By Michael Atkinson

The home and away rounds of the 2018 Hospital Challenge Cup have come to an end and our finalists are confirmed. Here’s how the last weekend of regular footy panned out.

Triple M Match of the Round – UQ 33 def Souths 14

UQ never looked like losing this one.

The Red Heavies got their noses in front with the first try of the day in the 13th minute and reinforced what we all know – they’re virtually impossible to run down.

Despite a star studded line up, the Magpies couldn’t finish their resurgent season on a high in front of their burgeoning home crowd.

As expected, there was some superb footy played in this game, but it’d be disappointing if there wasn’t, given the calibre of people on the paddock.

In the black and white were internationals Quade Cooper and Karmichael Hunt as well as former England hooker, Daivid Paice, who played front the bench. Throw in the likes of Super Rugby stars Richard Kingi, Jayden Ngamanu and Teti Tela… it’s a pretty handy football side.

But they were more than matched by the men in red: Angus Scott-Young, Tate McDermott, Scott Gale, Harry Hockings, Adam Korczyk; Aussie Sevens star Con Foley; and former Ireland prop, Tom Court.

It was like watching Brisbane club rugby in the ‘90s!

If you want to watch it again, or for the first time, this match will be replayed on Fox Sports on Wednesay at 5pm.

GPS 39 def Easts 5

The Gallopers were coming off a hiding at the hands of UQ and were desperate to prove their finals credentials.

They did that emphatically, putting the Tigers to the sword to maintain a top two finish.

Bolstered by the return of the Smith Twins – JP and Ruan – GPS were simply too strong for Easts at Yoku Road. The early exchanges were tight, but once Jeeps got on the scoreboard, the flood gates opened.

The poor Tigers didn’t get any points until very late in the game, with the home side already up 39-zip.

It’s a good confidence booster for the Gallopers heading into a big challenge against UQ in the Major semi this week; while Easts will need to find some improvement before tackling Souths in the elimination semi.

Bond 38 def Norths 33

Bond were made to work for this one, but they proved why they can be considered unlucky to miss out on a finals spot in 2018.

The Gold Coast lads looked like they were going to have an easy afternoon, skipping out to an early 12-nil lead, but Norths have been big improvers this season and fought their way back to hold the lead, 14-12 at half time.

It went blow for blow in the second term, until Bond broke the pattern with back to back tries. Tai Ford was instrumental for the Bull Sharks, as he has been all year, and will be a strong contender for the Alec Evans Medal for Player of the Season.

Brothers 26 def Wests 16

Nothing but pride to play for on Saturday for these two sides, but that doesn’t mean there was no feeling in the game.

It was “Old Dogs Day” at Sylvan Road, and the Pilecki-Shaw Trophy was up for grabs.

Wests haven’t been the same team this year, after making the finals in 2017, and sadly, they were outdone by a young, enthusiastic Brothers side who are also going through a rebuilding period.

Wests took whatever points were on offer early, kicking two penalties for a 6-nil lead, but the Brethren wrestled back the ascendency before half time with two tries.

They continued after the break, before a piece of individual brilliance from fullback Byron Hutchinson gave the Doggies a sniff. The lanky outside back  went 100 metres and left  a handful of defenders lying in his wake to make it a 19-11 ball game.

Unfortunately for Doggies fans though, the big fulla was still trying to catch his breath when he attempted the conversion, and it sailed wide.

Brothers were next to score and the deficit was too big for the Dogs to bite back.

Tony Shaw would have been proud, and although Stan Pilecki would have enjoyed a good day of rugby, he probably would’ve given his old club a bit of a roasting.