‘I couldn’t be more proud’: Brothers coach ecstatic after come from behind prelim final victory
Minor premiers Brothers have punched their ticket to the MDRL grand final with head coach Tom Heggie heaping praise on his side after their stirring victory over Mackay Magpies.
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Champion teams always seem to find a way, and the men over at Mackay Brothers Football Club certainly fit that billing after their stirring comeback victory over Mackay Magpies in Sunday’s MDRL preliminary final.
In what was a back-and-forth affair throughout, eventually Brothers were able to get their noses in front when it mattered most, winning 22-20 at Harrup Park.
Coming off the back of a brutal extra-time loss last weekend against Sarina, which was only their second defeat of 2024, Brothers needed to find a way to stand up in the face of adversity.
“It was a really pleasing performance, especially after last weekend’s disappointment,” Brothers coach Tom Heggie said.
“The boys got themselves together through the week and we had a great week of preparation and didn’t carry any scars from it.
“I couldn’t be more proud.”
After Brothers scored the opening try via star centre Jayden Batchelor, the Magpies hit back through the middle portion of the contest, with winger Maika Tudravu scoring a spectacular try to open his side’s account.
The teams scored a try each in the first half to make it a 12-12 game at the main break, before the Magpies took the largest lead of the game via a try from Josh Kilpatrick, followed by a conversion and subsequent penalty goal from Bayley Gill to extend their lead to 20-12.
“We’ve been really good at holding our composure throughout the year even if the scoreboard doesn’t read in our favour,” Heggie said.
“The boys back themselves in regardless of the situation, we were under a lot of pressure there but I always sensed that we had another effort in us.”
And as time ticked down it was a case of cometh the hour, cometh the man as Batchelor took on a pack of Magpies defenders to score his second try and bring his side within two points thanks to a stellar conversion from Rydge Smith.
It was left to winger Kane Simon to score the winning try for his side in the 74th minute, with the 22-20 scoreline cemented by some spirited defence from Brothers until the final siren.
“The boys responded well to the atmosphere, we spoke about it last week, Sarina has a really vocal crowd and we had to just be prepared for it.
“I felt like it was in our favour (on Sunday), we’ve got a really good and loyal supporter base that shows up for us, and we’ll be calling on them again.”
While Heggie emphasised his team-above-individual mantra, he did make special mention of his dual try-scoring centre’s phenomenal performance.
“He’s a first-class performer, a 10-plus year A grade player at Brothers, he’s a spiritual leader for us despite being a man of few words,” Heggie said.
“He wasn’t happy with this game last week, he took it personally and did a really good job, I couldn’t be happier with how he played.
“And that extends to our entire front pack, in really hot conditions they stood up in an incredible way for the full 80 minutes.
“It was a shared performance and they all did a really good job against an experienced and seasoned opponent.”
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