It was a wake-up call that the Hoppers didn’t ignore, setting an early pace and the depleted Tigers didn’t stand a chance.

“They probably had a couple of blokes missing so it’s not a fair indication of where they’re at right now,” Hoppers coach Ryan Forsyth said.

“We’ll probably come against them again in finals and they’ll be stronger than that.

“But in terms of Tungamah being the benchmark they’re the only side to have really challenged them — so it was a good win, and it was good to bounce back.

“I’ve said it all year that it’s an even competition and when you don’t turn up to play you often get punished.

“But we turned up and turned it around and that showed in the way we played.”

Forsyth said it wasn’t in the Hoppers’ make up to focus on what happens in the week before.

“We always want to look ahead,” he said.

“But you need to learn from your mistakes.”

And learn they did.