Hospital Cup

Brothers has put in a comprehensive display of dominance away to Sunnybank, crushing the Dragons 52 points to 14 to once again defend the Bunter Bowl, and move to a dominant top of table position after 14 Rounds of the Hospital Cup.

The Butchers Stripers were keen to atone for their sloppy first half against UQ a week ago, and made their intent clear from the opening whistle. Dominant play from the forwards resulted in pressure on the home side from the outset, with a series of panicked passes from Sunnybank allowing big Lock Brad Kapa took an intercept 40 meters out open the scoring.

The pressured on Sunnybank did not relent from there, with the Brothers backs, led by skipper Paddy James, joining the party to set up dominant field position which was duly capitalised on. Benn Delle Cort and Isaac Taraby went in in quick succession off pressure play. Big Number 8 Bradley Hemopo then made sure the forwards were holding up their end of the bargain, scoring a minute later and pushing the margin further.

The skipper, James, and winger Athen Waia-McGuiggan queued up successive passages of play, playing side to side to score another three tries in quick succession and take the margin out to an unassailable lead. It would take 31 minutes before Sunnybank winger Mone Ma’afu would crash over to post points for the home side, which is as good as it would get in the first half, entering the sheds with a scoreline of 40-7 to Brothers.

Sunnybank needed to score first to have any hope of salvaging anything from the match, and they did so in the 45th minute through what was their best play of the match, with El Fakailoatonga crashing over after back-to-back penalties.

This was as good as it got for the home side however, with the Dragons scrum being dominated and conceding penalties at a frightening rate, allowing Hemopo to score another from 5m out, and Reserve Leo McCarthy did further damage out on the wing, with Della Cort’s impressive form with the boot tipping Brothers over the 50 point mark.

A yellow card to Tarabay late in the half did little to halt the momentum of the Brethren, with the away team digging in in the final ten minutes to close out the match with the margin intact.

Premier Women

Brothers women have put in a much-improved and gutsy performance in their defeat to competition leaders Sunnybank at the weekend, being defeated 36-7.

In the previous encounter between the two teams, Brothers went down 86-0 in a complete demolition of the home side at Crosby Park, with this year’s Dragons side displaying near total dominance of the competition in 2024, losing only one match and holding a for and against score of 578, underlining their strength. Indeed the last time Brothers scored any points against Sunnybank was a penalty goal in 2021.

Despite the scoreline, the women in Butchers Stripes can be proud of their efforts, with the away team holding the hosts scoreless for 20 minutes, and holding the mid-field strongly in the opening stanzas. Eventually the dam walls broke and the Dragons went on a run of scoring to push the margin to 26-0 at half time.

Not content to be dominated, the Brothers girls regrouped at half time, doggedly defending their line and restricting the damage despite the star power of Sunnybank’s forwards, before getting one back through brilliant work at the scrum, giving Davina Lasini the chance to land a blow right before full time, the ever-reliable Emma Tanwan icing the extras.

Other Results

Brothers have taken a further step forward in their step for the Doughty Shield, with a 7-2 day at Sunnybank.