By Finn Morton; Photo – Brendan Hertel/QRU Media 

Easts come into the 2019 finals series on the back of a strong run of form, winning four of their last five matches to finish the regular season in third.

Their final regular-season game was against eventual Minor Premiers Brothers in what was a dramatic loss at home. The Filth kicked a penalty late, which saw them win 23-20.

But Tigers Captain Tom Milosevic is taking plenty of positives out of the close loss, seeing it as an indication of their competitiveness heading into finals.

“Our final game of the season was a great indicator of where we are currently sitting amongst the other finalists,” said Milosevic.

“Losing that game highlighted a couple of areas we need to improve on going forward and I believe we have addressed those issues at training this week. Despite the loss, we still have full confidence.

“Game management is our biggest work on coming into finals. We have a couple of new combinations in the backline due to injuries so the boys were just working out each other’s styles.”

Milosevic is confident heading into the Minor Semi-Final, stating that Easts are “as motivated as a team playing a knockout” can be.

The Tigers have beaten both Jeeps and UQ this season, and while they haven’t beaten Brothers yet, the round 18 loss continues to show that they can trouble the other finalists.

“I don’t think we have to prove to anyone else in the competition that we pose a real threat in the final series. I believe our record against Jeeps, UQ and Brothers this season tells them and everyone else this will be an exciting couple of weeks.

“Finals are definitely a beast on their own. They’re do or die and the same opportunities don’t arise as they would in a regular-season game.

“You really need to capitalise when you can because second chances are rare. I think regular-season form is the best indicator of who will make the top four though momentum in the back half of the season is extremely important.”

But before the Tigers consider playing either Jeeps or Brothers in a weeks’ time, they first have to get over UQ.

While the Student’s have won six of their last seven, the Tigers are on an impressive run of their own which has Milosevic excited for what promises to be a great match on Sunday.

“Any team that has won six from their last seven are going to be full of confidence and that’s a dangerous thing to come up against during finals.

“The ability to grind out a win means a team is willing to play the full eighty minutes and you can’t win a final without going the distance.

“They are a good side and have a few strengths that we will be wary of but if you look at our form this season you’ll see that we aren’t afraid to grind out a win either.”

The Tigers will take on UQ in the Minor Semi-Final, with the winner progressing and the loser going home. The match will kick off at the late time of 5:15 pm on Sunday at Ballymore.

Premier Grade fans can enjoy an afternoon of finals action with the Major Semi-Final between Minor Premiers Brothers and defending-champions Jeeps kicking off at 3:05 pm.