By Finn Morton

Easts Tigers first grade captain Matt Gordon has penned a two-year contract with English Championship side London Scottish. 

The 24-year-old Queensland Country and Brisbane City representative has admitted that a lack of opportunity in Australia has encouraged him to move abroad. 

 “I wasn’t really getting any interest here in Australia. I realised that if I was going to get any interest, it probably would’ve happened by now,” Gordon said. 

“Apart from the NRC, I realised that [Premier Grade] was probably the highest level that I could play here in Australia, which unfortunately isn’t at a professional level.

“All I want to do now is be in a professional environment. It’s a good opportunity for me to go over and train full-time, and try and develop as much as I can as a player, and see where that goes.”

But with the Premier Grade season only four rounds in, Gordon is focused on achieving the ultimate with the Tigers before his time in the Yellow and Blue is up.

He described Grand Final success as the “prefect” way to bow out of Australian Rugby. 

“It’s pretty much everything to be honest [winning the Grand Final]. Ever since we lost in 2015, there’s been a core group who for us, that’s been our goal ever year. 

“If we don’t win this year, at the end of the day, it’s a disappointment.

“The club has done so much for me, they’ve been so good to me. It’d be really nice to be part of a Premiership winning team and be etched in history at Easts forever.”

The road to Grand Final glory resumes this weekend after a one-week hiatus, as Easts face traditional rivals Souths. 

The Magpies did get the better of Easts on both occasions last season, but they’re eager to make sure that history doesn’t repeat come Saturday. 

Despite Souths sitting third from last, with only one win from four, Gordon described the fixture as Easts’ “most important game so far” as they near the mid-point in round one. 

“It can go either way. If we win, we’re three-and-one, and that would put us up pretty high on the ladder. If we lose, we go two-and-two.

“Especially hitting the mid-way mark through the first round, we definitely want to have more wins than loses. I think with momentum, if we can get one more win, that’s three in a row for us. If we have a loss this weekend coming off the Easter break, you probably lose the momentum from the two wins we had before. 

“Early wins in Premier Rugby are so important. If you get to the end of the first round and you’ve lost more games than you’ve won, it makes it very, very tough to make the finals.”

Easts host the Magpies at Bottomley Park on Saturday, kicking off at 3:20pm.