By TOM PRIMMER

UQ v Brothers | St Lucia | 3:05pm

It’s always a big occasion when the Students face Brothers, and this Saturday will be no different at St Lucia.

The Students will run out a number of fresh faces in front of their home crowd, with exciting No.8 Lona Halaholo and young halves pairing Finn Hearn and Lachlan Stewart making their starting Premier Grade debuts.

Livewire fullback Mac Grealy will feature at the back, while the abrasive Connor Vest is back an action after a standout season last year.

UQ Director of Rugby and assistant coach Elton Berrange said the club is eager to get the season underway after falling one-game short of a premiership last season.

“The halves pairing of Finn Hearn and Lachie Stewart have earned their spots for Round 1and will look to control the tempo of the game, if they can do that well, we’ll be in good shape,” Berrange said.

“There’s some great individual battles between the two teams and our guys will be looking to win their one on one’s against their opposite number.

“It’s always good to play Brothers. They’re often a benchmark of where you’re at in the competition. There is some wonderful history and great highlights between the clubs and we’ll be hosting Old Boys & Girls day to mark the occasion.

A number of new recruits will also run out for the Brethren, while a number of club stalwarts will also feature.

Veterans Mitch Felsman and Sam Hyne bring a wealth of experience to the back three, with new recruit Phoenix Hunt and Paddy James running the show in the halves.

Up front, Tom Moloney will captain the side, with hooker Matt Faessler looking to impress after a full pre-season with the Queensland Reds.

New head coach Brendan Gabbett said his side’s pre-season has been positive ahead of their first outing of the season.

“There hasn’t been this much positive talk around the product (club rugby) in years,” Gabbett said.

“Tom Moloney will be important for us. He leads from the front and is a great calming influence for a young squad.

“Uni play fast tempo Rugby and are the benchmark of the competition.”

Adding a bit of spice to this already fierce rivalry will be the club debuts of Brad Kapa (UQ) and Ashton Watson (Brothers) who both switched between the two clubs over the off-season.