streak on the way to a top two finish on the ladder with a
total of seven teams across the club qualifying for the finals.

A host of young Tigers earned their first grade stripes as injuries took their toll at the back
end of the season and opportunities to blood local youngsters arose. And there will be more
Easts products making their way into senior football with Colts 1 and Colts 2 both in grand
finals this weekend.

The hard lessons learned in the two finals losses to Brothers and Bond will also be invaluable
and fortifying for the first grade side moving forward with Tigers great Mosese Rauluni
taking the reins as General Manager following on from the stellar work done by Japan-
bound Tony McGahan in his short but highly successful tenure at the Tigerland helm.

Chins up Tigers.