It’s been 36 years since Brothers and Randwick, two of Australian rugby’s proudest and most successful clubs met in an Australian Club Championship fixture. 

The year was 1988, a few months after Brothers beat Souths 20-19 to claim the club’s sixth premiership in eight seasons and Randwick beat Warringah to claim their seventh title in a decade. 

Randwick’s 1987 grand final team

Australia’s two most dominant club sides, both stacked with Wallabies, met at Crosby park in 1988 and Randwick took the spoils back to Sydney, beating Brothers 27-9.

Things are a little different nowadays, but the importance of Saturday’s clash in Brisbane isn’t lost on the players or coaches from either side of the NSW and Queensland border. 

“It’s a massive occasion. Obviously it’s early in the year but both clubs have known about it since last year’s grand finals so it’s not like it’s been sprung on us,” Randwick coach Steve Hoiles told Rugby News. 

“It’s early in the year, but it’s not a trial, it’s a lot more than that and I think our players understand that. 

“Looking at the numbers, Randwick has won six Australian Club Championships, tied with Sydney Uni and Brothers are just behind with four wins. 

“We can either jump ahead of Uni or Brothers can close the gap to us and that makes it super important for both clubs.”

Brothers coach Ben McCormack, who coached Randwick from 2019 to 2022 during a stint in Sydney, shared Hoiles view on the important but early fixture. 

“I think it means a lot to the players and to everyone at the club,” McCormack told Rugby News. 

“It’s not an opportunity you get very often and to play against a club like Randwick, two clubs with such rich histories playing for the Australian Club Championships, it’s going to be a special day. 

“It’s obviously an awkward time of the year to play a match like this. 

“Our preseason has been all about winning a premiership in September, not winning games now, but at the same time everyone really wants to put on a good performance and get a result for everyone involved at Brothers.”

After returning to Brisbane in 2023, McCormack has replaced premiership winning coach Brendan Gabbett at Crosby Park and said while his side will play slightly different to last year’s team, he wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. 

“The attack will largely stay pretty similar. We want to use the footy, play a free flowing style and play intelligently based on what opportunities the defence is affording us,” McCormack explained. 

“I’ll press harder into that but there won’t be any wholesale changes. Carl Marshall, one of our assistant coaches has done a great job with our attack and we’re just looking to continue to build on that this year. 

“Defensively, we’ve got a bit of a change in philosophy and in style. 

“I think we’ll be a lot more aggressive in defence. We want to attack when we don’t have the ball, which is a change from what the boys have been doing.

“In recent seasons, Brothers has been a really efficient tackling team and scrambled really well in defence but haven’t been overly aggressive without the ball, that’s what we’ll be looking to add to our game this year.”

After an extended celebration following last year’s premiership, McCormack said he’s been pleased with the work his squad has put in this side of Christmas. 

“We’ve only played one trial so far but I’ve tried to reward the boys that were part of last year’s grand final team, they deserve a chance to win it,” the coach said. 

There are five changes from last year’s grand final starting side. 

George Tuineau will start at tighthead prop with Jaiden Christian looking to make an impact in his first match of 2024 off the bench, whilst Leo McCarthy will start in the backrow in place of Harry Wilson. 

In the backs, new recruit Grason Makara will start at No.13 and Kamilo Guido and Jake Sargood will start in the back three. 

For Randwick, Wallaby Kurtley Beale is the big inclusion while Angus Houston, younger and bigger brother of Ben (according to Hoiles), returns to the Galloping Greens starting XV after missing last season through injury. 

“Brothers have put in a massive amount of time and effort to turn this into a real event and we’re really excited and thankful for that,” Hoiles said. 

“It’s our job now to repay their hard work by putting on a really good performance and making it a great afternoon of rugby for everyone that comes down to Crosby Park to take a took.”

Brothers and Randwick meet at Crosby Park at 3:30pm (2:30pm Sydney time) on Saturday afternoon.