Our Aspirations
Brothers had long had aspirations to become a premier grade club and its journey for promotion was a long and arduous one dating back to 2010. Since our inception in 1998, we had enjoyed great success with our Third and Fourth-grade sides in the community competition. Our teams were crowned minor and major champions on numerous occasions throughout our early years. In addition, having a large and very successful junior base was the fuel driving our desire for promotion. With many of our elite juniors having to leave the club to pursue their Premier Grade aspirations, the club’s vision became very clear and that was to provide that same opportunity to play Premier grade rugby for the Brothers and to secure our future.
The governing body, Rugby WA, had put in place some very stringent criteria for aspiring clubs to be considered for inclusion into Premier Grade. Criteria such as fielding junior teams in ALL age groups, fielding U18s & Colts teams along with 4 senior men’s teams.
Additional infrastructure was also needed with two playing fields, suitable lighting, a clubhouse, and as a minimum, 2 change rooms. The Brothers executive committee was determined to not only meet but to surpass the criteria on every level. Moving into the Arena club rooms in 2011, was to mark the start of the club’s growth and journey to premier grade.
2013 Promotion is Imminent
Brothers complied and submitted a very professional and formal application to The Community Rugby Advisory Committee (CRAC) for elevation into the Premier Grade competition. Led by Chairman Shane Kempton, this plan was extensive and met all KPIs and key criteria as set out by the CRAC. View our submission here.
Our home ground at the Arena is state government land and managed by Venues West. We were told that no budget was available for building the second field. It was left to us to find the funding, led by a very determined Liam Smyth and supported by Jim Phillips and Anthony Wall, Brothers then put in place a plan to lobby the state government for the funds. In late 2013 funding was made available with the help of Jan Norberger, earthworks commenced in December 2013. The fields were ready, albeit in a temporary “East-West” layout for season 2015, then the final layout “North-South” was available for the start of the 2016 season.
In 2013 Brothers put forward a thorough and very professional bid for inclusion into the premier grade competition starting in 2014, the submission was accepted however Brothers would 1st need to prove themselves in reserve grade before gaining full inclusion into Premier Grade in 2015. This would be a significant milestone for the club and also for rugby in Western Australia, Brothers had become the first club promoted to premier grade in over 25 years.
2014 Premier Reserve Grade
The first stage of our promotion was to field a competitive premier reserve grade team. Our Director of Rugby Brett Gallagher appointed Dave Oliver aka “Snow Beast” to lead the team with assistant coaches Dave Wells and Jarden Puki. Anthony Wall team manager and Katy Flyger head physio. Carlos Waretini was our captain with Tamati Timoko as vice-captain. Having won 13 games from 18 we made the finals and made a statement to the rugby community, Brothers were capable & deserving of promotion into the premier competition. 2014 full season review click here.
2015 Our Inaugural Premier Grade Season
We were full of optimism and confidence as we headed into the Premier Grade season with Head Coach Dean Carlisle and Assistant coach Dave Wells leading the team, Anthony Wall as team manager, and Katy Flyger as head physio. Llewellyn Lottering was our inaugural captain with Johann Louw vice-Captain.
28th March 2015 – After years of planning and hundreds of man-hours by a cast of many, our Premier Grade debut game was upon us. Round 1 was a home clash against Kalamunda, it was also the first time the new Rugby WA cup was up for grabs. Brothers took out the match 22 to 17 which saw a hat trick of tries from center James Wepener aka “The Weapon”. Trailing 17 to 5 at halftime Brothers put on an attacking masterclass to score 15 unanswered points in the second half and in doing so take out the Rugby WA cup and notch up their first-ever Premier Grade win in front of an emphatic home crowd. Relive James’s hat trick here.
Brothers finished the season with 6 wins which included a nail-biter against Cottesloe in round 5 at their home ground. The win was an absolute thriller, in the dying minutes the Brother’s scrum forced a Cott error. A brilliant team try from the ensuing scrum saw Lui Guivalu dive into the corner to get the Brothers within 1 point. Johann Louw’s sideline conversion put the Brothers up, winning it after the siren 18 to 17, much to the dismay of the locals. Check out the final moments here.
Results: R1: Win 22 to 17 vs Kalamunda. R2: Win 47 to 6 vs Perth Bayswater. R3: Loss 26 to 13 vs Palmyra. R4: Loss 47 to 18 vs Wests. R5: Win 18 to 17 vs Cottesloe. R6: Loss 17 to 13 vs Wanneroo. R7: Win 22 to 16 vs UWA. R8: Loss 27 to 7 vs Nedlands. R9: Loss 36 to 27 vs SOAKs. R10: Loss 23 to 13 vs Palmyra. R11: Win 41 to 10 vs Perth Bayswater. R12: Loss 29 to 26 vs Kalamunda. R13: Loss 42 to 7 vs Wests. R14: Loss 65 to 33 vs Cottesloe. R15: Win 34 to 21 vs Wanneroo. R16: Loss 41 to 25 vs UWA. R17: Loss 45 to 3 vs Nedlands. R18: Loss 33 to 25 vs SOAKs.
View full season highlights here.
Inaugural Premier Grade Side - Round 1 vs Kalamunda
Inaugural Premier Grade Coaches & Staff
2015 Trophies
2016 Onwards
Since our inaugural season, Brothers have continued to enjoy many highs along with some challenges. Our 2018 season has been our best to date finishing in the top 6 to make the division 1 split under head coach Dave Wells. Brothers defeated UWA 32 to 14 in round 13 to make the top division. Jetty 7’s winners in 2017 & Cockburn 10’s winners in 2018 under head coach Dave Wells. Personal achievement by Johann Louw in winning the Premier Grade top point scorer in 2017. 2020 Brothers were Division 2 grand finalists, narrowly losing out to UWA 21 to 17 under head coach Adam Munro.
As we continue to grow as a club, we continue to implement and refine our strategies both off and on the field. This vision will see the club become a top 4 contender year in and year out with one of the ultimate goals of being crowned premiers in the coming years.
Other Premier Grade Trophies & Awards
