Hospital Cup
Brothers Rugby Club are the 2024 Hospital Cup Champions, beating Wests Bulldogs in rematch of the 2023 final, 29-27, seeing the club become the first back-to-back title winners in 21 years. The result comes at the end of a breathtaking match which saw see-sawing momentum between two champion sides, with the 2022 winners, Wests desperately trying to wrest back the coveted trophy from the reigning Premiers.
As with all grand finals, the build up during the week was a tense affair, with the two form teams of the last two years sizing seeking to stake the claim of being the most dominant of the early 2020s era. Adding extra spice to this occasion was the salivating prospect of the 2023 finalists being there again. Last year, Brothers desperately held up Wests at the death to prevent the Bulldogs from taking consecutive titles, a fact that has left Wests smarting for over a year. Add into this mix the fact that before this final, the average points difference between Brothers and Wests in their three previous appearances was a mere 2.6 points, with Wests holding a two-to-one record over Brothers, something the men in Butcher’s Stripes were keen to even up in 2024.
The grudge match was set and the fuse was lit. This final was always set to be one for the ages.
The match started with high intensity, and a characteristically fast starting Wests tried to pile on the pressure early in what has consistently been a feature of their playing style over the past three years. Brothers have been guilty of conceding early in this year’s campaign, however on this occasion, the coaching mastery of Ben McCormack came to the fore, as Brothers organised themselves efficiently to hold out the initial onslaught, holding out rampaging centre Lebron Paramore-Naea up in goal in the sixth minute before Brothers frustrated Wests in attack, leading to a turn-over. This led to a beautiful bit of running rugby from Brothers, O’Connor distributing to the right wing for Hanna to get the ball into Wests’ half, before Number 8 Bradley Hemopo and Hanna combine to force a Wests knock-on in goal. The resulting scrum allowed O’Connor to put Under 20s Player of the Year Dre Pakeho through for the opener.
The Wests retaliation was always going to come, and they wasted very little time, capitalising of some scrappy handling from Brothers to pull off one of their trademark shifts to the edges, getting the ball into the hands of the ever reliable Mosese Dawai who deftly offloaded it to the intimidatingly powerful Angelo Smith, carrying three defenders with him to even up the score in the 17th minute.
The Bulldogs seemed to find their groove after this score, their defensive line-out causing hell for Brothers’ forwards, working the ball to the right wing and sending Brother’s defense scrambling. That was until scrum-half turned winger Will Cartwright read the play beautifully and pulled off an incredible intercept to tear away down the wing and score, giving Brothers a converted try’s buffer after 22 minutes.
Brothers then settled in to a good rhythm off the restart, trucking the ball forward and taking their time to build possession in enemy territory. The resultant raid saw Wests’ discipline begin to slip, conceding consecutive penalties in their red-zone, with former Brothers player and Queensland Red Louis Werchon having another one of his well documented outbursts, niggling opposite nine Isaac Tarabay and having himself sent off. This allowed a quick-thinking O;Connor to tap the ball and push to the opposite edge for a grateful Paddy James to score in what was his fourth Grand Final appearance, extending the lead to two tries.
Brothers would have been wise to hold their nerve, however a mistake off the kick-off saw Wests regain possession and pull off an extremely slick move from the backs, with David Vaihu scything through the defense to score in the shadows of half-time. However, this try gave birth to a moment that is certain to go down in Hospital Cup folklore and be played on highlight reels for generations to come. With a kick dead in front of goal, Wests’ fly half Mason Gordon sidled up to slot what would be a sure two-pointer on almost any other day. However, Hemopo had other ideas, accelerating his big frame straight at the kicker and charging down the shot on goal. This save would prove to be invaluable to the Brethren in half an hour’s time.
The half would then end within the next two minutes, however it was not without incident, Tarabay getting sent to the Bin for cynical play, and Cartwright being denied another runaway try due to a double knock-on. Brothers headed to the sheds with a 21-12 point lead.
Coach McCormack was effusive in the sheds at half time, letting his players know that Wests would be coming hard in the second half and would be in a heightened emotional state. Keeping calm under this pressure would be the key. His assessment was irrefutably correct, with Wests coming back out onto the park looking like a new side.
The half started with Wests on the front foot, and after toiling through the forwards, the ball was given to their electric backline to make hay with Dawai adding to his impressive tally again, closing the scores to two points in the 46th minute after Werchon’s conversion.
Four minutes later, Werchon would be put Wests into the lead for the first time thanks to a penalty right in front of goal. It was here that the ascendancy felt well and truly with the Bulldogs, as the men from Sylvan Road started to run Brothers defense ragged, forcing error after error and taking dominant field position. This pressure combined to give Wests’ fullback Fletcher Spicer an incredible run off the scrum to flick the ball to Dawai again, putting him in front of a despondent Butchery on the hill.
It would have been easy to write the Minor Premiers off at this point as Wests looked like they were about to run riot over Brothers, however McCormack’s sage advice on calmness winning the contest was about to bear fruit. Wests, keen to bury the men in Butcher’s Stripes, squandered a clutch turn-over by Connor Anderson with Werchon puntin the ball dead and giving up 70m for a scum to form. Wests then came out hot, forcing Brothers backwards initially, before O’Connor and Hanna combine to find space on the right edge and generate some much needed territory. This allowed Brothers to pepper Wests defense, forcing a penalty against Gordon, and then from a scrum, giving O’Connor another chance at a cheeky tap, spreading the ball again out to Hanna to keep Brothers needing a single further score to take the lead.
This score would not come through O’Connor, however, pushing the ball across the face of goal, keeping Wests fans confident their team would finish in front. What they had not accounted for, however, was the toll of Wests using their bench much earlier than Brothers, allowing the Butcher’s Stripes to begin reeling in territory rapidly off the kick-off.
Wests desperate defense initially pushed Brothers back and forced an error from substitute Richard Clift, giving the Bulldogs a scrum just inside their half. At this point, the now delirious supporters in the Kennel were all but certain of being home. However, their hopes were soon shattered by veteran Wallaby and Brothers fly half James O’Connor.
Regaining possession deep in their own half, the ball went again to Hanna who tore down field before working with the indomitable Michael Wood to get the ball back in field. Showing great patience and hoarding possession paid dividends with Wests committing the ultimate sin of not releasing just in front of the posts with less than two minutes to run. O’Connor, wily as ever, then drained the clock of time, slotting the penalty goal with 60 seconds remaining on the clock, before punting the ball into the Paul McLean after the restart to give the Brethren a famous victory one minute later.
Second Grade
Brothers Second Grade have put in their most clinical performance of the year to dominate the University of Queensland in their Grand Final performance, running out 38-17 winners to cap off a remarkably rare undefeated season. The result heals the wounds from their 2023 campaign in which the Brethren were eliminated in the Preliminary Final and cured any doubts from this year’s semi-final in which Brothers rand down a 19 point deficit to draw with Uni and sneak into the final.
Third Grade
Third Grade have fallen agonizingly short of the title, succumbing to Bond University on the final play of the match to go down 24-22.
Fourth Grade
Fourth Grade have won consecutive Premierships taking a dominant win over GPS, beating the Gallopers 32-18.
Fifth Grade
Fifth Grade have done the double, taking back-to-back titles, winning in convincing fashion 33-17 against Wests.
Colts 3
Brothers Colts 3’s season has ended in heartbreak, going down to a strong University of Queensland performance 27-10.
More to come…
