Bond University have become the dark horse of this year’s Hospital Cup finals series, surging into a preliminary final against Easts on the back of seven straight competition wins.

The Bull Sharks stunned Wests 34–0 in last week’s knockout minor semi-final, ending the Bulldogs’ 11-match winning streak and proving they are far more than rank outsiders.

Despite starting the finals from fourth spot, Bond coach Mick Heenan is now just two wins away from sealing one of the most famous Hospital Cup seasons in his club’s history.

“The reality is, we are one of three teams that can win the competition,” Heenan told Rugby News.

But to reach the grand final – against Brothers in a fortnight – Bond must pull off another minor miracle: beating an Easts side which topped the ladder for most of the season, and who beat the Bull Sharks in both fixtures this year.

“The last game we lost was to Easts, so we’re not pretending it’s going to be anything but a really tough challenge for us,” Heenan said.

“But of course we’ve been building confidence as we’ve stuck the wins up. We’re just now facing Easts, and we know it’s going to be a hostile place to go and play footy, but we’re looking forward to it.”

Asked what the game plan was for breaking down a disciplined Tigers side which rely heavily on set piece, Heenan was clear.

“They’re a hard team to break down. They make it really difficult to get into any rhythm, and they know their own game pretty well,” he said.

“We’ve got to muscle up in the contact zone. They rely on their scrum and maul, and they rely on putting pressure on you and forcing you into error. So, you’ve got to have your own game in order to play well against them.

“You’ve also got to put pressure on Eli Pilz at nine and be really clean when you’re receiving kicks and getting out of your own area. If you can do all that, you can certainly put them under pressure as well.”

While Bond approach the clash riding a wave of momentum, Easts – despite suffering a 10-point defeat to Brothers in last week’s major semi-final – go into the game knowing their calculated brand of football has yielded results all season.

“In terms of the Brothers game, there was three points in it with one minute to go. We had our opportunities, but we just weren’t clinical enough at the right moments, and they were,” Easts head coach Simon Craig said.

“But you play those big games, and as a group – coaches and players – you learn, and we learnt a lot from that game.

“Our view is to focus on our job this weekend against Bond, who are going to be very difficult. They’ve got a lot of momentum in their side. If we can get the job done there, I think we can beat Brothers.”

Craig said while Bond’s winning run would give them confidence, it also came with pressure.

“There’s no doubt they’ve got a lot of momentum on their side, and that will instil them with confidence, as it should,” Craig said.

“But when we had our winning run during the year, I knew the loss was going to come. It has to, and in the back of their mind they’ll know that the loss is going to come as well at some point. Is it this weekend?

“Well, for us, I hope it is. It’s hard to keep winning. It becomes tiring and nerve-wracking as well. So, we’ll see what happens.”

Asked if he was happy to be playing Bond instead of Wests, Craig believed Bond’s victory was good for the competition.

“Playing Bond, mate, look, to be honest, I think it’s great for the competition, because Bond are a real club like everybody else,” he said.

“They don’t buy players in. Wests do, and it backfired on them.”