Will Wilson was fairly chuffed with himself on Saturday night. 

Not only did he help Brothers’ extend their unbeaten start to the Hospital Cup season, but he also crossed for a rare five pointer at a crucial point of the match in the Filth’s come from behind 26-22 victory over Souths at Crosby Park. 

“It was my first try in a few seasons, don’t worry about just this year,” the big lock laughed. 

“I was happy to get that out of the way and make sure I can keep my clothes on at the end of the season for everyone else’s sake.”

Brothers trailed 15-7 against the in-form Magpies but scored on either side of the half time break to claim a 19-15 lead. 

Wilson then crossed midway through the second half and although Souths hit back and reduced the deficit to just four points, the defending premiers defended stoically in the final 10 minutes to seal the result. 

“It was really important to hold on and get that result,” 27-year old Wilson told Rugby News. 

“Souths have been on the improve for a few years and now they seem to be genuine premiership contenders so it was good to get the result in a tight match, particularly in our first home game of the season at Brothers. 

“The physicality went up a level from previous weeks. Souths really turned up and gave it to us early but I thought we were able to whether the storm and fight back from a few tries down. 

“When we eventually got our hands on some ball, we were able to capitalise and I thought we played some good footy.”

After an opening round bye, Brothers sit third on the Hospital Cup ladder but have taken maximum points from their fixtures so far this season. 

“There’s a really good feel about the place. We’ve obviously got a new coaching staff and things are going really well under Ben McCormack,” Wilson continued. 

“Our forward pack has been fairly settled for a few years now but in the backs, we’ve got a few new faces who are doing really well. Grason (Makara) and Dre (Pakaho) have been fantastic in the centres. Billy Bulley has also returned from an ACL injury and is playing some good footy.”

Wilson works as a civil engineer away from rugby and while he said he was open to taking up any rugby opportunities that present themselves, for the moment, he is focussed on helping Brothers become the first team to win back-to-back Hospital Cup titles since Canberra in the early 2000s. 

“Winning last year was pretty special. It’s a hard one to top, that’s for sure. But I think everyone remembers how good that feeling was and now we want to create that again with a new group.”

The forward said he’s been impressed with how close the competition appears to be in the opening rounds. 

In the weekend’s other matches, Norths and Sunnybank played out a 20-all draw, Wests defeated Bond 43-32 and Jeeps defeated UQ 28-22.

“Looking at the results so far, Sunnybank beat Bond, then Norths almost beat Sunnybank and Souths have been building really well for a while now. 

“Then you’ve got sides like Jeeps, Uni and Bond who always perform well. It’s going to be close all season.”

Brothers travel to play UQ in round four and while the Red Heavies are yet to win in 2024, Wilson said his side won’t be taking them lightly. 

“Playing UQ at St Lucia, they’ve had a pretty good record against us over the years and we haven’t forgotten that.

“They’ve got plenty of talent from 1 to 15 and although they haven’t had the results they probably would have wanted early in the season, I’ve got no doubt they’ll be raring to go on Saturday.”

In the rounds other matches, Norths host Bond, Sunnybank take on GPS and Souths face Easts.