Article/Images: Dan Elsom & @shotbyturner

Round three saw Bond University suffer their first defeat of the year, going down by a point to GPS, while Easts maintained their undefeated run to hold onto top spot on the ladder.

Norths ran in an impressive eight tries at home to get the better of University of Queensland, while Wests beat Sunnybank in a mid-table clash to climb above them into fifth place.

Easts 40-29 Souths

Easts proved too strong for a visiting Souths at David Wilson Field, maintaining their undefeated record to sit top of the table after three rounds.

The home side’s trademark rolling maul proved damaging in the first half with three back-to-back tries coming from their dominant lineout.

Despite struggling at set piece, Souths showed glimpses of promising attack and were finally rewarded when a cross-field from flyhalf Harry Leerentveld found his winger diving into the left corner for their solitary score of the half.

The second 40 started much the same as the first, with Easts carrying hard in midfield through their forward pack, before outside centre Matthew Smit took two defenders over the line with him to secure his side’s bonus-point try.

Souths responded with their own maul minutes later, which was pulled down just short of the line, only for scrum half Rourke Symons to place the ball centimetres ahead of him and steal five points.

But Easts hit back once again through the middle, eventually unlocking the defence through no.8 James Livingstone from close range.

Two more tries to the visitors brought them back within nine points with 10 minutes left to play, before a breakout score for Timoci Naivaluwaqa secured it for the Tigers.

Souths had final say on the scoreboard with a try on the left wing, but it wasn’t enough to nab a second losing bonus point. The Magpies still sit bottom of the ladder, with just two points at the end of round three.

Norths 54-32 University of Queensland

Norths made it two on the bounce as they ran in eight tries at Hugh Courtney Oval, proving too strong for University of Queensland despite a second-half slump.

The Red Heavies picked up first points of the day with a penalty goal in the opening minutes, before the Eagles opened the flood gates with five tries in the first half.

A break down the left wing by Ryan Heaton made way for Will McCulloch to cross for Norths’ first, before fly half Ben Mooney cut through a hole made by some very direct phase play from his forward pack.

Tries to Mosiah Christian and Mackenzie Fox followed soon after, along with a penalty to Mooney, giving the home side an early bonus point and a 27-3 lead with less than 30 minutes played.

Fox crossed again for Norths’ fifth, then UQ finally found some reprieve through their rolling maul to make it 32-8 as they went to the half time break.

It was a very different Red Heavies side which came out of the sheds, as they opened the half with two tries through their outside backs and looked as though they may be on to mount a comeback.

But it wasn’t to be, as the Eagles’ second-half slump ended with a close-range score, quickly followed by undoubtedly the try of the day.

Attacking from deep within their own half, space on the left wing saw Mooney make a break towards halfway, as the ball made its way through two more sets of hands before finding openside flanker Charlie Cooke who delivered a huge fend on the covering fullback for a clean run to the line.

That score put the game out of reach for the visitors, who despite crossing twice more, couldn’t recover from the wave of points they endured in the first half.

A final try on the buzzer sealed it for the home side to show a huge improvement from round one, where they found themselves on the opposite end of a very similar score line.

GPS 25-24 Bond University 

In the upset of the round, the eighth-placed GPS knocked off reigning champions Bond University on their own turf, surviving a late surge to hold out for their first win of the 2026 season.

The Gallopers jumped fast out of the gates at The Canal, pressuring a scrambling Bond attack as a clearance kick from Ethan Morgan was charged down, which saw GPS steal the ball on the line and power over for the first try.

Bond opened their scoring after 10 minutes through Ryan McGloin who found space on the right wing, but GPS held the ascendancy for the majority of the half.

Their second try went to star performer Oskar Enasio, who beat one and carried another two defenders over the line for his third try in two weeks.

Enasio’s celebrations were short-lived, however, as he found himself in the sin bin for a high shot just before the half time break, with his side leading 15-7.

The Gallopers started the half strongly again, as a perfectly-weighted kick from Ben Johnston found its way to James Martens who crossed in the first phase at scrum time.

But the Bull Sharks were never going to stay quiet forever, with three tries in the final 20 minutes to keep them close on the heels of their opponents.

A penalty to GPS kept them a point ahead with a minute to play after Bond’s last try.

The home side were looking dangerous in attack in the dying stages and threatened to open up GPS once more, but heavy pressure at the breakdown by openside Lachlan Howse saw the visitors awarded a penalty to seal the win.

The first victory of the year for GPS saw them move into seventh place, while two losing bonus points meant Bond University also climbed the ladder into second.

Wests 29-19 Sunnybank 

Wests took five points home after a trip to Sunnybank in round three, dominating the attack in the second half for their first win of the season.

Sustained pressure from the visitors was eventually rewarded when their rolling maul marched its way over from 10 metres out to opening the scoring.

Then it was Sunnybank who hit back with their own maul, as Joshua Mahinaa rode the wave to the try line.

Wests scored their second with Jiale Litidamu going over untouched following a textbook play from a scrum deep in the Dragons’ half.

The visitors would have had a third had it not been for incredible cover defence from Sunnybank flanker Joseph Faulalo, who chased down Wests winger Ben Navosailagi and forced the turnover.

Wests took to the sheds leading by 3 points, but it was anyone’s game for the taking at the half time stoppage.

Sunnybank wasted no time when play restarted, with an up and under box kick from Taisei Higuchi finding its way to Kiyan Gunewardene to regather just inside his own half and beat everyone to the line for the Dragons’ first try of the half.

Wests responded through Alosio Bera minutes later, only for the decision to be overturned and the try scorer penalised for a push in the back.

But it wasn’t long before the Bulldogs regained the lead, scoring twice through their rolling maul with little response from the home side.

Sunnybank would cross their line once more before the clock wound down, but another try to Wests as their rolling maul marched 20 metres down field put the final nail in the coffin.

That last score crucially denied Sunnybank a losing bonus point, seeing Wests leapfrog them into fifth place on the ladder.