Hospital Cup

Brothers have drawn against their nearest neighbors Norths 33-all in their Round 17 clash at Shaw Road. Despite the uncharacteristically sloppy performance, the four-try bonus point result saw Brothers clinch the Minor Premiership with a round to spare, for the first time since 2009.

It’s no secret that Brothers have dominated their local neighbor in recent seasons, not losing to Norths since 2018, with the club battling year-in-year-out to drag out results. 2024, however has proven that the Eagles are on the up, taking several scalps during the season and giving plenty of the power clubs a run for their money earlier in the season. This was to prove to be the case against Brothers at the weekend, with the Eagle showing plenty of motivation to knock their northside foes off their perch.

The Eagles made their intentions known as early as the second minute, with storming Number 8 Scott Hall charging through a shell shocked Brothers defense. This should have served as a wake-up call to Brothers, but big prop Jeff Toomaga-Allen struck in near identical circumstances less than ten minutes later, Norths seemingly marching up-field at will.

This finally seemed to shock Brothers into some form of alertness, with Benn Della Cort smoking a massive down-field kick to buy territory, regathering the ball off some poor Norths handling and popping it to a grateful Hamish Muller to open the Brethren’s account. Things started moving much more freely for Brothers through the next phase, with Norths being repelled and the Brothers Centres finding territory up the left side of the field, putting the maul into play and allowing Grason Makara to post points under the post in the 28th minute, the score 14-12 to Norths.

Brothers had the chance to take the lead right before half time with a penalty right in front of the posts 25 meters out, but inexplicably elected to kick for the corner, the maul failing to find any purchase and allowing Norths to maintain their lead at the break.

Brothers needed to find some consistency in the second half to have any chance of winning, but managed to do the opposite, gifting Norths a run-away try to Jake Hussey from a charge-down. Luckily for the men from Albion, a neat bit of heads up play off the line-out let Brothers spread the ball the width of the field, and strike back two minutes later, with Makara scoring his second of the afternoon.

Norths then found themself beginning to dominate territory and possession Brothers making several bizarre errors, including failing to find the touch line from a penalty kick from their own try line. This combined to allow Harrison Goggin to push over the line and give the home side hope that their Brothers hoodoo was about to end.

This hope, however was short lived, with enforcer Michael Wood bumping and pushing his way over for a trademark try a few minutes later. Brothers then began to look more convincing, starting to stifle Norths in the midfield and forcing them to back-peddle to hold out Brothers. The pressure overflowed when Sebastian Hanna somersaulting over the line through a cheeky run off the back of the ruck, making the score 33-26 with 20 minutes to play.

Brothers could have closed out the match, however found themselves fighting a determined Norths counter through the final passages of play and conceding yet more preventable turnovers. The dam wall finally broke when 2023 Brothers turned Norths Prop Josh Mongard burst through a lovely rolling maul to even the scores.

Like the first half, the Brethren would have the final roll of the dice to close the half, but yet again opted to kick for the corner rather than the posts, spilling the ball and sealing the result in what will be considered one that got away.

Premier Women

Brothers Premier Women have put in one of their most comprehensive performances of the year, outgunning Norths 54-5 at Shaw Road in Round 17.

Norths Women were particularly fired up for the occasion, wanting to avenge their loss to Brothers at Crosby Road earlier in the year, and came out firing. The Eagles dominated early possession, with Brothers turning over easy ball, incentivising the home side to remain in the contest, before Brothers captain Mabel Johnston calmed the troops down through superior forwards play, trucking the ball forward to open the scoring after 12 minutes.

This proved to spark of inspiration the Butchers Stripes needed, with seven further names being added to the scoresheet, and a points bonanza across both halves. Brothers forwards played into a strong groove during the match with Hooker Evie Robertson, returning Fijian international Doreen Narokete and relative rookie Flanker Dayna Cockbain all playing strong enforcer roles across the park, keeping the Eagles on the back foot throughout. In the backs, the departing Kirra Burke put in a powerful performance make more meters at Centre than for the entire season, and the unflappable Jazlyn Leota and Yolanda Forsyth finding plenty of space through work-rate, adding to their tallies.

This result sees Brothers move into sixth spot, and close down the final margin needed to help the club take the Doughty Shield. The final match of the year against GPS set to determine who holds on to such a valuable sixth-placed ladder position.

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