After breaking through for a crucial win over UQ last weekend, Easts’ centre Matt Smit has opened up on his new role at home and at the rugby club. 

Smith scored a try in the Tigers’ 24-19 win over the Students on Saturday and said he’s thriving in his new role as one of the “dads” of the new look Tiger Cubs. 

“I’m only 27 but Pillzy (Eli Pilz), Jack Frampton and I are the eldest in the squad. We don’t feel old but the next closest is only 22, so we’re at pretty different points in our lives,” Smit told Rugby News. 

“Pillzy and I both had newborns last year and have our hands full with that, then we turn up to training on Tuesday and Thursday night with a bunch of 22-year olds whose biggest concern is their next gym session or what they are doing on the weekend. 

“I’m really enjoying it though. Sharing some of the leadership duties with Pillzy, we’re trying to work really closely with the younger guys to show them what it takes to compete week in, week out and I think we’re getting closer to it.”

Easts faced arguably the toughest start to the season of any Hospital Cup side, meeting GPS, Brothers and Souths in their opening three rounds. 

But Smit said his young side learnt a lot from their baptism of fire and seemed confident the young group had more upside than any rival in the competition. 

“A lot of our guys made their debuts in round one and I think it probably took us a few weeks to realise the standard we need to play at to compete at this level,” he said. 

“Against UQ, We played at that first grade intensity for longer periods of time, whereas in previous weeks we only managed to do that for short periods. 

“We had lapses that really cost us in those games but you only learn that through experience and I think our young guys realise that now.

“If you look at the rest of this season, we’re only going to get better week on week and that’s exciting.” 

Easts’ forwards produced their best performance of the year and dominated the Students at scrum and maul time at different stages of the match. 

“Having Massimo De Lutiis back playing consistently has been great. He’s coming back from injury but it’s been great to see him play a few back to back games. 

“Tommy Fowler has also been immense for us. He’s worked his backside off on his set piece and has been fantastic so far this year.

“The guy that has probably impressed me the most in the backs has been Dougal Gray. He’s been playing out of position on the wing, but defensively, he’s been fantastic and when he gets his opportunity to carry, he makes a big impact. 

“Gussy Godwin made his debut on the wing and did a fantastic job. He defended at No.10 and made all his tackles and then took a pretty important intercept which swung momentum in our favour. 

“He ended up on a treadmill and got caught, which was surprising considering how quick he is and we’ll be giving him plenty about that during the week.”

On Saturday, Easts travel to play a Sunnybank side who were beaten by Brothers 55-33 in round five but sit just one win outside of the top four. 

Despite that, Smit said he’s confident his side can register back to back wins this weekend. 

“If we look after our set piece and value the ball, then I think we’ve got a team and a game plan that can challenge every side in the competition,” the centre said. 

“Against Sunnybank, we’ve just got to stick to our game plan and stop them from getting too much momentum. 

“I haven’t watched a heap of them this year to be honest, but it’s always a tough game out at Sunnybank. They always have plenty of support and seem to grow another leg when they play at home so it’ll be tough but I think we’ll be up for it.”

In other round five results, Bond defeated GPS 26-17 and Wests were too good for Norths 51-26.