After breaking a 55-year Shute Shield premiership drought, claiming the Club Championships and winning the 1st Colts, 3rd Colts and 4th Grade flags, the celebrations in the Eastern Suburbs were always going to go on for a while. 

But with the 2025 season fast approaching, it turns out they haven’t really stopped. 

“It was an awesome year last year. There was so much excitement around the club in the lead up to and after the grand final and that buzz is still around now to be honest,” first grade skipper Josh Bokser told Rugby News. 

“After we won, it probably took a few weeks to sink in properly but looking back on it now and to think that we did it, it’s a pretty cool achievement and the memory of walking into the clubhouse that night after we won is something I’ll never forget.”

Easts jumped from 10th in 2023 to premiers in 2024 in coach Ben Batger’s first year at Woollahra Oval but Bokser thinks the Beasties face arguably a tougher task in the months ahead. 

“It’s definitely going to be a bigger challenge this year, everyone’s coming for us now and we’re the ones with the target on our back. I don’t know if that’s exciting or a little nerve-racking, but it’s a reality and as a group I think we’ll be ready for the challenge.”

Easts played in six of seven grade and colts grand finals last year and have welcomed another big cohort of school leavers to the club in recent months in a worrying sign for the rest of the competition. 

“There’s definitely a huge influx of colts guys coming into grade this year but I do think there’s a big jump from colts to grade. Numbers are really strong and there’s a lot of guys who have been training well, but it’s hard to know how it all comes together until you get onto the field,” Bokser said.  

“There’s also been lots of guys that saw what happened at the club last year and have come back after a year off or two off. I think that comes from the culture we’ve built over the last season or two on and off the field, so it’s a massive positive for this year and the years ahead.”

Easts travel to Brisbane for the club’s first hit out of 2025, where they’ll face reigning Hospital Cup premiers Brothers in the Australian Club Championships. 

Last year, Brothers beat Randwick 25-18 in front of more than 4000 fans at Crosby Park and Bokser said he was looking forward to the trip up north. 

“To be honest with you, I haven’t really looked into Brothers too much. It’s an awesome opportunity for us to go up there and have a crack at the Australian Championships but we’re going to have a completely different team to what we had last year and I’m guessing they will too. 

“Regardless, it’ll be a tough hit out and it gives us a good chance to blood some young players who we’ll need to call on this season.”

Easts face Brothers in Brisbane on Saturday March 8 then open their Shute Shield campaign away against Southern Districts in the first week of April.