It’s hard to believe, I know, but this Sunday is the first week of finals and marks just a fortnight of club footy left this year.

Our four finals sides are locked in – have been since round 17 – and we know who will face who in the major and minor semi-finals.

To wet the appetite for Sunday’s semis, we’re going to release a little preview of each side over the course of the week.

A slow, tantalising build-up to a HUGE double header at Ballymore.

Next in line, Easts Tigers.

Ladder position: Third

Number of wins: 10

Last five games: LWWWL

The Tigers really came roaring back to life in 2018. They haven’t feature in the finals since they went down in the 2015 Grand Final to Souths, which is ironically the side they play on Sunday.

Apart from one loss to Bond in Round 13, the Tigers recorded five victories in the rest of their matches against the five sides who didn’t make this year’s finals series – a sure sign they have earned their spot in the top four.

The one thing that will have them nervous however, is their lack of wins against fellow top four sides: double losses to both Souths and GPS, and a defeat to UQ (they did get one over the Red Heavies, but I’ll get to that shortly).

Where has the resurgence come from? A lot can be put down to having a few key members on a consistent basis. Andrew Ready’s unlucky season with the Reds has been to the Tigers’ benefit; and the rise of young fly-half, Jack Frampton from fifth grade last year to starting fly-half for Premier Grade has been special.

Key moment this season:

I said I’d get to it later… and now it’s later.

Hard to go past the Tigers’ mauling of the Students (that sounds like a field trip to the zoo gone wrong) as Easts’ key moment this year

It was in round 10, and it wasn’t just a win, it was beyond bonus point territory for UQ.

Up until that point, Easts were doing quite well, but they had only knocked off the “also-rans” of the competition. A narrow loss to UQ in round one, and two pretty resounding losses to Souths and GPS left question marks hanging over their season.

Then bam! They became premiership contenders with a 37-28 victory of Uni on Ladies Day at Bottomley Park. Much like how the victory GPS recorded over Souths in round 7 was their turning point, I think this win gave the Tiges the confidence boost they needed. (Ironically they lost two of their next three, but… semantics)

Key player: 

No doubt having Andrew Ready back has been great, but I think he’s just been pipped by the return of centre and captain, Matt Gordon.

A talisman in the midfield, the NRC representative has provide some much needed starch and punch in the backline and can carry like an extra forward. His experience has also been invaluable outside the junior playmaking duo of Frampton and halfback Phoenix Hunt.

If the Tigers are to go deep into August, Gordon will need to be on fire.