QLD Rugby 21/06/2024

Written by Queensland Rugby Media Unit, courtesy of qld.rugby Source article View this post on Instagram A post shared by QLDPremierRugby (@qldpremierrugby) SOUTHS V BROTHERS Saturday 22 June, 3:35pm – Souths Rugby Club Souths 1. George Francuis 2. Callum Lauder 3. Phransis Sula-Siaosi 4. Sam Von Blanckensee 5. Jake Kurbatoff 6. Connor Vest 7. Kohan Herbert 8. Reece Meise 9. Rourke Symons 10. Taj Annan 11. Tye James 12. Alofa Alofa 13. Xavier Ruberns 14. Joseph Veramu 15. Lachlan Stewart Brothers 1. Liam Fletcher 2. Dom Fraser 3. George Tuineau 4. Brad Kapa 5. Hamish Muller 6. Michael Wood 7....

QLD Rugby 05/04/2024

Written by Queensland Rugby Media Unit, courtesy of qld.rugby Source article Queensland Reds utility Taj Annan has been installed at flyhalf by Souths for Saturday’s lift-off to the StoreLocal Hospital Cup season.Annan and Reds flanker John Bryant have both been included in the starting side by Magpies coach Garrick Morgan for the clash against Norths at Chipsy Wood Oval. Bryant, Kohan Herbert and Sean Farrell will form a strong Souths backrow. Bond University have paired Jordan Lenac and Fred Dorrough as halfback and flyhalf to run the show against Sunnybank on the Gold Coast. Experienced Jake Upfield is at No.8....

QLD Rugby 04/04/2024

Written by Jim Tucker, courtesy of qld.rugby Source articleAnother big season of StoreLocal Hospital Cup action has arrived. As like any season, a lot has changed since Brothers lifted the cup at Ballymore last August. To mark the new season, we've cast our eye on some key storylines that could shape the season ahead.How will GPS recoup from the loss of many of their elder players?The Gallopers farewelled Cris Kuridrani, Michael Richards, Josh Collins and Jake Straker over the summer with the trio all calling time on their tenured first-grade careers. The quartet have 300+ first grade caps combined with...

Alex Cran 31/08/2023

SIMON CRAIG APPOINTED AS EASTS HEAD COACH Easts Rugby Union have appointed Simon Craig as Head Coach of Easts Premier Grade. Simon “Craigy” Craig has had a long and successful association with Easts dating back to 2008 when coaching his sons in Easts Juniors. He moved into the Easts senior coaching ranks in 2010 with 2nd Grade and has continued his coaching development through to Premier grade programs including successful Premiership winning teams. In addition to his involvement at Easts, Craigy has coached a number of representative teams including QLD Reds U/16’s, QLD Reds Academy and QLD Reds Super W...

Jim Tucker 14/07/2022

Being a kid brother at Easts means far more than a childhood of hand-me-down footy jerseys and iPhones.  If anyone needs proof of the “family club” vibe that beats so strongly through the Tigers, you only have to look at the four sets of brothers who are featuring in Premier Grade.  Remarkably, Matt and Alex Smit, Lachy and Will Kirk, JP and Laurence Tominiko plus Matt and Puke Skipwith-Garland are all contributing as brothers in arms.  Powerhouse tighthead prop Laurence Tominiko, 23, left Sunnybank to join Easts this season to turn the front-row into a family affair.  “I’ve been at Easts...

Jim Tucker 07/07/2022

A full 50 years before Meli Dreu and his mock white hair started dashing into the backline, a natural redhead began to make his mark as an Easts fullback. Bruce Cooke was just 19 when he emerged as a lean six-footer destined for higher honours in 1972. He shared in the 1972 reserve grade premiership before embarking on a seven- season first grade career that took him all the way to a Wallaby jersey. Cooke was a 35-game regular at fullback in the champion Queensland sides between 1974 and 1979 and a fan favourite at Bottomley Park for the Tigers....

Jim Tucker 30/06/2022

Towering lock Michael Stolberg left hospital to play a starring role in the 2013 grand final...and was back there on a drip when the celebrations fired up that night.  Not even all his teammates knew the full story when “Stolly” got himself kitted up, like normal, in the dressing room for the decider against GPS at Ballymore.  What unfolded was a courageous, full-on contribution from the key Easts forward in a rousing 27-22 success.  With GPS heading to Bottomley Park for Saturday’s Round 11 clash, it is a perfect time to celebrate the events of that famous Sunday in September...

Jim Tucker 24/06/2022

The mental health message in rugby that the Rick Tyrrell Cup has done such a worthy job of advancing is helping lives every day.  The eighth edition of this annual match between Easts and Sunnybank will be played at Oldmac Oval on Saturday.  That the Rick Tyrrell Cup holds as much or more meaning now as it did when launched with heavy hearts in 2015 is a testament to the prop, friend and family man it honours.  For those too young to remember, Tyrrell was the popular figure who started in the juniors and grades at Sunnybank. He rose to...

Jim Tucker 16/06/2022

It says it all about the character of John Bremner as a devoted Easts man that he continued coaching even when undergoing intensive cancer treatment.  A cap concealed his hair loss in the jubilant premiership team photo of 1999 at Ballymore where “JB” was smiling proudly out of the spotlight in his understated way.  When he died prematurely at just 55 in 2002, he’d been coaching just a week before he passed away.  When you see names on a trophy, young players have every right to ponder “what mark did they leave?” to deserve it. Rarely are winning deeds far removed...

Jim Tucker 08/06/2022

Champion flanker David Wilson shared rugby’s summit with John Eales as a World Cup winner yet both cherish their names being linked to a new club trophy. Easts and Brothers will play for the John Eales-David Wilson Shield for the first time at Crosby Park on Saturday with both figures in attendance. It will be contested annually at the home ground of the current holder. All grades contribute to the overall result with the largest number of competition points won determining the winner of the shield.  For Wilson, arguably the greatest of Tigers, it is a proud symbol of where his...