INVINCIBLES
UNBLEMISHED, unbroken, unbeaten.
Brothers have achieved the unbelievable according to coach Roy Baira after his side closed out an undefeated Townsville District Rugby League premiership triumph. The pressure of their undefeated record may have gotten in the heads of the Brethren before their grand final showdown against Centrals, with the minor premiers dropping the ball in the first set.
But that would be the only mistake they made all afternoon at Townsville Sports Reserve as they quickly silenced the strong Tigers cohort in the stands with a dominant 32-0 grand final victory. While he might have been a fill-in captain following injury to Brothers leader Nathan Norford, the leadership five-eighth Ty Carucci showed was that of a 10-year veteran.
The playmaker scored two tries and had a hand in a further three as Brothers ran rampant over the top of the Tigers.
The Cairns product, who was part of the Cowboys under-20s program, said the grand final glory had taken over as the best moment in his rugby league life.
“To go undefeated in an A Grade competition, it is not easy. Every day we turned up we had fun, and the culture at the club this year made it what it was,” Carucci said. “It is amazing, I was pretty emotional after the game. I didn’t know whether to laugh, I think I almost cried a couple of times. It meant so much to me especially for Brothers being the proud club it is.
“This will be number one for me.” The beauty of Baira’s game plan was in its simplicity.
Brothers used their size in the middle and punched the ball into the teeth of the defence, to open the gaps out wide.
On paper it is a game plan that appears easy to negotiate and shut down, but the level of execution had them a step beyond the competition this season.
Tigers fought valiantly with their young men in the middle, including starting front rower Jacob Taia, putting in mountainous amounts of work. But they were no match for the opposition.
“(It was) unbelievable,” Baira said. “The boys played really well, I was really proud of them. They are a professional unit and they have been all season. From the coaching staff all the way through to our players.
“This week there was more motivation than just the record. It was about our families, why you do play football and the motivation behind it. When you need those little one percenters, it is what we pushed to. The boys really jumped on board with that.
“That is the way grand finals need to be played. We had a really good lead up in the last month, and this week at training. I knew the boys were on, it is all part of the plan and we follow it.”
Daniel Pickering also scored a double down the right edge, while backrower Joseph Price was voted player of the grand final.
Brothers weren’t the only team to complete an undefeated season, with Western Lions running away with a 22-4 victory in the women’s grand final too.
Led by the experience and guile of playmaker Angela Solomon, the Lions came out strong in the second half to put away a plucky Brothers outfit.
FULL COVERAGE OF THE WOMEN’S GRAND FINAL IN TOMORROW’S BULLETIN