The picturesque University of Queensland campus at St Lucia transformed into a grim School of Hard Knocks for the Stara Easts Tigers in the comprehensive 50-31 loss at the hands of the rampant Red Heavies in Round 14 of the StoreLocal Hospital Cup.

Easts have deservedly inhabited the rarefied air of the top of the table for a vast majority of 2025 through the combination of stoic defence and slick attack but the Tigers were found wanting on both sides of the ball against a University side that has struggled for consistency.

Coming off the bye in Round 13, the Tigers were off the boil for much of the day and were taught a rugby lesson by the Students who raced to a thumping 40-19 lead at halftime.

Easts fought the good fight after halftime to return parity to the contest and a speck of respectability to the scoreboard.

But the damage was well and truly done in the first 40 minutes when the Tigers did not resemble the same inspired and character-filled outfit that had clawed its way to an imposing 10-1 record before the bye.

The home side got off to a flyer with a try in the third minute but the Tigers – as they have done many times before in 2025 – absorbed the blow and hit back quickly.

Winger BJ Oates crossed in the eighth minute after a long ball from co-captain Eli Pilz founder the former University player in wide open spaces after a trademark rolling maul was stopped in its tracks.

The blue-and-gold machine appeared to have fully clicked into action when powerhouse no.8 Nuku Swerling crashed over soon after in his return from a hamstring issue.

The Tigers were rolling and all seemed right with the world. Normal transmission had resumed. Right?

Wrong.

Between the 15^th and 34^th minutes, University scored five rapid-fire tries to run away with the match as the Red Heavies cashed in on their dominance of field position, possession and the penalty count.

The maroon tsunami overwhelmed Easts who fell off too many tackles and were unable to build any pressure on the University defensive line in the rare attacking opportunities they did have.

Too often, indifferent decision making and poor ball handling made the Tigers their own worst enemy.

Swerling claimed his second five-pointer of the day just before the break to breathe some life into the Tiger cause but the human wrecking ball did not touch the ball enough throughout the day in an indication that Easts were unable to control possession and build the phases the way they have in 2025.

It was always going to be a bridge too far in the second half as replacements Tom Fowler and Sikeli Rabitu scored for Easts who suffered the indignity of University taking a shot at penalty goal in the dying seconds to bring up their half-century.

With two losses from their last three matches, the Tigers will be hunting an emphatic response when they host Souths at David Wilson Field in Round 15.

A victory over the Magpies is essential on two fronts – to restore confidence in the Tigers camp to start the last month of the home-and-away season with some invaluable momentum.

And secondly, to keep the surging Wests at bay after the third-placed Bulldogs beat Brothers in Round 14 to move to within just one competition point of both the Brethren and Tigers on the Hospital Cup ladder.