After a disappointing start to the season, a few hard truths and some tough conversations amongst the young squad at Easts has helped the Tigers turn their season on its head. 

On the back of three straight wins, Easts are full of confidence heading into Saturday’s showdown against Wests at David Wilson Field. 

“I think it came down to us getting us right,” skipper Eli Pilz told Rugby News. 

“We had to have a few hard conversations earlier this year, particularly after the loss to Brothers.

“Against Jeeps, we fell away as well but we were in the match in the first half. Whereas against Brothers, we were just blown off the park and completely missed our mark.

“We had a few tough conversations and I think everyone understood what was expected of them after that.”

27-year old Pilz and teammates Matt Smit and Jack Frampton are the ‘old heads’ in a new look Easts squad filled with a number of players in their first season of Premier Rugby. 

“The Brothers loss was probably a bit of a reality check for some of the young guys,” Pilz said.  

“That opened their eyes a bit to what it takes to compete week in week out and how good teams in this competition can be when they’re on. 

“We turned up to training that following Tuesday and the intensity and the intent in everything we did was completely different.”

Easts were winless after the first month of the season but beat UQ and Sunnybank to get their season back on track, then scored on the buzzer to beat Bond last weekend and leapfrog the Bull Sharks on a congested Hospital Cup ladder. 

Pilz said his side’s ability to problem solve on the go has been the biggest difference in recent weeks. 

“You’ve got to react each week to how each referee is managing each match and you’ve also got to react to how teams are defending and then problem solve on the go to find solutions or different ways of doing things,” the experienced No.9 explained. 

“Against Bond, we got a penalty with 10 minutes to go and kicked for a lineout. We had a few new guys on the field and completely missed the hit on our maul, then got pushed back at scrum time a few minutes later. 

“But we changed a few things on the run and then backed our maul in the 80th minute with the game on the line and it paid off.”

Despite their recent run of wins, Pilz said the Tigers will need to go to another level this weekend when they host last year’s grand finalists Wests. 

“I think it’s something like our last six or seven matches have been decided by a try or less so we know it’s going to be a long slog across the 80 minutes. 

“We’ve just got to play our game though and focus on what we’ve been doing well. If we play with intent and limit our errors, I think we’ll be right in it.”

If Easts can beat Wests, who struggled against Brothers in a grand final rematch last Saturday, the Tigers will sit just one win outside of the top four heading towards the halfway point of the regular season. 

Pilz said this was one of the tightest competition he’s played in but said he’s confident his side is on the right trajectory. 

“We’re competing to win the comp this year and we’ll never aim for anything less. I think that belief is starting to grow across the group now,” he said. 

“A few of us had that belief all along, but it might have taken some of the younger guys a little while to realise that we’ve got the ability to go toe to toe with the best.

“There aren’t any easy beats this year so you’ve got to turn up every week and we’re working hard to remind ourselves of that at every opportunity.”

In the rounds other matches, Brothers host Norths, Sunnybank take on UQ and Souths host Bond.