By Matt Findlay

Tagging Easts as a team suffering a premiership hangover would be ‘easy’, Tigers skipper Tom Milosevic said, but there’s more to the side’s winless start to the 2021 Hospitals Challenge Cup season than meets the eye.

In 2020 the Tigers claimed their first title in seven years but the defending premiers have, sensationally, suffered seven straight losses to open this season, with only bonus points keeping them from outright last.

But with player turnover after last year’s premiership compounded by early-season injuries, the Tigers have been forced to chop and change through the first seven games and lacked cohesion as a result.

“It’s been a perfect storm in a way,” Milosevic said.