After a relatively slow start to the season, Eastwood appear to be hitting their straps at the right time of the year and have been relabelled Intrust Shute Shield competition favourites after an impressive 19-6 victory over Sydney Uni.

Despite sitting comfortably in the top six for most the season, the defending premiers struggled to find their best throughout the opening half of the season, but returned to form with a gritty win in the wet at TG Millner.

“We were very happy, I think we played to the conditions quite well,” Eastwood coach Stu Woodhouse told Rugby News.

“Although it was windy and wet, the ball wasn’t unplayable so we were able to play quite a bit and didn’t have to revert to one pass rugby.”

Playing into the wind, the Woodies trailed 6-0 at half time but crossed twice after the break to move within one competition point of top spot.

“The plan was to minimise the damage in the first half and I think we did that. We chose to run into the wind in the first half because that’s the way we prefer to play so I was pleased that we were strong after the break.”

“Even though we had the wind behind us, we still needed to execute our set piece and be smart with the ball and I think we did that quite well,” the coach added.

Woodhouse took over the reigns from John Manenti at the start of the year and inherited a new look Eastwood side, featuring just five players from last year’s premiership winning team.

Although Manenti remains at the club as coaching director, Woodhouse admitted it has taken his side some time to click this year but is confident the defending premiers are heading in the right direction.

“I still think we’ve got a lot of improvement in us but we are getting better each week. I think the attack is coming along quite well, but we are leaking too many points at the moment. Last week was a step in the right direction but we need to back it up,” Woodhouse said.

“I know it’s a dreadful cliche but we aren’t looking too far ahead. We’ve got a lot of young guys and we are still making a lot of mistakes so there is a lot to improve.

“We didn’t set our expectations too high at the start of the year because we’ve only got a handful of guys back from last year’s grand final. At the moment, we aren’t looking at the end of the year. We set ourselves goals for each three round block and lately we’ve been reaching most of them.”

Eastwood lost a handful of their biggest names after winning their second straight premiership last year, however Woodhouse said the new faces were quickly filling the void.

“I think our No.8 George Kent has really stood up and played well and that has helped us replace Hugh Perrett in the backrow. Cohen Masson is another that has been strong (at No.7). We’ve never focussed too much on the ball at the breakdown, usually we try and take the space but Cohen is a genuine pilferer and has been strong at that role.

“Then we’ve had Jerome MacKenzie and Johnathan Malo join the group in the backs and it has taken them a bit of time to find their feet but they’re starting to show what they can do now.”

Despite Saturday’s win, Woodhouse said he still thinks Sydney Uni are the competition frontrunners before adding that he thought a handful of teams are good enough to be premiers.

“What I like about Uni this year is that they seem to be a lot more willing to attack. They may have played a bit too wide in the wet last week, but I’ve watched enough of them to realise that they are a real threat.

“Randwick have also been really strong but the competition as a whole is very even.

“In saying that, there hasn’t been anyone that we’ve played yet that I thought were clearly ahead of us. I think we are all in the mix at the moment.”

Eastwood face Southern Districts in another top three showdown this weekend.

“They’ve got some real threats. I worked with Dewet Roos at the Rams and he’s a great halfback and their forward pack is very good, one of the best in the comp.

“Souths at Souths is always a very tough game and traditionally we’ve struggled at Forshaw. No matter how well we are travelling, we always find it tough to win there.”