For the first time since 2007, the Easts Tigers will contest finals footy.
Hoping to keep their destiny in their own hands, Easts needed a win over local combatants Souths Logan to secure third position on the Intrust Super Cup table.
And while there were some shaky moments early, the Tigers put the foot to the accelerator when it counted to run away with a convincing 50-6 victory.
With all the pre-game talk centring on potential finals calculations, Easts coach Craig Ingebrigtsen said the main challenge was to keep his players' minds on the job.
We said before the match that the scenario is exactly the same as when we turned up to training on Tuesday they knew there was some heat on us today but we responded well, he said.
We were a little bit slow early, we knew Souths were going to come at us hard through the middle, so we had to withstand that early and then get on the front foot.
As has been the case in 2013, the plucky Magpies fought hard for a 6-all score midway through the first half but the Tigers pulled away towards the back-end with tries to centre pairing Shane Neumann and Junior Sa'u.
On the back of that impetus, the halftime message was simple.
We just talked about controlling the ball we knew that possession was the key to momentum, Ingebrigtsen said.
And the Tigers put the pedal to the metal with 34 unanswered points after the interval.
Fullback Jack Joass powered over in the 51st minute before the floodgates opened with four tries in the final quarter of the contest.
One highlight included a crafty solo-effort from interchange hooker Isaac Kaufmann, who produced a typical show-and-go from the scrum base in his 150th Easts appearance.
Five-eighth Cody Walker then put the icing on the cake in the final few minutes to take his personal points haul for the match to 22.
The Intrust Super Cup win capped off a successful day in all three grades for Easts.
Wins to the Tigers Colts and FOGS Cup sides saw both teams secure the minor premiership in their respective competitions, while the club finished with the 2013 Spotless Services Club Championship.
Theres a really good vibe around the club, were proud of those achievements. Easts havent been in finasl footy in the top grade for a while, so were looking forward to the challenge, Ingebrigtsen said.
The Tigers begin their finals journey in the qualifying semi-final against the second-placed Mackay Cutters at Virgin Australia Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The winner of that match will meet the Northern Pride in week two, while the loser will play the winner of Wynnum Manly v Ipswich in a do-or-die encounter.
EASTS TIGERS 50 (Shane Neumann 2, Cody Walker 2, Jack Joass, Junior Sau, Isaac Kaufmann, Tim Glasby, Grant Giess tries; Cody Walker 7 goals) def SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 6 (Zac Lemberg try; Ben Cronin goal) at Langlands Park.
Hoping to keep their destiny in their own hands, Easts needed a win over local combatants Souths Logan to secure third position on the Intrust Super Cup table.
And while there were some shaky moments early, the Tigers put the foot to the accelerator when it counted to run away with a convincing 50-6 victory.
With all the pre-game talk centring on potential finals calculations, Easts coach Craig Ingebrigtsen said the main challenge was to keep his players' minds on the job.
We said before the match that the scenario is exactly the same as when we turned up to training on Tuesday they knew there was some heat on us today but we responded well, he said.
We were a little bit slow early, we knew Souths were going to come at us hard through the middle, so we had to withstand that early and then get on the front foot.
As has been the case in 2013, the plucky Magpies fought hard for a 6-all score midway through the first half but the Tigers pulled away towards the back-end with tries to centre pairing Shane Neumann and Junior Sa'u.
On the back of that impetus, the halftime message was simple.
We just talked about controlling the ball we knew that possession was the key to momentum, Ingebrigtsen said.
And the Tigers put the pedal to the metal with 34 unanswered points after the interval.
Fullback Jack Joass powered over in the 51st minute before the floodgates opened with four tries in the final quarter of the contest.
One highlight included a crafty solo-effort from interchange hooker Isaac Kaufmann, who produced a typical show-and-go from the scrum base in his 150th Easts appearance.
Five-eighth Cody Walker then put the icing on the cake in the final few minutes to take his personal points haul for the match to 22.
The Intrust Super Cup win capped off a successful day in all three grades for Easts.
Wins to the Tigers Colts and FOGS Cup sides saw both teams secure the minor premiership in their respective competitions, while the club finished with the 2013 Spotless Services Club Championship.
Theres a really good vibe around the club, were proud of those achievements. Easts havent been in finasl footy in the top grade for a while, so were looking forward to the challenge, Ingebrigtsen said.
The Tigers begin their finals journey in the qualifying semi-final against the second-placed Mackay Cutters at Virgin Australia Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The winner of that match will meet the Northern Pride in week two, while the loser will play the winner of Wynnum Manly v Ipswich in a do-or-die encounter.
EASTS TIGERS 50 (Shane Neumann 2, Cody Walker 2, Jack Joass, Junior Sau, Isaac Kaufmann, Tim Glasby, Grant Giess tries; Cody Walker 7 goals) def SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 6 (Zac Lemberg try; Ben Cronin goal) at Langlands Park.
