Smith returns to help mark Brothers’ win
UNDEFEATED Sunshine Coast Falcons coach Eric Smith is making the most of the Queensland Cup’s competition-wide bye.
The former Brothers Cairns captain-coach is back in the Far North to catch up with old teammates and celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the club’s 2009 CDRL A-grade victory over Todd Carney’s Atherton Roosters.
The Brethren overcame the minor premiers 30-18 in the decider, on the back of a dominant opening 20 minutes and a stunning defensive display.
Smith remembers the victory as being an important one for the club, after Brothers had little hope of making finals with less than 10 rounds to go.
“We only just scraped into the finals and had to fight our way through for a month to get to the grand final,” he said.
“We had a pretty young team as well. We had a lot of injuries and a lot of young kids like Dan Beasley, Nathan Kepa and those guys that were just out of 18s.
“It was a really good victory in that way for the club. There was such a young group of players and a lot of Brothers juniors played in it, which made it that bit sweeter.”
Brothers held all the cards early to push out to a 14-0 lead but had to settle for a 14-8 lead at half time after two late tries to Atherton.
Atherton would score the first two tries of the second half, including star halfback Carney crossing for his second, to take an 18-14 lead before Brothers came home strong.
The Brethren scored in the 57th and 67th minutes, before sealing the deal with a try two minutes from full time.
Smith was named man of the match for a performance that included kicking five-ofsix goal attempts, setting up his team’s attacking plays and helping shut down Roosters danger man Carney.
Smith said he was looking forward to catching up with the old boys.
“Some of them I haven’t even seen since I left here and I’ve been gone now for quite a few years,” he said.
“It’s always good to come back and have a look at Stan Williams.
“Not much has changed – it still looks like a nice field.”
Smith will be in attendance when Brothers take on Edmonton at Petersen Park tomorrow afternoon.
Current Brothers A-grade coach Paul Stevens said he hoped his side would put in another big performance.
“We’ve spoken about consolidating our good start to the season and we really want to kick on this weekend,” Stevens said.
“The guys are just buying into what I’m trying to get them to do and it’s good that they’re buying in so early into the season with it.”
Under-18s kick off at noon, followed by reserve grade at 1.30pm and A-grade at 3pm.