There’s no shortage of great clubs in Sydney rugby, but few are quite like Eastwood. 

While Sydney Uni have undoubtedly been the dominant force over the past 20 years, Eastwood aren’t far behind, having featured in 10 of the past 20 Shute Shield grand finals and winning on five occasions. 

In the past, they haven’t had the same resources as rival clubs but have relied on a strong junior base to prosper. 

It’s the hidden advantage that premiership winning captain Hugh Perrett thinks could be the difference for the Woodies in the coming fortnight. 

“As a young kid playing juniors, I had dreams of playing first grade for Eastwood, not the Wallabies and I think most kids down the club were the same,” he said. 

“My old man would take me to TG Milner every Saturday to watch the Woodies play and that was about as good as it got back then.”

Perrett captained Eastwood to back to back premierships in 2014 and 2015 in a side that featured his good mate and current first grade coach Ben Batger. 

“To go on and win a premiership, it’s hard to put it into words really. You put so much into it and you’ve invested so much of your life into the club so to finally win a premiership for them, it was probably the pinnacle of my career.

“To captain the side was particularly special. We were all great mates and I think I was really fortunate to be surrounded by so many good players and coaches, similar to the group this year.”

While the Woodies have recruited a number of big names in the backs, the majority of the Eastwood forward pack are local juniors. 

Perrett said he thought the club had found a good balance in 2019 but still thought Batger’s side had improvement in them. 

“They’ve had a great year but I don’t think they’ve reached their potentially yet. There are areas where they can improve. 

“It seems at times they play a good first half and then a poor second half or their good in attack then poor in defence. 

“But they’ve found a way to get over the line in a lot of games this year and they still probably haven’t played a complete 80 minutes yet and that’s exciting.”

The former backrower, who now coaches at GPS school Kings, said he’s been particularly impressed with young flanker Michael Icely, who pundits have compared to a young Perrett throughout 2019. 

“I remember watching him in second grade last year and he had a great skill set then. I’ve kept an eye on him and I really like what I see. He’s got a good knack for the game and he’s obviously thickened out this year so there’s a lot to like about him,” he said. 

“I’d love to see him get an opportunity up higher but for now hopefully he’s focussed on Eastwood and the next few weeks.”

Perrett said a star studded Sydney Uni side deserved to be competition favourites but added that the best teams on paper don’t always win games at the back end of the season. 

“Looking back on those 2014 and 2015 teams, we didn’t have the rockstars. 

“We had Hugh Roach, he was young but probably our only one but we were a champion team rather than a team of champions. 

“This current Eastwood side is pretty similar.”