Four field tries, all rippers, against two (they also got two penalty tries) by an opposition which resembled the Man U of Community Rugby was more than credible it was extraordinary.

Well done to those Premier Grade players. I’ll deal with potential retirements later when the dust has settled and statements made in the aftermath are reconsidered and perhaps recounted.

Other premier grade teams acquitted themselves well, given a high injury toll, All but First Division (by one point) and Fourth Division made the finals whilst the Normandy Cup team were Grand Final losers.

Colts didn’t fare so well but they did knuckle down and finished the season making a nuisance of themselves against teams higher up the ladder than them. We are working hard on a recruitment program for 2012 to ensure we are competitive in Colts and consequently have good depth in later years.

Adrian Thompson performed too well for us and because he is very good at what he does he attracted an offer from the ARU too good to refuse. We wish him well in a new challenging role.

Matt Kaye joins us as Rugby/General manager. He started two weeks ago and has hit the ground running. He’ll be a success based on his enthusiasm and diligence so far.

We finished the season with a Centurions Lunch. The awarding of caps for milestones achieved in Rugby circles is a time honoured tradition so it is obvious that Brothers should award caps to those who surpass 100 games for the First Fifteen. We did that for the 38 Centurions who attended and will honour the 6 or so who couldn’t attend whenever a suitable occasion arises.    

Thanks to generous support from Imagetec (our major sponsor) in partnership with Hewlett Packard as lunch sponsors and from some corporate supporters including Careers Australia, QBE, Sealy of Australia, McInnes Wilson, and PKF the lunch was a financial success.

We are grateful for the attendance of former Brothers players and coaches John Connolly (former Reds and Australian coach) and Des Connor (former Wallaby and All Blacks captain and Australian Coach and Australian Rugby Hall of Fame inductee) as cap presenters, Rupert McCall as MC and Chris “Buddha” Handy as resident raconteur.

Buddha presenters the Wallaby’s with jerseys prior to the RWC quarter-final against South Africa and revved them up – clearly did a grand job.

We had some auctions as you do but rather than bore the guests Peter D’Arcy stole the limelight with a vintage auctioneering performance and got a very good bid for the Sports Fishing day aboard Australia’s best Marlin vessel, Shaka.  The day, at significant personal cost, was donated by John Hendry who we are now reclaiming as one of our own. Thanks John.

Right now we commence a new season – we have a new committee and a new structure where the catch phrase is “Responsibility and Accountability”; we will have allocated roles dealing with those areas of our operations that are our life-blood; and already we have new ideas for the rejuvenation of the membership and the engagement of corporate support.

We have got a big job. Funding is as always tricky, especially as the QRU is reluctant to guarantee financial support, and corporations struggle with the economic downturn; recruitment requires a wholehearted effort as we compete with other clubs, here in Queensland, and in Sydney, where some of the clubs are cashed up; facilities are in need of significant upgrade and repair; and alternatives are investigated to allow our expansion and that of the ever-growing junior club.

In principle we have entered a cooperative agreement with Brothers Juniors to manage and fund the facilities in exchange for long-term tenure, something the Junior executive has sought for some time. We also have a commitment to secure our combined growth to find additional space for use by the combined clubs.

It has struck me in organising the Centurions lunch and in drumming up support for our teams for the Finals series that we may have disconnected with a significant group of past Brothers players, officials and supporters. Partly that is due to the state of the database and partly to a failure to encourage those who have passed through to remain part of the team.

New initiatives for 2011- 2012 are in the planning and are soon to be launched including:

• The launch of the 500 Membership drive.
• An more interactive & updated BRC Website
• The Presidents Club-connecting Brothers Rugby & the business community
• “Friends of Brothers” program –a business directory-where local business can promote their business & services to the BRC members & in return will provide special offers exclusively to members.

We have other significant announcements to make soon so stay tuned.

Stay tuned as we move forward-2012 is just around the corner

Jim Frayne-President

• Club Man of the Year - Anthony Sauer
• Most Improved Player - James Carter
• Training & Club Spirit - Jonathon Roussetos
• For Outstanding Service to the Club - Sandra Prestedge
• For Service & Support to the Lower Grades - John Diamond
• Club Captain - Anthony Sauer
• Most Outstanding Player in a Representative Match - Dominic Shipperley

• Awarded for playing 100 First Grade Games of the Club:
- Damon Murphy (114)
- Matthew Dews (113)
- Nathanuel Gendle (113)

• Best & Fairest Club Player - Andrew Coady
• Best & Fairest Colts Player - Matthew Blair
• Highest Point Scorer - Matthew Smith (141 points)
• Rookie of the Year - Iosefo Tabalala
• Presidents Trophy for the Best Performed Team - Premium Grade
• Chairman's Trophy for the Best Player in a Grand Final - Simon Price