GPS blew Wests away in the final 15 minutes of their clash at Yoku Road on Saturday in a statement win for the previously up and down Gallopers. 

Sio Kite’s side matched last year’s grand finalists, who were undefeated through the opening five rounds, for 60 minutes, then kicked up a gear and scored three late tries to seal an impressive 36-19 victory. 

“To put it simply, the boys were just up for it,” coach Sio Kite told Rugby News. 

“We want to turn Yoku Road into a fortress and win all our games at home and they played like a side that wanted to do that on the weekend.”

Without both starting locks in Daniel Byrne and Ollie Bartlett, Kite handed the No.5 jersey to colt Stuart Tualima who was outstanding on debut and scored an intercept try on full time to seal the win to big cheers from the home side’s supporters. 

“Stuart has been playing No.8 all year in colts, so he was playing out of position in his first grade debut and really stood up,” Kite explained

“All our young guys were great. It probably gets overlooked a bit, but we’ve got a lot of guys in our side who are only a year or two out of colts and a number of them are starting to look really comfortable in first grade. 

“We’ve got a lot of experienced guys that do a big job in making sure our younger guys are preparing and performing well. They mentor the boys but they don’t baby them. They hold them to account and set a really good example for them during the week and on game day.”

Jeeps now sit third on the Hospital Cup ladder, three competition points behind Brothers in first place but seem to be growing in confidence every week. 

“With a young group, you’re never going to be perfect and guys are going to have good weeks and bad weeks,” Kite explained

“But we’re in a really fortunate position in terms of our balance across the squad which is exciting for now and for the future.

“When we get our preparation right and we stick to our game plan, we’re capable of playing some really good rugby but when we go away from that, like we did against Souths and against Bond, things can get away from us.”

The Gallopers travel to play Norths next week ahead of a bye in round eight and Kite said he’s pleased with how his side is travelling a third of the way through the regular season. 

“Wests and Brothers are still the standard but I think the gap between them and the rest of the competition has narrowed quite a bit,” Kite said. 

“Anyone can beat anyone of their day and we’ll talk a lot about that heading into Norths this weekend.”

“Norths are young but they are really well coached and they play a good brand of footy so if we don’t come prepared, they’ll rinse us.”

In other round six results, Flynn McDermott, younger brother of Tate, scored a double as UQ ran in seven tries in a dominant 50-12 win over Souths. 

Elsewhere, Easts claimed their second win in as many weeks, beating Sunnybank 35-25 and Brothers outscored Bond 38-27 in a tryfest at Crosby Park.