Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Wikinews reporter Patrick Gillett interviewed President of the Brothers Rugby Union Club Sunshine Coast Mike Haines on November 25 after the team’s announcement they would join the top grade of Australia’s Sunshine Coast Rugby Union (SCRU) in 2023.
The November 14 announcement on Instagram confirms it will raise the number of A grade teams to seven. It also means the other SCRU clubs — Caboolture, Caloundra, Maroochydore, Noosa, University of the Sunshine Coast, and Wynnum, as well as Gympie and Nambour, who do not play at the top level — approved the decision.
Said Haines: “Essentially, we just had to put together a case to demonstrate that there was a larger playing group out there, that’s of a higher quality player, that we could essentially tap into.
“We put out some expressions of interest. We spoke to a large number of players out there on the Sunshine Coast and the broader community and we’ve actually had a great response from a large number of players who are looking to play at Brothers next year.”
In 2022, Brothers played in the newly established Sunshine Coast Cup competition. This was the clubs first season playing senior age rugby.
“[So, we] had a really strong Friday night [competition.] Obviously, the Friday night Cricks, Sunshine Coast Cricks Cup that went really well for us this year,” Haines summarised. “A large number of our boys will be looking to sort of advance [or] go into the reserve grade in the A grade on the back of their efforts this year.”
The club introduced team coaches on November 19, and started recruiting players in early December.
“We’re all very excited about the A grade and the reserve grade for 2023. So now I expect the club to get around it in a very strong way or stronger than they have been already.” said Haines.
Other Australian clubs carry the Brothers branding as well, and play in most competitions in Queensland, including at Cairns and Townsville, and Mackay, and Queensland Premier Rugby in Brisbane.
“Brothers here on the Sunshine Coast, we’re fortunate enough to be part of a larger fraternity, with the Brothers fraternity stretching up the east coast and further,” Haines said.
“At this point in time, they’re all being very supportive of us. We’ve been lucky enough or fortunate enough to have a large number of players on the Coast and the regional area that all looking to just play with us.”