Brad has a blast: ‘That was living a lifelong dream’

CQ beef industry identity leads team into battle against Classic Wallabies.

Brad Hanson captained the Beef Barbarians in the exhibition game against the Classic Wallabies in front of about 2500 spectators.

Brad Hanson realised a lifelong dream on Friday night.

The stud owner and livestock agent from Hourn and Bishop in Moura captained the Beef Barbarians against the Classic Wallabies in Rockhampton.

IN PHOTOS: 2500 fans flock to Classic Wallabies game

The exhibition game, run as part of Beef Australia, attracted about 2500 spectators to Victoria Park.

The Barbarians players included cattle producers, agents, buyers and beef industry identities.

They showed plenty of heart but were beaten convincingly by the Classic Wallabies, who were captained by Lote Luqiri and included the likes of Stephen Moore, Nathan Sharpe and George Smith.

Hanson said despite the result, he and his teammates were thrilled to be involved.

“That was living a lifelong dream to play against the Wallabies. I loved every minute that we were out there,” he said.

“The idea came up to put a beef industry team together. It took a bit of doing and the first time the whole team met was on Thursday at five o’clock for the captain’s run.

Beef Barbarians and Classic Wallabies players after their game at Rockhampton’s Victoria Park.

“We’ve got fellas all the way from Mount Gambier in South Australia through to Hughenden and Charters Towers in the north.

“There’s 1070 Test caps in them (the Classic Wallabies), there’s no way we were going to do it, but we put three tries on them. That’s just amazing and the boys who got those tries are just over the moon.”

Hanson played in the second row.

He laced up the boots for the first time in 25 years, the opportunity to mix it with some of the game’s legends proving too hard to resist.

“That’s the biggest game of my life,” he said.

“You can understand why they’re Wallabies when you play against them. They’ve still got it.

“Hopefully I get invited back and we do it again in three years.”

Hanson was on the Stud Cattle Committee for Beef Australia.

He said the 2021 edition of the nation’s premier beef industry exhibition was a roaring success.

“It’s been absolutely brilliant. We put a lot of effort and hard work into it,” he said.

“We redesigned the grounds totally, it’s a new footprint and it’s worked a dream.”

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Originally published as Brad has a blast: ‘That was living a lifelong dream’