Under new coach Ben McCormack, Brothers became the first side since Canberra in the early 2000s to win back-to-back Hospital Cups.

Rugby News started by asking McCormack if he thought this result was coming when he rejoined the club late last year.

Overview with Ben McCormack:

“I was probably more hopeful that we’d win it again this year more so than I expected to win it” McCormack told Rugby News.

“As a club, we always expect to do well, but winning first grade premierships is a bloody hard thing to do, so we were absolutely wrapped with the result”

“We cruised along well for the most part of the season but then from the outside, it probably looked like we lost our way a little for a month or so towards the end of the regular season, but internally, it was probably really only one or two games that we weren’t happy with.

“We had a bit on during that period with availability of players for training and selection but were always confident that we’d come out of it.

“The reality is there are some good sides in this competition and there aren’t any easy games so if you’re off a bit, the competition will let you know.

“Fortunately we got there in the end and it was a really pleasing result.

“We worked hard on getting the tactical and technical parts of our game right and peaking for the backend of the season.

“Our head of performance Nik Superina and my assistant coaches Carl Marshall and Paul Brown did a great job to get the boys humming physically and tactically at the right time.

“I also think we managed the mental side of things pretty well and kept a pretty even keel all year. Making sure we never believed things were ever really that good or that bad.

“It’s a cliché but all year we literally just took it game by game and concentrated on how to improve and how to beat the opposition that we had that week.

“I didn’t have to go overboard with the mental stuff for the finals because I had a lot of players who understood it anyway.

“We had some real professionals in our group this year with the likes of Brad Hemopo, James O’Connor, Paddy James and a few others who all made my job a lot easier.”

What needs to happen at Brothers between now and round one next year? 

“Everyone needs to enjoy a good break for starters,” the coach said.

“We’ve already identified some areas that we think we can continue to improve on and we’ll need to evolve our game again,”

“This year, I don’t think we played the same style of footy all season. We tried to be a multiskilled team that could apply pressure wherever we needed against an opposition on that particular day and I think the stats reflected that we did that fairly well.

“We were able to score points in a lot of different ways and in a lot of different areas and we’ve just got to continue to evolve that.

“There were some areas on the defensive side of the ball that we were really happy with and other areas in D where we need to improve. We’ll keep working hard on our set piece as well.

“For us, it’s all about finding gradual improvement so that we’re constantly trying to push the bar higher.”

Which of your players do you think can push on next season?  

“A few of our uncontracted lads have already been picked up into programs which is great, of those remaining I think Gason Makara, Brad Hemopo, Hamish Muller all had cracking years.

“Michael Wood was outstanding all year and again in the grand final. He’s still young and played Australian U20s with Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson and a few others but slipped out of the system a few years ago and had a few injuries back to back.

“He got back to the top of his game this year and had a cracking season and I think someone will pick him up for sure.

“There are also some lads at the club that didn’t get much of a crack in first grade this year but were outstanding in second grade’s premiership winning side.

“I think a few of these boys are ready to push into first grade next season.”

What can we expect in 2025? 

“We’ll keep trying to push the boundaries to play an expressive and entertaining style of rugby, as the boys have done over the last few years,” McCormack said.

“It’s going to be another tight season and I think most teams will get better again which is only going to make that race for the top four and the premiership even tighter.”