Grand final appearances in eight of the 10 grades, four premierships and a Doughty Shield club championship win too – holistically, Brothers’ Queensland Premier Rugby campaign was nothing short of remarkable.

But a seventh finish in the top grade was anti-climatic and, in director of rugby Ryan Schultz’s eyes, disappointing.

While the proud club’s goal is to remain a force as a whole, he says there’s been a big push to ensure their premier grade outfit shares in the success in 2019.

Overview with Ryan Schultz

“Brothers are a very proud club so to finish seventh (in the top grade) was obviously disappointing, but the positive was obviously the success of the rest of the grades with the grand final appearances and winning the Doughty Shield,” Schultz said.

“We’ve really utilised 2018 at the premier grade level as a learning opportunity and we’re hoping to be bigger and better for it.

“There wasn’t really a lot that went wrong or directly influenced performances, not any one thing you could put your finger on though really.

“We had a young group with plenty of representative players, still do, and with guys coming and going we did struggle a little bit with consistency in terms of selections, so that is one thing.

“The standard of competition is getting better and better every year too, looking back there was a number of results that were decided by, you know, five points or were very close so if they went a different way it would’ve been a different story.

“A big focus point for us will be trying to get that consistency through selections, it has and will continue to be a bit of a challenge. For instance we’ve just had seven Brothers guys down at the Australian 20s camp so managing that is a challenge.

“A result of last year, as well, has been a change in the coaching structure. We’ve definitely narrowed it down and there’s been a bit of a change in the direction of that program, the managing of the players and recruits has been a big focus too.

“We have lost a couple of players, our captain Luke Beauchamp has got an opportunity in the USA’s Major League Rugby but while that’s a loss we also see it as a big win because a big focus of our program is obviously to provide further opportunities, so it’s awesome to see him get a professional contract.

“Everything’s shaping up pretty well, overall.”

2018: Seventh.

Ins: Rohan Saifoloi (Southern Districts) Alex Perez (Southern Districts), Aidan Toua (Queensland Reds), Seb Wileman (Warringah).

Outs: Luke Beauchamp (USA), Angus Fowler (Shute Shield).

Key areas of improvement:

“Honestly, there’s no real key areas …  I think just staying consistent across the club,” Schultz said.

“With the new coaching set-up we’re trying to ensure we stay consistent with our club-based philosophy, where we’re looking to align all the programs throughout the grades.

“What we’ve been doing at a premier grade level we’re trying to ensure that flows on through the grades, there is some new systems in place but we haven’t drastically changed anything.”

Player(s) to watch:

“Any of the new recruits, really,” Schultz said.

“[Saifoloi and Perez] been really, really good throughout the pre-season and they’ll really contribute to the squad.

“Then someone like Fraser McReight, as a 19-year-old he’s obviously in and out of Reds contention week-in, week-out.

“He’s played one trial with us so if we’re lucky enough to get him on the paddock this year I think he can have a huge influence on our performance, but also on the competition as well.”

Hopes and expectations for the year:

“We want to get back to being the Brothers of old, in terms of making the finals,” Schultz said.

“As we all know if you make the finals anything can happen from there, we’d hate to see the success of the whole club not flow up to the premier grade again, so the expectation is to be alive at finals time.”

Who will Brothers play in the grand final?

“I think the clear answer at the moment is Jeeps,” Schultz said.

“We played them in our first trial and they’ve obviously beaten Sydney University last weekend, they’re a classy outfit.

“I think Souths as well, they’ll be a talented side and if they’re able to stay consistent in their preparation I think they’ll be challenging.”

Photo: QRU Media