By Adam Sheldon

Wests appear to have put their early-season struggles well and truly behind them, recording a commanding 45-19 away win over Norths – their third straight empathic Hospital Cup victory. 

Wests – the beaten side in the competition’s last two grand finals – had a rocky start to their 2025 campaign, losing four out of their first five fixtures. With wins over Sunnybank (26-43) and GPS (53-5) proceeding the Norths victory, Elwee Prinsloo’s side has gotten its season back on track.

And while Prinsloo said he was never too worried about his team’s start to the season, he admitted he was happy they were starting to find some form.

“It’s good to see the boys building momentum,” Prinsloo told Rugby News.

“We’ve done some good things, and some not good things. But overall, I am happy with the progress.” 

Asked what the tactics were to stop a dangerous Norths outfit, Prinsloo said he wasn’t focusing on opposition teams at this stage of the season. 

“It’s just focusing on us,” he said. 

“If you concede 13 to 18 penalties, like we’ve had in the in the first few rounds, you’re just not going to win games. You put that with 15 unforced errors, average a game, you’re giving opposition teams 30 opportunities to attack you.

“I think some of those areas we’ve just started fixing up a little bit, looking after the ball and using it a little bit better. So, yeah, the outcomes, are just on the back of that.”

With Prinsloo handing debuts to 19 players this year, he believed the fresh faces were starting to gel with the established players and his coaching methods.

“We’ve had 19 debutants this season, so it’s been a real process of building cohesion and connections,” he said. 

“They are all coming from different walks of life and different competitions. It takes time for people to buy into how we want to play, and for us to understand the difference between this group and last season’s group. It takes three or four rounds to settle in to the competition. 

“A few things have starting clicking with the boys and they are building some confidence and momentum.

Despite flirting among the cellar-dwellers of the competition for the first month of the season, Wests turnaround in form means they are in third place, with the second-best points differential. 

Prinsloo said his players had worked hard over the last few months, and he was looking forward to Wests’ bye round this weekend. 

“There’s a few banged-up bodies, Angelo Smith got pulled off early – it was nothing serious, but we have had a hard run and the boys have been training hard,” Prinsloo said. 

“I was really impressed with the weeks when we didn’t get the result.The boys came back and worked hard and mentally ripped in. They are really keen to get better. It will be pretty good to have a week where we can manage the loads and have a breather.”

Elsewhere in the competition, last-placed Sunnybank almost completed the boilover of the season so far against ladder-leaders Easts, with Tigers captain Eli Pilz scoring an 80^th minute try – and kicking the resulting conversion – to ensure his team defeated the hosts 38-36 to stay unbeaten this year. 

“For Easts to kick it over at the death, it’s the sign of a good team – a day where you don’t play well and win is promising for them,” Prinsloo said. 

Wrapping up the weekend’s results, Brothers overcame UQ at home, 31-20, and Bond recorded an important away win against GPS, 31-24.

Bond’s win propels the side to fourth on the ladder, with Prinsloo full of praise for Mick Heenan’s side. 

“I see Bond as a pretty big threat. They are really fit and they play quick rugby – I expected them to win that game,” he said. 

Souths had the bye.