After scraping home against Souths for the second time this season, Brothers extended their lead at the top of the Hospital Cup ladder to two wins. 

But new centre Grason Makara said he expected more teams to challenge last year’s defending premiers in the remaining rounds of the regular season and an even tougher challenge come finals time. 

“It was another really tough match. Souths are probably the best side we’ve played this year and we had a plan to try and disrupt them but couldn’t really do it,” Makara told Rugby News. 

“They are such a tough, passionate footy team and kept fighting for the entire 80 minutes but luckily, we were able to keep our composure and come away with the victory.”

Brothers led Souths 10-5 after 30 minutes when Souths centre Alofa Alofa had a brainsnap and was red carded after throwing a punch. 

But a 14-man Souths outfit refused to go away and were in a position to win the match in the final minutes before eventually falling three points short in a 29-26 loss. 

“We all got pretty fired up then I think we kind of switched off a little and thought that we had the game won because they were down to 14 men,” Makara said. 

“They went to another level though and really dug in and we were lucky to get away with it to honest. “

“Woody (Michael Wood) was the one that got hit, but he probably was the most composed out of any of us. He stayed really level headed so the rest of us need to learn from that. 

“We know teams are going to come at us and try to unsettle us, so we just need to stay calm and play our rugby.”

24-year old Makara was born in Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and spent four seasons with the Western Force before making the move to Brisbane and joining Brothers earlier this year. 

He got a taste of professional rugby in the early stages of his career and is hoping strong form at Brothers can help him set up the next chapter of his rugby journey. 

“I’m loving my time at Brothers. From the very first training session, I felt really welcome. It’s a great club and a great bunch of boys and I’m really enjoying the rugby in Brisbane. 

“It’s a great city to live in as well. It’s not too different to Perth, just a few less beaches but I’m getting used to that. 

“I’m just working hard to prove myself on the east coast. I’d love to get an opportunity in Australia and if not, somewhere overseas but for the moment, I’m just really enjoying playing a really high standard of rugby week to week with Brothers.”

While still young, Makara is one of the more experienced players in a Brothers’ backline that features some of the best young prospects in the country. 

“Coming from Perth, I was always the young one but now I’m one of the old bulls in the backline along with guys like Paddy James. 

“He’s been great and really leads the backline with his experience. 

“Then we’ve got some really talented younger guys. Dre Pakeho at inside centre is a little weapon. It’s easy to play outside of him. 

“We’ve also got some young guys pushing up through colts with plenty of talent as well so there’s lots of competition for spots.”

Following a bye in round 10, Brothers will have their second week off in a month this weekend during the competition bye, but Makara said some time off was needed ahead of a tricky few months of rugby. 

Brothers can wrap up their spot in the playoffs with a few more wins but are also eager to build momentum into the finals as they chase a second straight premiership. 

“We didn’t do too much contact on Tuesday which was good for the body so I think we’ll take care of ourselves this week and then hit the ground running from next Tuesday to get ready for a big backend of the season starting with UQ.”