Catching up with the Brother: Harry Wilson (Club Finals Week Interview)

In case you’ve been living under a rock in Queensland rugby land… this weekend is the Premier grade club final. This Sunday afternoon, I’ll be at Ballymore stadium watching Brothers go head to head against arch-rival UQ, (or “Uni” as we normally call them.)

It’s gonna be a big game. There are Reds players on both sides, so it’s set to be an exciting one. In the lead-up, I paid a visit to one of the clubs and Harry Wilson of Brothers was nice enough to sit down for an interview! I did ask him about next years Super Rugby season and the NRC. But overall... this is the week to find out who will hold the hospital cup on Sunday night! All the best to both teams!

Hey Harry, thanks for coming in early and making time to catch up. First of all, congrats to you and the whole team for making the finals this weekend. 

Thank you for having me here. I’ve been looking forward to this. Yeah, it’s awesome for the team going so far and being selected for the Prem-grade final. It’s a huge honour playing in the hospital cup final and hopefully we get the win

How excited are you and the team?

I think only three boys in our team have ever been in a Hospital Cup final. Yeah, there’s been a big turnover since 2016. I can’t really say how excited we are. For a fair few boys, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in this type of thing. Obviously, you hope to be in a few, but you never know with your footy career…

There’s so much history behind Brothers too. You kind of feel that a Premiership at Brothers means a lot more than just for a playing group - it’s for the Old Boys, for the young kids, your playing for the whole club rather than just yourselves.

What’s one or two things your team will have to do to beat Uni on Sunday?

Well, I think we’re a very good attacking team, so we can score a lot of points. So I think our defence will be our main focus. I know Tate McDermott, he’s the Reds number 9, he’s very quick and “steppy” so if we can shut him down in front of the ruck, we’ll shut down a lot of their front-foot ball and also the other one’s probably Jock Cambell. That’s probably their two big threats.

On the kick returns, hopefully we can have a straight line, not let them through and I’m sure that if we can shut down those two players and we’ll go a long way to shutting down their team.  Obviously the forwards… we’ll have to step up and “equal” their forward pack. There’s a few Reds representatives in there as well.

Have you been thinking about next season with the Reds?

Yeah definitely. That’s kind of in the back of your mind. You try not to think about it, but it’s hard not to, when every day you’re preparing for the final and NRC, but the big goal at the end is I guess to play for the Reds next year and have a very successfully season with the Reds. So hopefully a win this weekend and a good season with NRC and I guess [Brisbane] City too, will give the Reds a lot of confidence for next season.

Will you be playing again for Country next season?

Yeah. Of course… Yeah. The better results for Queensland Rugby, the better it is for everyone…

But when it’s Country versus City in the NRC…

Oh, I hate them that week. (Laughs). It’s like at the moment at Ballymore, with Tate, Jock, Hockings and Korczyk, getting away from them because it’s Brothers vs UQ. You’re not gonna be mates this week.

With Fraser McCreight and Harry right before training

What are you looking forward to most about NRC?

I guess it’s kind of a level up of club footy, so I guess it’s a chance to prove yourself at that level… last year I got to play a fair bit of it, but I didn’t get to start much, so hopefully this year I’ll get to start at number 8 and show my ability to everyone. Obviously you get to play with a lot of Reds players and try and build some combinations. Just another chance to get better at footy leading into pre-season with the Reds and next years season.

And then next year, you’ll want to do Scott Higgenbotham proud?

Yeah definitely. Obviously it’s known that I kind of want to take his spot and I guess he’s always been one of my favourite players growing up, so I guess to try and play like him and have as much impact as he had on the Reds would be great, but yeah probably need to just focus on getting there first and if I get the opportunity to try and be in his spot, that would be awesome.

Well I’m cheering you on. I think you’ve got all the potential you need to do that.

Cheers Tommy.

How long have you played for Brothers rugby club?

I moved to Brisbane from Gunnedah [in New South Wales] when I was 10. So my first year at Brothers was Under-11s. So I’ve played all through Juniors here and then my first year of Seniors was last year. So I probably would have been here about 10 years altogether.

What do you love most about playing for Brothers?

I guess it’s probably not as much pressure as other footy. It’s more.. get down here, play with your mates and have fun. Some people don’t really enjoy going out with their club, it’s a bit of a chore. I know with Brothers, it’s something I find so special. I know with Fraser. myself, every time we get to a chance to play for Brothers, we make the most of it. You play with some of your best mates you went to school with and everyone stays around and has a few beers together which is awesome. That’s probably one of the best things about club footy.

Who’s the biggest joker on your team?

That’s a good one. Since it’s club footy, we’ve got a few jokers. But definitely Ryan Smith, he’s a big tall second rower. He makes training quite fun, especially in line-outs when it’s just forwards together, he likes any chance to muck around, he’ll take the opportunity and give us a good laugh.

Thanks for your time Harry. I’m looking forward to seeing both teams on Sunday and watching a great game!

Cheers Tommy. Enjoyed it a lot too.

Brothers go head to head against UQ this Sunday, 3:05pm at Ballymore Stadium.