2018 Wash-up with QRU President David Codey

This week I was fortunate enough to catch up with president of the Queensland Rugby Union, David Codey, a former Reds player and also Wallabies captain. We had a great chat about Queensland rugby and he also reluctantly answered some questions about his own playing career!

It was great to hear his perspective and some of the great reasons for Queensland fans to be excited about the upcoming season.

Hi David, how are you?

Very well Tom. How are you?

Doing good, thanks. Thank you for taking time to chat at the end of the season. I’d love to ask you some questions about Queensland rugby, before talking about your own playing days.

That sounds good. Queensland rugby’s good. I don’t know about my playing days, people haven’t got memories that long.

How do you think 2018 has gone, from your perspective and the QRU’s?

I think it’s gone pretty well Tom. Like in any sporting organisation, we would have liked it to have gone better and would have liked to have had more wins this year. But I think the platform has been set for 2019.

Were you happy with the Reds season overall?

Hmmm. Yes, but as I said before, we would have liked to have won more games. But in saying that, there were a number of successful aspects to the season. We’ve got a number of new Wallabies out of the Reds cohort, which is very important. We’ve also seen one of our youngest ever players, Jordan Petaia go on the tour and he could play this weekend. He was at school the year before last. So the Reds program has shown that we can develop good players, we just need to be able to beat some of the better teams in Super Rugby.

I’m very excited about the 2019 Reds season. What’s something that makes you excited about next year?

There’s a few things Tom that I’m excited about for next year. A couple are to do with the coaching, the assistant coaches that we brought in for Brad Thorne. Obviously Brad’s going to be in his second season as head coach and I think he learnt a lot in the 2018 season. He admits that and we’ve had discussions with Brad about that. But bringing in Peter Ryan, who’s acknowledged as one of the best defence coaches in Australia in both Rugby League and Rugby Union. He’s also a different character to Brad, so we think that personality will be good. He’s a bit of a larakin. A very hard worker, but has a bit more of a relaxed attitude. The other exciting appointment is Jim Mackay, who’s our attack coach. He was in that position when we won the Super Rugby title back in 2011. I think the combination of those three could do something very special.

Also, the side was relatively young last year, they’ve had a year of experience, many of them in Super Rugby for the first time, so hopefully that lays the ground work for those key games where [last seasons] we just lost our way a little bit and didn’t know how to finish them off. Hopefully it means the difference between two or three of those games that we could have won last season.

We are hoping that with this combination of player experience and coaching, we might just be able to get this win rate up. It’s all about the win rate.

How did you end up playing in Queensland yourself?

I was a Sydney boy. So I started playing there and then I moved to a town called Orange, west of Sydney. I played for New South Wales Country and was captain there. NSW Country used to play Sydney every year and then they picked the New South Wales [State] team out of that and I was lucky to get picked. Then I got to play a test for Australia for me soon after, which was a great milestone for me. I wanted to leave Orange and I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to go back to Sydney. I’d been to Brisbane a few times and Andrew Slack, who was the Queensland Reds captain at the time asked me to come up and have a look. That was in 1984 Tom, which was a long while ago and I’ve been here ever since.

What are some of the differences between when you played and today?

We used to win more Tom in my day, than they do now. I’m not sure if that’s because we were a better team, or if it’s the competition. We used to play New Zealand sides, not as often as they do now, but we used to play New Zealand and touring sides.

We were fortunate to have some outstanding players in key positions. Queensland and Australian Rugby has always been strongest when if a world fifteen has been picked, or twenty-three as it is now, we used to always have half a dozen players in there. And usually half of those would be from Queensland. I think it says a lot that when they pick a world twenty-three now and perhaps only David Pocock would be selected and currently there would be no Queenslanders selected. Now that might change, with the Taniela Toupou’s, who’ve really set the world on fire.

Can I tell a story… We had a guy called Scott Johnson, he used to be a Sydney boy, but now he’s the director of professional development in Scotland. He went over there a number of years ago. He wants to come home, so we were having a chat to him about the prospect of coming home. (Nothing’s has eventuated there.) But Scott was out here watching a game when the Reds played the Rebels at Suncorp Stadium.

So I’m sitting next to Scott - by the way, he’s a back, so he knows nothing about scrums. Nothing at all, just like most backs. He was watching the game, we won two scrum penalties in a row, from Taniela’s great work at tight-head prop. 

The Rebels half-back got the ball. Taniela hit him with one of the hardest tackles I’ve ever seen, right in front of us and drove him back five meters. He hit the ground and he helped him up as they do these days.

Scott Johnson leaned across to me and said “you have signed this bloke forever haven’t you?”

And then you’ve got Jordan Petaia. He could be anything. We just don’t know. He can play anywhere. He can play 13, he can play 14, he can play 15. He’s a pretty special talent.

That’s a very long-winded answer to your question. (Laughs)

Looking back on your playing days, what stands out as your greatest rugby memory?

Well, I think playing your first test, you always treasure that moment. Unfortunately, we lost and I didn’t play that well and I didn’t think I was every going to play another test after that.

My greatest memory is I was a member of a “Grand-Slam” touring side in 1984 that went to the UK and played England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.  We were the only Australian side to win that, it’s been tried on ten occasions now. It was a great achievement against all the odds and friendships that were forged within that group will last forever. We used to have ten year reunions of that ’84 Grand-Slam. But because we’re getting older, our manager is getting ill and someone past away, our physio, we decided, instead of 10 years, we have it every year now. So that’s one of my greatest memories.

What do you see for the future of Queensland rugby overall?

As an organisation, in terms of Queensland rugby, we have set a goal of winning the Super Rugby title within three years. Now people will think you’re mad, so please don’t publicise that too much. They might want to lock me away for saying that, because we’ve got a long way to go from where we finished in 2018. Our view is, unless you’re really going to be challenging for a title within that timeframe, all the work that’s going in now, I won’t say it’s wasted, but could be put to better effect.

We want to build every year. We need to recruit a few more players. We need to work on a few areas and I think you’ll see a big improvement in 2019.

And you’ll be there, hey?

For sure!

Thanks David for your time. Thanks also for all you do for Queensland rugby. I’m looking forward to a great year ahead.

Thank you Tom. Thank you for letting me have this chat with you and thank you for not making the questions too difficult.

Talking that Talk with Bobby Tuttle

It's been a while since I last caught up with Bobby Tuttle (his real name is James, but nobody calls him that around here). We had a good chat about the Country NRC season so far and he shared his excitement about next years Reds season!!

[By the way, don't miss the NRC semi-final this week, Queensland Country are set to play the Western Force on Sunday at 2pm! It'll be at their home field, which is Bond Uni at the Gold Coast and live on Fox Sports.]

Thanks to the Bobby and the team for the shirt, I'll definitely be wearing in at the game on Sunday!

Hi Bobby. It’s been a while since we last caught up for Reds Rugby Rules. A lot’s happened since then!

First of all, congrats to you and the Queensland Country squad on making it to the semi-finals.

Thanks Tom!

What’s been the biggest challenge of this years NRC competition?

The biggest challenge this year… I think having a shorter prep time. We only had a couple of weeks to get going. We’re pretty lucky with the start we had, we were three wins in a row before our first loss against the Force. And I think the teams this year are a lot more competitive. There’s a lot more depth in each side. So that’s made for a lot harder competition each week and it’s also made better viewing for the fans. That’s obviously the goal as well - making it enjoyable for the fans to watch.

What’s been your favourite moment playing for Country this season?

I think probably when we had our first game down in Canberra at the start of the season and it was pretty much a grand final rematch of last year. Playing against the same side at the same stadium, with a strong win against a really good Canberra side - so probably the way we started the season. Also, how well we’ve gelled together and our away trips have been really fun and enjoyable. It’s been good to see the side grow and grow, as players individually and as a squad collectively as well. 

I enjoyed supporting the Reds this year. How do you think the side has grown and are you excited about 2019?

Very, very, very excited. The sides grown massively. There are a few guys that hadn’t played a Super Rugby game at the start of the year that have played 10+ games and it builds confidence individually for the players and it also built confidence as a group.

New coaching staff, new playing kit, back to the Maroon which is exciting! And though I’ve got a holiday coming up, I can’t wait to get back in here in 4-5 weeks and get going again. So yeah, really really excited.

What are your personal goals in 2019?

Yeah, just to continue to develop as a footy player and you know, drive standards around the club here. So I’m really excited to help the whole squad grow. Obviously for myself, I want to continue to play consistent footy and get back to a level where I think I should be as well as be able help some of the younger guys coming through, as well as learn some things off the older guys as well.

How did you end up with the nickname Bobby?

Bobby has been with me since I was about 6. Obviously, for James, which is my real name, a nickname for James is Jim and my uncles used to call me “Jimbob”. From Jimbob, it went to Bob, so either Bob or Bobby. I asked my Dad last year if I could legally change my name to Bob and he said no, even though he doesn’t call me James. So that’s all I get called, but I can’t change it legally.

That’s all people around the club call me. It’s a bit weird when someone calls me James!

Good luck to you and all of the team against the Force this weekend.

Thanks Tom.

You know I’ll be there!

Thank you very much. We’ll look out for you and hopefully we’ll get the win for you!

View this post on Instagram

Great to have one of #QLDCountry’s biggest supporters, @tomhamiltonreds, down at training last night ahead of the boys’ semi-final clash with the Force on Sunday at @bondunirugby. #RedsFamily #RugbyFamily #CountryRoad #QLDCvFOR

A post shared by Queensland Reds (@redsrugby) on Oct 18, 2018 at 3:44pm PDT

Brisbane City (and Brothers) Flanker: Fraser McReight

Right on the heels of Brisbane City's win over Queensland Country, I was able to catch up with Fraser McCreight, an up and coming player who has made a splash City Slickers this year! He is a proud Brothers rugby club player and certainly someone Queensland and Australian rugby fans should keep an eye out for!

This weekend, they're playing away against the NSW Country Eagles, Saturday 3pm, while Queensland Country are playing at home, at Bond Uni at 3pm on Sunday!

I hope all of my readers tune in for some NRC action this week, as it's crunch time for the competition. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading my conversation with one of Queensland's rising stars!

Hi Fraser,

First of all, congrats to you and your team for the win over the weekend. I imagine you’re proud of your teams effort?

Thank you. Yeah, 100%. I was in Country actually last year… I got picked for them, but I had surgery in the second or third round, so unfortunately I missed the series. But you know, it was a different feeling, in City, coming over and getting the win. Last week, it was awesome getting the win. I’ve got a lot of good mates from Brothers over in Country, it was good to get one over them. You can’t beat it!

I’ve played ‘how many’ games of football with Michael Wood, or Harry Wilson, you see them in the game and you can rub their head in the dirt and get one over them. It’s great!

What’s your highlight from this years NRC season so far and also, how is it different from club rugby?

Highlight… Um, it’s a bit hard to point out one. I think coming off two tough losses was pretty hard, so I’m gonna say the first win we had, against the Sydney Rays. We played some really good footy. I came off the bench, but I got around 55 minutes and I think I played some of my best footy. And obviously, getting the win over Country was awesome.

The way it changes from club rugby… just the skill level. It’s faster and a lot more physical. You get a lot less smaller chances of say getting a turn-over at the breakdown, so you’ve got to be a bit more clinical in what you do.

Speaking of club rugby, I visited your club Brothers a few weeks back and had an amazing time. How long have you played for Brothers and what’s something great you like about the club?

It’s my second year out of school, so I’ve played 2 years. My because my brother went there and it’s a good family club. One of the best things I like about Brothers is that through out all of the grades, sixth grade down to first grade, Colts four down to Colts, we all wear the exact same jersey, socks and kit. That’s something special. I don’t think there’s any other club in Brisbane that does that - same sponsors aswell. We’re really tight, we can bind together and get great success. We had eight out of nine teams in the grand final.

It’s a great culture down there and it’s improving.

What’s your favourite position to play?

Number seven, open-side flanker. It’s fun. You get to roam around the field and have a bit of freedom and just play some good footy I suppose. It’s tiring though.

For all my readers that are non-rugby-experts... what’s the role of the flanker/number 7 position?

Um, so typically, number 7 is on the open side of a scrum, so they hit the first breakdown. In basic terms, they’re just a work-horse that hit breakdowns and do a lot of a work around the field. So, a lot of carries and just a lot of tackles. They’re the work-horse of the team.

What inspired you to play rugby... and what’s your rugby journey been since then?

I think Mum and Dad, I’ve gotta thank them. I was a bit of a loose cannon when I was younger. I was just crazy and had too much energy, so Mum and Dad put me in rugby union.  I just enjoyed the game too much, I loved it. I just kept playing, because you’ve got to love the game if you want to play it professionally. Obviously the end goal is the Wallabies and Super-Rugby, but I’ve got a way to go there… So I’ve just got to keep improving my game and get stronger.

That’s funny, I was going to ask what your rugby-related goals are from here!

Yeah. So obviously, win the NRC title with the Brisbane City team. Next year, win Brothers Premier grade and make it nine from nine teams in the finals… and make a Super Rugby team and go from there with the Wallabies. So that’s the end goal!

Thanks for your time... good luck against the Sydney Country this weekend!

Thanks mate, I appreciate it. Any time, I’ll take time to answer your questions. I love it - and I love a truely good Reds fan that loves his footy. Keep cheering. We’re gonna fill those stands and get another premiership soon. We need all the support we can get. Up the Reds aye!

For the Love Of It: An Interview with Reds/QLD Country Scrum-half Tate McDermott

The NRC is heating up! Queensland Country are at the top of table, even after a close loss to the Western Force on Sunday and Brisbane City are coming off two big wins. So the annual City Vs Country is set to be a fun one! I’ll be there, at the Wests Bulldogs Club, Saturday at 3pm.

And during the lead up, I was lucky enough to catch up with Tate McDermott, Queensland Country scrum-half and of course now an up and coming Reds player! I hope you enjoy reading our chat!

Tough game over the weekend, but you guys have played extremely well this season.  How do you feel about the NRC season so far overall?

Yeah, it was a tough loss over the weekend. But we started the season well and you know, we kind of picked up from where we left off last year. We’ve had a few good wins, over Fiji, the Canberra Vikings and the Melbourne Rising. We started well, to be in the position we’re in now, on top I believe.

How much are you looking forward to this weekends game?

Should be good aye! I’m really excited. That’s where I made my debut last year, against them. That was up at my home on the Sunny Coast, up at Noosa. We’ll be going up against some of the boys we’ve been playing and training with all year. Ideally we’ll put a cricket score on them, but it’ll be a close game. It’ll be a really tough game and I’m really excited for it, we all are.

How long have you played rugby and what drew you to play the game?

So I guess I’ve been playing since I was four. I started at a little school on the Coast called Matthew Flinders. That’s where I attended school for the first eight years of my life and then I moved across to Sunny Coast Grammar. But I guess I really fell in love with the game, in the early years, you know, winning the Bledisloe and winning those world cups early on. I always loved watching them play and I always wanted to be where they were. I’m pretty lucky standing where I am today with the Reds. I just love the game!

What’s your favourite memory with the Reds this year?

Um, I’m gonna say my favourite memory would be my starting debut against the Sunwolves, in the last game of the year. It was good to get a win. Other memories would be my debut against the Rebels. They’d probably been my two.

Are you looking forward to the upcoming Super Rugby season?

Yeah, definitely. While we only won five games last year, we certainly built a platform that we can really work on next year. We’re putting hard work in and Thorny has a plan and we’re looking forward to that and what we can achieve next year. So hopefully we can make you and the rest of Queensland proud.

Banter with the Brothers: Catching up with CEO Matt Kaye and Lawson Creighton

This week Reds Rugby Rules is putting the spotlight on one of the great clubs in Queensland: Brothers Rugby Club. Earlier this week I sat down with the club’s CEO Matt Kaye, who answered a few of my questions about the club. Then later on in the evening, down at Ballymore, I caught up with Lawson Creighton after Brisbane City training! We talked about Brothers (his rugby club!), the NRC, and other important things.

Brothers Rugby Club: known as "The Family Club" in Brisbane

Thanks to Matt and and Lawson for taking time to catch up! I loved spending time at Brothers.

Brothers had a long and proud history in Australia. Established in 1905, it is the oldest rugby club in Brisbane.
(Note the big picture of the great John Eales, wearing his Brothers uniform.)

Matt Kaye, Club CEO 

The Brothers Premier Grade team had a few wins and quite a few close losses this season. How do you think the team is going to go next year?

We think we’re going to improve. We’ve appointed a new coach in Rob Seib, he’s the Queensland Country coach for the NRC. We’ve got a good group of young players who will be back again for the club. Se we’re working hard again to have a better performance in 2019, a bit of a fresh start and a little bit of a rebuild I suppose, with the new head coach. But we’re excited about the new season and refocusing on our skills and our play and what we do.

Loved seeing all the displays and hearing some of Brothers history

I read about the Brothers Rugby Club Strategic Plan 2018 - 2022. How did this come about and how is it progressing?

Every 4 years we relook at our strategic plan I guess, to ensure that we’re staying ahead of the game, I suppose. For us, it’s about continuing to grow and to get better at the things that we do. So one of the key objectives is to provide better facilities. So we are in a master plan at the moment, which will be a rebuild of the training centers and the club house and repairing the fields as well. 

Hopefully in 3-4 years time, this place will be completely different and it will be up to a high standard when not only the community and the junior players that we have, but also the international teams can train here. We had the Wallabies train here last year which was great and we hope to be able to have other teams train here as well.

The “Brothers Way”,  Club Culture Behaviour Guidelines are a great initiative, how long has it been in place?

That’s a good question. That was developed by the players. So 3-4 years ago, we ran a leadership program for a number of our senior players and they helped develop the framework behind what they want the club to achieve, in behaviour and culture and in terms of what’s acceptable and not acceptable. We’ve really changed our culture over that period of time and there’s not as many, I hate to say it, “dickheads” around. You know, those clubs that don’t have those people, probably build a really strong knit. It is player driven, but it’s also top driven, from the board and the management staff as well. We want to live those values as much as we can.

How does the future look for the Brothers junior competition supporting “grass roots” rugby?

Yeah. Very good. I think there’s a bit of a decline across traditional rugby, in terms of 15-a-side for juniors. But we continue to grow a lot of our external programs.

We’ve got around 350 Sevens players starting in a couple of weeks time after the holidays, we’ve got a girls Sevens program, we’ve got a girls touch football program, which has 846 registered now, playing touch football for the club. So, from a community and a grass-roots point of view, we’re in excess of over two and a half thousand people playing at the club, across “little bros”… If you were here earlier this morning, you would have seen me coaching our three, four and five year old players, through to our Premier grade and our International players. So we’re really excited to continue to grow “non-traditional rugby”, but also the 15-a-side game through our juniors as well. And we’re putting a lot more emphasis on our program development and our coach education, for juniors, over the next 12-18 months. Make better people, make better skills, I suppose.

The “Family Club” motto, based around community values seems to be great concept, do you feel it has boosted the clubs livelihood?

Matt is very happy that his club won the "Doughty Shield"
this year - awarded to the club that does the best across

all grades (based on points accumulation).

It’s a motto that we’ve accepted, because we do cater for everyone. Whether that means we’re including everyone… I think we do. We’re trying to do that with everything we do, we’re trying to be better communicators and respect everyone that’s a part of the club. I think the family value in the club is much bigger than we even realise ourselves. The way we engage with the community from a family point of view… we want to be more than just the local rugby club that people want to come to. We want to be a club that’s known for being accepting, family orientated with a good culture, that sort of thing.

What is your own rugby journey and what led you to do what you’re doing now here at Brothers?

Interesting journey, I think Tom. I’m from Queanbeyan, down near Canberra. I played for the Brumbies B teams, I didn’t make the Brumbies side, back in the day of the 1999-2001 team when they were extremely strong and winning titles. I had 3 knee reconstructions and retired at the age of 22. So, I was very young when I retired and was lucky to get a position at the Brumbies as a development officer and then worked my way through to an academy manager, coach education, before getting an opportunity to coach professionally in Japan for four years.  I originally went there with the CEO of the Melbourne Rebels , Baden Stephenson. Then I stayed there for a few years coaching, before returning to Australia. Then I was lucky enough to get the position of head coach and general manager at Brothers here in the 2011 season, after they played a grand final. I did that from 2012 to 2013. I’ve stopped coaching the Premier team, but I’m full-time just running the club and all aspects of it, from sponsorship, to functions and events, to overseeing the rugby program, and the Brothers Touch association. I also coach a junior under-10s team and a girls sevens team. It’s a Rugby Club, but it’s also a community business looking to provide something back for the community.

Out on the field. Matt told me these are the posts that used to be used at Ballymore.

One of the legends... and one of six Wallabies Captains that have come from Brothers (including John Eales)

Catching up with Lawson Creighton

Lawson's been loving training at Ballmore Stadium.

One great player that represents Brothers is now back in action with Brisbane City. He's just bounced back from an injury and had a few good runs against the Sydney Rays last Saturday. I hope you enjoy reading our interview and getting to know a rising player in Brisbane!

Congrats to you and your team on a great win over the weekend!

It was really good to get back into the winning circle. Obviously, two bad losses, the one in Fiji was pretty bad, but to see it back in the winning circle was good and it's my first game back from an ankle injury. It was good to be on the field again, finally.

What’s been a highlight from the NRC season so far?

I think, just being around some of the big name players, just being able to train with them and to take little things out of their games. Coming into my first year in this sort of professional squad, even just training here is pretty big for me.

What’s your rugby journey? How old were you when you started playing?

Well, I started playing rugby back in high school. I went to Padua College in Kedron and I started playing then. I mostly played league when I was in younger. I finished school, I played a year of colts at Norths, on Shaw Road. Then a couple of the boys left there, I was thinking about going back to league and all my mates from school stopped playing, so I didn't know what to do. My older brother played for Brothers, so when I talked to him, I went over to Brothers. My last year of Colts there, we got done by Uni, that sucked. I've got a couple of Premier grade caps at Brothers now which is really good. This year, I didn't play a lot, I've been in the Reds academy and was lucky enough to play for the Australian Under-20s and went over to France in June, which was an unreal trip. That's where I did my ankle, in the very last game.

It's been pretty wild, this year especially. I've just been a club rugby player and loving it, but this years been massive.

What do you love most about Brothers rugby club?

I think it's a pretty unique culture. Everyone gets around each other, they all mingle... during training, the Colts will train with the Premier grade stuff like that, so you get around a lot of circles and you get to know a lot of people. It's a really good culture and I don't think I'll leave any time soon.

What’s your favourite position to play?

It's a tough one. I play a bit of five-eigth and a bit of full-back. I think I prefer playing at 10 (five-eighth) but I also like the freedom of playing at full-back where you don't have worry about everything. Full-back's isn't as much pressure and you can just enjoy it.

Some of my readers might still be learning about the game of rugby. Can you explain what the five-eigth does in your own words?

I think they just control the team and directs the team around of the field. In a game of rugby, if you've got a good 10 that can direct a team and lead a team, I think you've got a very good chance of winning. So it's a very key role in the team.

What else do you like to do in your spare time, besides rugby?

I think just a Sunday roast at Mum or Dads joint's pretty good, when I get out with my mates it's a pretty good time as well. I wouldn't say working, but I'm an electrician, I'm doing my apprenticeship, so getting that knocked over which is good. So yeah. Overall, just hanging out with mates and a Sunday roast, can't beat that.

Thanks Lawson for taking time to catch up. I’ll continue to cheer you and your team on this season.

Perfect. Thanks Tommy! Up the Brothers.

A Conversations with Queensland Country Captain: Duncan Paia'aua

NRC is well and truely underway. Two weeks into the season, I got to catch up with Queensland Country captain Duncan Paia’aua. His team beat the Canberra Vikings in round one and came through to beat the Melbourne Rising in a close game last weekend.

The team has been travelling a fair amount. They are playing in Mackay this weekend and I am looking forward to their next game close to home at Bond Uni, next Saturday (22nd Septemeber). To check out where all of this seasons games are for Brisbane City and Queensland Country, check out the drawer here and see if there's a game near you.

Duncan Paia’aua - Representing Queensland Country

2 wins in 2 weeks. As Captain, you must be happy with how the NRC season has kicked off.

Yeah. Obviously, we’ve had two wins in a row, against two tough teams. Canberra was a good outfit and Melbourne really tested us, but the boys really showed some fight in the first two weeks and got two wins. So very happy.

Anyone that knows me knows I love the NRC. What do you love most about this competition?

What I like is getting out to communities that we don’t really get to go to with Super Rugby. Last week we're heading to Townsville and this week we get to go to Mackay and take the game to towns that don’t really get to see footy. That’s what I really love about the NRC at the moment.

I know it’s a long way off, but how do you feel things are building towards the next Reds season?

Yeah, good. The NRC is a good way to keep playing some footy. There’s a lot of us in both squads, in City and Country. It’s a chance for us to build some connections and partnerships. Hopefully that builds into the pre-season coming up and a really good 2019 season.

What’s been your career highlight since our last (official) interview?

Probably winning the NRC last year. We had a really fun season, we had a really good team and to finish it off with a premiership was really up there in my career highlights I think.

What do you think your team will need to do to defend the championship?

Obviously, just do our basics right I guess. We have really good attacking players, players that can score points. But I think the things that’s gonna win the NRC is defence. That’s the big key, especially against teams like Fiji and those types of teams that like to throw it around. Defence is gonna win those games. We know we’ve got it within us, but defence is key.

Thanks for your time Duncan. All the best this weekend up in Mackay.

Thank you very much!

Catching up with Kiwi: Brisbane City Captain - Adam Korczyk

NRC is back again for 2018 and as you can expect, Reds Rugby Rules here to give you the latest. Australia’s own National Rugby Championship is an exciting mix of Super Rugby and Club rugby players that often brings games into club territory for fans to enjoy. Last week this kicked off, with Brisbane City playing against the Western Force at the Norths Eagles Rugby Club. It was an exciting game in front of a big home-town crowd. There were plenty of tries, but unfortunately the City Slickers went down 29-47.

When our NRC teams are strong, the Reds are stronger.

In the lead up to their second game against the Fijian Drua, I was lucky to catch up with City captain, Adam Korczyk. It’s the second time we’ve caught up for Reds Rugby Rules and since last years interview, he’s risen through the ranks in the Queensland Reds and seems to be a perfect choice to captain the Slickers this year. (Because his family came from New Zealand, the nickname stuck early on.)

Hey Adam, Thanks for catching up at the start of the season!

That’s alright! Hope they’re good questions. (laughs)

The NRC season is always exciting to me. How many years have you been in this now?

So I’ve been in here for 4 years now. 2014 was the first year of NRC, and I’ve been with Brisbane City the whole time. I played the first game here [at Ballymore] televised, against the Sydney Stars. It was a good game. Obviously I was excited to play against Super Rugby players in the other team and play with players like Liam Gill and Jack Schatz, so it was a good experience. 

Good effort over the weekend, there were some great tries scored.

Yeah there were some good tries scored. We have some great attacking players, some great club guys and experienced guys like Quade and Karmichael. There’s nothing wrong with our attack, I think just our defence was a bit of an issue against the Force on Sunday.

Are you looking forward to this weekends game in Fiji?

Yeah I am! I actually played in the same place for the Australian school boys actually, against the Fijian Schoolboys, back in 2012. It was quite a tough game. It was very hot, 35 degrees or something, but it was really exciting. People are very nice from what I remember, people are happy and always smiling, that’s what I took from it. So I’m really excited.

How does being captain affect your game?

Obviously, first time being captain, it’s a bit daunting I guess. You’ve got to talk to the ref, which is always interesting… Within training sessions, I guess I’m talking up a bit more.

I’ve been with Brisbane City for four years now, being more of a follower, for a lack of a better word. But I’ve always thought I lead with my actions. So I try and do that, while trying to instill more feedback where I want and share things I’ve picked up from my experience over the years, from Super Rugby aswell.

I’m super-proud to be captain of Brisbane City. I’m trying to get my team back to where we were, back to the top.

When City plays Country on Sunday September 30th, there will be a number of Reds on both sides. What’s it like going up against your team-mates in games like that?

Having a yarn with Adam after the game at Norths

It’s always interesting. Through out the year, you train with them, so you obviously have some friendships there. I guess when it’s on the field and with the rivalry from the last four years and even before NRC began there was the City/Country rivalry… So your alway want to get one up in that game, you always want to bash your mates. It’s always a fun time. And throughout the week there’s always a bit of chat, either around the Reds gym, everyones wearing their City or Country gear, it’s great. It’s great for the NRC and it’s great for Queensland to see the next Reds players.

This is our second sit down chat for Reds Rugby Rules… Last time we sat down, your career highlight was your second ever Reds game, where you scored a try. Have you had another career highlight occur since then?

Well, since there, I’ve played a fair few Reds games and I’ve been involved with the Wallabies squad (aswell). For me, the next thing would be playing with the Wallabies setup [in the trial game last month]. I haven’t got a cap yet, or played again, but that’s still a milestone. But playing in that game would surpass that Reds game.

I loved visiting your club (UQ) a few weeks back, obviously one of the great clubs in Brisbane. What’s your favourite thing about playing for Uni?

The great thing is just grassroots rugby, people just love rugby. Whether it’s Fifth grade, or Reserve grade, or Prem grade, everyone gets around each other. So I think after games, you might have a little bit to drink or something, whether it’s a win, or even a loss, coming back to Uni, it’s always a fun time. There are mates that I’ve played with since the beginning of my career. 

It’s always great coming back… meeting new people as well. You sort try to give feedback and advice to the players that are aspiring to be professional players as well. It’s always a good time.

Thank you for taking time to catch up. Good luck this season. When our NRC teams are strong, the Reds are stronger.

Exactly, yeah. Thank you Tommy. It’s alway good to have a chat with you. I think the boys will be up for it this week. It’ll be a tough game, but the boys will rip in and they’ll be ready for that City/Country game too. 

NRC 2018 - Ready for Kick-Off !!!

The NRC season is very close to kicking off and to say I'm excited is an understatement.

Brisbane City and Queensland Country have their squads together… and their first matches are this weekend, with City playing at home!!

The schedules are here.

Earlier this week, I was stoked to hear there'd be an "opposed training session" involving both teams, down at GPS's home-ground in Ashgrove. I didn't know exactly what that meant but then... on Friday, there was an "announcement" that it would be a game, a bit of a friendly.

It was a great hit-out, especially with a lot of tries being scored, nine all up.

Bring on next weekend!

A Friend from Norths from the Northern Hemisphere: Yuhei Yamazaki

First of all, congrats to the GPS Rugby Club who are now Premier Grade champions!!! What a game - and well done Uni for putting up a good fight! It’s funny, I’m already looking forward to the next club rugby season.

Speaking of club rugby… great moments and great people… Back in May when I was watching the Reds play in Tokyo, a guy named Yuhei came up to me and said he used to play for Norths rugby club in Brisbane!

He played for Norths for 2 seasons, in 1990-91. He has now retired from playing and is a lecturer in Health Sciences, in Kamogawa (near Tokyo). We kept in touch and I asked him if he’d be interested in answering some questions for Reds Rugby Rules.

I hope you enjoy his answers! (He told me he’d forgotten a lot of his English, but I think he did pretty well!!)

It was great to meet you in Tokyo at the Sunwolves vs Reds game. Thank you for keeping in touch and for doing this email interview!

You told me that you have played rugby in Brisbane before for Norths. What brought you to Australia?

I went to Australia, because I wanted to play Rugby in Australia. I was fan of Mark Ella.

I didn’t know anyone in Australia, however, luckily I met a junior coach of Norths, George Minehan. He introduced me to the team.

If I didn’t meet him my life would have been different. Thanks to him and his family, I have been enjoying my life.

How many years did you live in Australia?

I lived in Australia for about two and half year more totally.

How many years did you play for Norths rugby club? And how old were you when you played here?

I played for Norths for 2 years. I was 22 and 23 years old.

What did you love about Norths?

I loved Norths, as the team coach and mates were friendly like a family and kind. We had lots of laughs.

Do you have any photos of you playing for Norths?

I have some photos with the team mates. These are my treasure.

Did you travel to Tokyo just to see the Sunwolves? You must be a big fan!

I am crazy about Rugby, actually it was my second time watching the the Sunwolves at stadium, though I wanted to watch the game because of the Queensland Reds. The Queensland Reds are my heroes.

How did you get into playing rugby?

My father used to play Rugby when I was high school and university. He established a junior Rugby club when I was in primary school and I joined the team. 

What’s your favourite thing about rugby?

My favourite thing of rugby is the heart of Rugby player and people who like Rugby are so nice.

Are you looking forward to the World Cup next year?!

It is like a dream to have the World cup in Japan, which I never imagined before.

I watched the first World Cup in 1987 the semi-final between Australia and France, and the All Blacks and Wales.

Thanks for answering some questions!

Thank you very much too.

It reminds me of the time with wonderful team mates and my host family, and nice people in Australia.

Hopefully, we do get to have that drink in Tokyo, or maybe in Komogawa some day!

I am looking forward to seeing you again.

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.