After spending two years coaching across town at Jeeps, club stalwart Brendan Gabbett has returned to Crosby Park in 2021 to coach a Brothers side that fell just short of a finals berth last season. 

The Filth have added some new faces to an already talented squad and appear almost ready to unleash a crop of future stars on the Premier Rugby competition. 

Overview with Brendan Gabbett: 

“We’re excited for the year ahead and we know that we’ve got a lot of talent at the club but it’s about putting the pieces together and getting our best players on the field at the same time,” Gabbett said. 

“It’s great to be back at Brothers but I really enjoyed my time coaching at GPS. 

“They play the game with a great physicality and that’s something we want to build on at Brothers. That’s not to say that Brothers aren’t a physical club, but Jeeps go to another level in that regard. 

“Set piece was also a massive strength at Jeeps and that’s something we’re focussing on at Brothers this year, right across our grade and colts’ teams. 

“Brothers had a great year last year. We tied for the Club Championship and if Premier Grade kick a goal at the end of the season, then they make the top four and they were probably good enough to go on and win it with some of the players that were returning. 

“I don’t think it was a disappointing season but in saying that, you always want to be playing finals football and that’s our goal this year. 

“John Connolly is back in an advisory role and he’s going to be really helpful, particularly for the coaches. I think he’ll pick things up from games and in reviews that will make a difference this year across the grades and we’re really lucky to have a guy like him and a really strong coaching group at the club.”

2020: 5th (5 wins, 3 losses)

Ins: Pheonix Hunt (Easts), Richard Clift (UQ), Ash Watson (UQ), Blaise Barnes (Sydney), Kirisome Auva’a (rugby league)

Outs: Rohan Saifoloi (Sydney), Matt Mafi (GPS), Brad Kapa (UQ)

Key areas of improvement:

“Set piece is a major focus for us, we want to be a lot more dominant in that part of our game. 

“We’ve got Tom Court on board as our set piece coach and he’s been great so far. The last five premierships have been won by the side with the best scrum and the way the game is going, the scrum is becoming more and more important, so it’s something that we need to get right.”

Player(s) to watch: 

“We’re excited about Pheonix Hunt coming to the club to play No.9. We also know we’ve got some talent coming back from the Reds as well. 

“We won three colts premierships last year and we’ve been in the colts grand final for the past four years, so we’re probably most excited about seeing some of those guys push into grade. 

“Jake Pappin has been doing really well. He’s a flyhalf that is still eligible to play colts this year and he’s progressing really well through preseason. He’s added a lot of youthful enthusiasm.”

Bold prediction for the season ahead: 

“We’re going to compete hard at every aspect of the game. I’m not giving you much more than that at the moment. 

“Looking at the competition, if Wests have this backline that people are talking about, they are going to be dangerous. Souths will surprise a few as well. 

“Your traditional top three – Jeeps, UQ and Easts will be there abouts and I think everyone else will fight it out for that fourth spot.”