BROTHERS
JUNIOR RLFC
BACKGROUND
AND HISTORY
Brothers
Junior Rugby League Football Club (BJRLFC), Brisbane began fielding teams in the
Brisbane Junior Rugby League competition in 1935.
The Junior Club was officially established in 1945 to administer and
foster junior teams for the Past Brothers Senior Club.
Brothers
Juniors owes a great deal to a number of families who have dedicated their time
and energies to ensure the Club has remained viable and strong for many years
i.e. the Donaldson’s, Hickey’s, McGraw’s and Munro’s just to name a few.
BJRLFC
Brisbane have produced the following Queensland players:
Reg
Cannon, Wayne Abdy, Barry Dowling, Len Dittmar, Robert Grogan, Bob Cock, David
Wright, Peter Gallagher and Noel Cavanagh.
Wright,
Gallagher and Cavanagh also represented Australia with Gallagher having the
honour of captaining his country against the Poms on a Kangaroo Tour.
NRL
players that BJRLFC have produced are:
Luke
Williamson (Canberra and Manly), Ashley Harrison (Broncos, South Sydney and
Easts), Shaun Valentine (ex Cowboys), David Shillington (Easts and Canberra
Raiders).
Recent
history reveals a fairly nomadic existence as we have had several ‘Home
Grounds’ i.e. Corbett Park, Padua College, Hickey Park, Gibson Park, and
Shawsportz, where we became foundation tenants in 1998.
A
decision was made at our AGM in 2005 based on sound business reasons to transfer
operations on a full time basis to Gibson Park where we have trained for the
past forty (40) years.
It
is our objective to upgrade the facilities to a level that will see it become
the best sporting arena on Brisbane's north side.
We are presently working with the Gibson Park Committee and the Brisbane
City Council to establish a 10 year plan which will incorporate a ‘Grand
Master Plan’ for the development of Gibson Park, our permanent home.
Season
2009 saw Brothers Juniors field a senior side in the Open Men’s North 3,
Brisbane Second Division Competition. This side played and won the grand final
in the traditional ‘Brothers Strip.’ This
was the first time in many years that a Brothers senior side wearing the
traditional butchers stripes had won a grand final.
BJRLFC
Brisbane has expanded its number of senior sides for 2010.
There are currently three senior sides nominated in the Brisbane Second
Division Competition during the 2010 season – Open North 2, Open North 3 and
Under 20’s.
The
2009 season also saw an unprecedented number of grand final wins with 5 from 8
and player registrations at an all time high of 450.
BJRLFC, Brisbane will continue to operate from our permanent home of
Gibson Park. We will continue to
provide the necessary infrastructure for our children to play the game of rugby
league and to play for Brothers in all age groups.
BJRLFC
has an ethos of being a friendly and family orientated club dedicated to its
proud traditions.
We
have regularly produced a number of representative players and BJRLFC prides
ourselves on the fact that there is every opportunity for all levels of the
community to play football for Brothers. In
cases of extreme hardship this club provides all possible assistance.
With
the demise of our senior club (Brothers Valleys) in 2004 and therefore the loss
of the association with the St.George Illawarra Dragons was seen as huge setback
for our club in relation to coaching and development assistance programs.
It became apparent that in order to protect our current player numbers
that we needed to form another link with a senior club as quickly as possible.
With that in mind we made an approach to North's in 2005, who had an affiliation
with the Melbourne Storm and all Junior clubs in our proximity were part of
their program known as the Northern Storm Development.
This association has now ceased, however North’s negotiated a new
package with the highly successful Brisbane Broncos Club and a new program known
as Northern Broncos Development Program is now in place.
This partnership can only assist in the retention of our talented players
and provide the necessary pathways for them to progress to the Q-Cup or NRL.
We
are currently exploring the option of ‘Constitutional Change’ with the
Stafford Bowls Club, through the establishment a ‘Sporting Club’ in
partnership with a number of stakeholders.
At the 2009 AGM for both BJRLFC and the Stafford Bowls Club, it was
resolved to further investigate the amalgamation of resources.
BJRLFC,
Brisbane celebrates our 75th Anniversary in 2010.
We are very proud of the history and tradition that has been created by
our predecessors and trust that players will continue to proudly don the famous
Blue and White butcher stripes.
The
formal celebration of our 75th Anniversary will be held during the
evening of Saturday 19 June 2010 at the Norths Sporting Club, Kallangur, tickets
will be on sale soon.
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