Brothers Rugby Union solid win over Southside on the weekend finishes the Lightning 15’s and caps a pleasing pre-season. Southside came out powerfully; the forwards were allowed a few rolling mauls allowing pressure through the 5/8 corridor and looking to use speed out wide. Brothers plan was to play good field position, take quality ball from set pieces and counter attack. The first 30 minutes was fairly tight.

Brothers showed good team defence, soaking up phases of pressure and keeping Southside to 2 tries. Set piece ball was satisfactory and the depth off the bench allowed constant pressure of fresh players to be applied throughout the matches. The nine tries scored by Brothers were shared amongst forwards and backs, with two late tries particularly positive - displaying good draw / pass / support skills. Brothers did well to weather the Southside storm and defuse their periods of pressure - countering for good effect.

Pre-season has uncovered some new talent, enabled a number of combinations to be trialled and helped the whole playing squad develop. Pre-season success is always welcome – but counts for little, last years Grand Final loss still burns. Success at the end of the season is the club focus.