By Liam Cook

Easts’ No.9 Eli Pilz says his side won’t relent in their quest for a final’s birth despite the Tiger’s destiny being largely out of their hands.

“We’ve got two games left, Brothers, bye, and Bond, so the ultimate goal is two from two,” Pilz told Rugby News.

“Super tight competition this year and we’d probably rather it be in our own hands at the moment.”

Despite currently sitting in sixth position, only three points separates Easts and their round sixteen, third placed opponent Brothers.

The Tiger’s valiantly fought back against UQ at St Lucia last week but ultimately fell short in a contest they could ill-afford to lose.

Pilz says his side was bitterly disappointed with the result despite the character they displayed in the second stanza.

“Our performance wasn’t really anywhere near where we believe we should be and everything UQ did we spoke about during the week so there no real surprises there.”

“It was just that twenty-minute lapse before half-time that we struggled with.

“In saying that I think given how off we were just our fight to stay in it and only go down by one point with a chance to win on full-time speaks volumes about our team.”

The Tiger’s lament over the loss to UQ is now heightened by the fact that they will now need to rely upon others to decide their fate.

“Dropping that game on the weekend means we might have to rely on a result or two as well as win our next two games.”

Easts will need to harness all of their fight against Brothers this weekend to stay alive in season 2022.

“We were really unhappy with some areas in our game that we addressed last night in the review (Monday) and we took a few learnings out of it.”

“This week it’s just about sticking to our gameplan and doing what we know has worked for us.”

The No.9 says this season has been a familiar tale for the resilient Easts in recent years.

“The last couple of years we’ve had slow starts that have come back to hurt us.”

“I think it speaks volume about our team and the character we have that we’ve dropped a few games but we’re still in the race.”

Like his team, Pilz too had a slow start to this year as injury yet again prevented him from enduring a full season from start to finish.

“Ever since school I’ve had a fair few injuries through the years that have kept me out.”

“For me now it’s about staying on the park and enjoying my footy and getting back to the simple things.”

The accomplished scrumhalf has been pivotal to reversing Easts’ sluggish start to the season.

He says footy has been as enjoyable for ever, particularly under a new coaching structure at Bottomley Park led by Ben Mowen.

“I personally believe when you’re enjoying it you’re always playing better as well… I’ve really been enjoying it.”

“He’s (Mowen) been awesome with the professionalism he’s brought into the program and a good plan.

“He’s bringing really good coaches in like Simon Craig our forwards and contact coach and Paul Warwick as backs and attack.

“I think personally it’s probably one of the better coaching groups in the country let alone club rugby.”

Pilz hasn’t been alone in producing stellar form for the Tigers this year.

“It’s been a really impressive year from the likes of Alex Smit, who spent the majority of last year out with a hamstring and put on twenty kilos but has come back and been dominating,” he said.

“Jake Pappin has shown he’s getting better and better and more comfortable each week in his first full year of premier grade footy.

“We’ve got a really good mix of young and old now… everyone’s doing their job.”

Whilst the gifted scrumhalf believes the tight race for finals footy is great for the competition as a whole, the tussle for the final spots isn’t doing Easts any favours.

Easts need to produce more complete performances to be worthy of competing in September action, according to Pilz.

“It’s about putting together an eighty-minute performance because I don’t think we have put a full eighty-minute performance together yet.”