Catching up with Queensland Country Captain Angus Scott-Young

Angus Scott-Young has been putting in the hard yards with the Reds and in the NRC with Queensland Country for a few years now. I’d been keen to catch up with him for some time and was glad we were able to sit down and catch up. Since we organised our interview, it was announced that he was chosen as Captain of this years QLD Country squad!

Congrats to Angus and also to everyone else that was selected to be a part of both the Queensland Country and the Brisbane City squads!! I’m looking forward to an exciting season.

[NRC update: Brisbane City have their first local game this Saturday at 3pm, down at GPS in Ashgrove. Our Country side are playing over in Perth, but you can watch that game and all other games live for free, at www.rugby.com.au.)

I hope you enjoy reading my conversation with Angus!

Hey Angus, thanks for taking time to sit down and chat. First of all, congrats to you and the UQ squad on your premiership win this year. No doubt you will be hungry for more success with Queensland Country.

Yeah of course. It’s pretty cool winning with Uni. I remember watching them throughout the season, they were like 7th or 8th, I think at one point. I was obviously off with the Reds… I was pretty keen to get back and play. I had a few health concerns, I don’t know if you know, I was in hospital for a couple of days. I had a bit of pneumonia which isn’t the best thing to have. I was in hospital for the Easts game, I was watching and cheering in my bed… then I got out 2 days before the Uni-Jeeps game and I was running waters. I wasn’t the best water runner cos I was kind of struggling to breath (laughs). But I got a bit better during the week and got 20 minutes at the back end of the final.. but it was awesome to win. But yeah like you said with the NRC… coming second last year doesn’t really sit well with me, so hopefully we can do one better this year.

We planned to catch up last week and so it was cool to hear, just a few days ago that you were given the captaincy. How are you feeling about that?

Yeah it’s pretty cool. I’ve played with Country for four years now and I was always the young guy that followed the orders, now I guess it’s a bit of a different challenge to be the guy telling everyone else what to do. I’m still kind of finding my feet because I was a captain of under-12s, that was probably the last time. Ever since then, I’ve just been doing my job. But it’s a good group of guys, they make it pretty easy. So hopefully we can get some good performances out there. 

What does the NRC mean to you and your teammates, especially in the lead up to the Reds season next year?

Yeah. For me, I’ve always seen NRC as a place to test yourself in a different sort of arena. Cos with Super, you get pretty nervous when you’re out there and as a young guy, I was pretty focused on just doing my job, I wasn’t as focused on expansive game playing and pushing my skills and that sort of stuff.

NRC is a place to develop those skills. And relating to the previous question… Hopefully I can develop my leadership skills and that can shine through to the Reds season and I can take more initiative in that sort of arena.

I’m looking forward to getting my Reds membership for next season. In the mean time, I’m excited about the NRC games, especially the local ones we will see this year.

Yeah, we’ve got a few. Next weekend is the double header down at Bond [Sunday 8th September]. Have you heard about that one?

City will play first [at 1pm] and we’re playing second [at 3pm]. How good will that be? A big day in the sun… I’m excited for that one.

Me too! I hope you don’t mind if we talk about your rugby journey.

Yeah of course, all good.

What was it like watching your dad play for the Reds and for the Wallabies while you were growing up?

So my Dad’s career was more in his prime in the early 90s and I was born in ’97. So his career was sort of coming to an end when I was born. Obviously, growing up I watched a lot of his games when I was younger though.

One of the ones I remember quite profoundly was when I was around 8 or 10 years old and he was going on an Ex-Wallabies legends tour and they played against the South African Barbarians team or something, over in Durban. So I went over with my family and my brother and I were ball-boys which was pretty cool. That was my earliest memory of being actively involved.

How old were you when you played your first game?

I actually used to play soccer when I was young ‘cause Mum thought it would be good to keep the foot skills up. I was probably 6 when I started soccer. My first footy game, I was probably at 8, down at Brothers, right near my house. It was still touch back then. I think my first game of tackle was under-9. That’s when I started to really enjoy it, ‘cause I was pretty much bigger than everyone else. So I was a pretty good player, everyone would just give me the ball and I’d run through some people.

What clubs did you play for before you came to UQ?

Yeah, I played at Brothers for probably 4 years. Then I moved across to Easts, because all my school mates were at the Eastside, I went to Churchie eventually. Then I stopped playing club to focus on school footy. Then getting out of school, I started down at UQ. I started studying there, I got a scholarship, so I was just started doing everything over there.

Are you excited about the rule changes coming up? Also, in particular... can you talk about the 50:22 rule? (Some of my readers, like my Mum, are clueless about rugby, so feel free to start from the beginning.)

Yeah it’s pretty cool, the new rules. The 50:22… Apparently, if you’re behind the 50 meter line and you kick it out, you get the line-out. It’s gotta bounce, but if it goes out inside the other 22… you get to throw it in. And the same with the opposite - if you’re inside the 22 and if you kick it out past the 50 meter line, you get the throw as well. It’s pretty cool… changes the game up a bit. Apparently it will impact the game by making more free-flowing footy because they’ll have one more person back to cover the kick. So that will affect the defensive structures of teams.

And also, if you’re held up over the line when trying to score, it’s a drop-out, instead of a 5 meter scrum, which I think’s pretty good. ‘Cause there’s a lot of time when they just keep getting held up, keep scrummaging, keep getting held up and it’s like you’re defending all day. Drop-outs are pretty cool, it reminds me a bit of League, which could be pretty fun.

With the 50-22 - if a team masters that and does it really well, I can see that being a massive weapon.

Thanks for that. I think the NRC is going to be fun, especially with these new rules being trialed.

Yeah, it will be exciting and makes it fresh again!

Thanks Angus for taking time to chat today! All the best over in Perth, this weekend. I’ll be watching online!

Perfect. Thanks very much. Thanks for having a chat with me!

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.

It's Club Finals Time! Ruan Smith and GPS are Rearing to Go

With another exciting round of club finals coming up, I decided to head down to GPS Rugby Club in Ashgrove, ahead of their Premier grade knock-out game against Uni this weekend. (If you're interested in looking at my Jeeps club profile, from this time last year, click here.)

They went down to Brothers last week, but they have another chance at making the finals, this Sunday (11th August)… and the winner of that game will progress to the finals the week after, against Brothers! 

To mark the occasion, I wanted to try and catch up with GPS and Reds prop, Ruan Smith. Thanks Ruan for making some time, especially when you had a long drive back to the Sunny Coast ahead of you!

Hi Ruan,

How did training go with GPS tonight?

It went well Tommy, it went smooth. A lot of mistakes, we’ve been working on a few things, coming to this weekend, we want to change… but that’s why we’ve trained so we can fix the mistakes. We’ve got another run tomorrow night and we’ll smooth it out from there.

It’s do or die against Uni this weekend. What’s the mindset of the team this week?

Exactly that - I know it’s an old cliche… but we did there same last year, lost our first game and had to beat Uni again, so it’s the same team again. Whoever wants it more, like the old cliche goes. Hopefully Jeeps aye!

How’s JP at the moment?

JP had surgery on Tuesday morning. He’ll be out a few months. He had a tear in his knee tendon. So what they did is they went and cut it and had to let it bleed and heal properly. So he’ll be out for a while. But he’s recovering, hopefully good. He’s doing nothing... Eating, growing fat.

You’ve been back in Queensland now for around 2 seasons. What’s been your highlight, playing rugby here so far?

Mate, my highlight is just being back at my club, where it all began in 2011. This is the club that gave us the opportunity, this is where it all happened. So that’s my highlight, being back here at Jeeps.

You must be proud of the GPS boys season so far...

Oh, for sure. But all the hard work has to reflect in the next two games. If we don’t win anything, it doesn’t mean much does it. I’m proud of them doing well and I’m excited to be part of it now.

Are you looking forward to NRC starting back up?

I am mate, I am. I think the City team this year will be a lot of fun. Instead of focusing on being too professional and having a bit more fun and enjoying it.

Thanks for giving so much back to club rugby. I’m still very glad you and your brother are playing here in Queensland.

Awesome Tom. Always good to see you and always a pleasure my friend. Are you coming this weekend?

I’ll be there! [Sidenote once again for readers: Ballymore Stadium Sunday, August 11th, 3:05pm]

Perfect we’ll see you then. And hopefully in 2 weeks, you’ll get a picture with the trophy.

🙂

Alright, I’ve got to run back to the Coast to take care of JP, because he can’t do anything…

No problem. See you on Sunday at Ballymore!

It was also great to run into Bryce Hegarty, who's also pumped for this weeks game!