Reds Rugby Rules meets the Red Heavies

Checking out the field before training kicks off

In case you’ve been living under a rock inside of Rugby land, this Sunday is finals week for club footy! And just in time, I managed to sneak in and visit University Rugby club (usually called “Uni” for short) for my club profile series. The team known as the "Red Heavies" are set to battle the GPS "Gallopers" for the 2018 premiership. When? 3pm on Sunday, 19th August down at Ballymore.

Not too far from Wests, this great club is right in the middle of UQ (University of Queensland) and with members from across Brisbane, the community spirit is alive and well here.

This was obvious throughout team training and the special event that took place afterwards...

It was awesome to watch the Premier team warm up with a fun game of touch with the U13s team.

When training began though, it was down to business.

Was good to meet Tom Court, one of the older, probably much wiser players in the team. He was a member of the 2006 Reds team, before he jet-setted off to Ireland. He said he couldn't cheer for my Wallabies beanie, because he played for the Irish against them(!) Still... best of luck this Sunday Tom.

It was great to meet UQ coach Mick Heenan. He'll be coaching City again in this years NRC.

Members from one of Uni's champion teams in the 80s were present to hand out the jersey's to the team.

I was so glad that I got to be a part of the "Calcutta" competition, raising money for Conor Tweedy's recovery journey. In the middle of a busy finals week, the team and many old boys of the club got together to raise money for 16 year old Conor who seriously injured his back in a scrum earlier this year. To find out more about Conor's journey, please check out his website here: www.conortweedy.com.

All up, well over $4,500 was raised for Connor!!! Guest auctioneer Mike Wheeler was brilliant, he made me laugh a lot.

Plenty of trophy-ware on display in the club-room, but as was shared tonight, what really makes a club great is how a club bands together in tough times.

Catching up with Red Heavies Harry Hocking’s 

I've been hoping to catch up with Red Heavy and Queensland Red, Harry for a while and was glad he was able to sit down for an interview while I visited UQ. Growing up in Bowen in FNQ, he travelled to Brisbane to go to school at Churchie and has risen through the ranks in Queensland rugby ever since. Reds coach Brad Thorne has said he could go on to play "100 tests" for the Wallabies and several weeks back he got a taste of what could be to come, by playing in the Wallabies trial, right before his club semi-final against GPS. This will be his first time starting in a club final, he came off the bench in last years grand-final win.

Hi Harry, thanks for making a bit of time to catch up! It’s been a busy week for you.

First of all, what does playing in the Premier rugby grand final mean to you?

It means a lot to me, it’s pretty important. I love playing for UQ, it’s a great club. Especially the chance to go back to back, it hasn’t been done for a while, It’d be awesome to do that as well.

What was it like coming off the bench in the semi-final, after a big week down in Sydney?

Yeah, it was good. Really good. Obviously I didn’t start the game, I wasn’t here for the training all week. It was good to come of the bench in the second half. It was a tough game, GPS played really well, they have a tough, physical forward pack, it was good to get out there and good to get the win in the end.

What’s something you love most about this club?

Probably the camaraderie around it all. I’ve become mates with a lot of the boys here. They’re good blokes, the players and the coaches and playing alongside them all. It’s a great culture.

You began your rugby journey up in Bowen in Far North Queensland. When did you start playing?

I grew up playing rugby league mostly in Bowen, there’s not too much Union up in North Queensland, with the Cowboys up there. I did a few rugby clinics and things like that. But rugby sort of kicked off when I came to school here, at Churchie in grade 8. That was good, good programme there.

When did you decide you wanted to play professionally?

I think growing up it was sort of a dream. I didn’t think it would ever come true! I guess I got an opportunity after school, U20s and played a bit through that, and the dream sort of became a reality, as cliche as it sounds. Then I got this opportunity with the Reds, which is awesome.

Brad Thorne has had some high praise for you, regarding your potential with the Wallabies. What was it like being involved with the Wallabies in the trial the other week?

It was good to be down there training with the Wallabies. It was an awesome experience. I learnt a lot while I was down there. I grew up watching them play for the Wallabies, it was awesome being able to chat alongside them and have a bit of a stint off the bench during that trial match as well. 

How’s the season been for you personally at the Reds and have you enjoyed being coached by Thorne?

Yeah definitely! I’ve been coached by him for about 3 years now, with the NRC and U20s before that. I really like Thorney as a coach, he’s definitely helped my game heaps. I really like him as a coach. And I’ve definitely enjoyed my season with the Reds as well. It wasn’t as successful as we hoped, but there’s a lot of things we took away from it, a lot of improvements I guess and hopefully we’ll build on it and do better.

I know the Grand Final is the number one thing on your mind. But you must be looking forward to the NRC season coming up?

Yeah definitely. There was a training last night, we just went and watched, but it was good to get out there and catch up with all the Country boys. I had a great time last year, winning was awesome, so hopefully we can do that again. And after the grand final is finished, it’ll be good to get stuck into that.

Cheers for your time today Harry. Best of luck to you and everyone involved in the Grand final! It’s going to be a great game for sure!!

Awesome. Thanks for having me! Cheers.

Thanks to everyone at Uni for having me!

What a week it will end up being for club footy and especially for Uni and old rivals GPS. It's the Premier final and the stakes are high. The Gallopers are hungry to get their first premiership since '96 and the Heavies are equally hungry to make history with back to back titles. But as events like this weeks Calcutta fundraiser prove, there is more to rugby than winning and losing. At the end of the day, as old mate Sauce said to me tonight, rugby will definitely be the winner. See you all at Ballymore.