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.

“It’s meant we haven’t had much consistency in selection, I don’t think we’ve had the same 15 on the paddock in consecutive games yet.

“That’s great in a way because it means guys in other grades, who are all really good players, get experience in the top grade but it does impact cohesion, and things haven’t clicked just yet.”

It’s not panic stations yet though, there’s still 11 regular season rounds to play and the Tigers are only a couple of wins outside the finals frame as it stands.

But, Milosevic conceded, if his troops want to feature at the business end – and that is still the goal – they will need to put it together sooner rather than later.

“The thing is, if you came to one of our training sessions I don’t think you’d know we haven’t won a game yet – everyone’s still enjoying it, there’s smiles on faces,” he said.

“The end goal is always a premiership, it is for every side, but where we are now we’re definitely still aiming to make the finals and then hopefully play some good rugby if we get there.

“We’ve got Norths this weekend and that will be the end of our first round of games with a bye after that, so it would be good to get that first win this weekend.”

Norths are one of two other sides deadlocked with Easts on just five competition points, Sunnybank is the other, so results would suggest Saturday’s clash is a huge opportunity for the Tigers.

Results don’t always tell the full story though, in an incredibly close competition both outfits have matched it with the best. 

Undefeated competition leaders University of Queensland have been the only side to genuinely blow either outfit out.

“Brothers put some points on towards the end of our game, but outside that and UQ we’ve been right in a lot of games, it’s just been a few small things,” Milosevic said.

“We need to be a bit more patient in both defence and attack, for a start, that would go a long way to helping us finish things off and get some consistency.”