Rebels flanker Brad Wilkin reflects on skippering Iona’s First XV to AIC glory in 2013
The red-haired boy from Yeoval was hot property after cracking Australian Schoolboys in 2012 but Brad Wilkin’s Iona legacy was forged a year later.
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Few Queensland schoolboys generated as much hype in 2013 as Brad Wilkin.
The red-haired boy from Yeoval in NSW’s Central West had carved up the AIC competition in 2012, earned Australian Schoolboy selection as a Year 11 student and looked set for rugby stardom.
Sure enough, Wilkin delivered on the field and went on to represent his country before stints with the Australian sevens squad and NSW Waratahs.
But the now-Melbourne Rebels flanker’s favourite memories were made in the black and white of Iona College.
“Going through Iona, I’d never felt that much spirit in a team before. There was so much school pride and camaraderie,” Wilkin told The Courier-Mail.
“I still miss it a bit, to be honest. I still keep in touch and follow how the school’s going.”
Wilkin was elevated to the First XV as a fresh-faced 15-year-old after starring in a 2011 trial match and wore the quartered strip for three years straight.
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“I never expected to be playing in year 10 but (director of rugby) Keith Harron called me up and it just went from there. At the start of that season I didn’t really know what to do but the longer I was there, the more I learned from older guys in the team and when you’re a little bit older, you start stepping as a leader.”
It came as no surprise when Wilkin took over the captaincy in 2013 but few could have predicted the dominant season that followed.
Iona edged reigning premiers St Peters in Round 1 before sweeping Villanova, St Laurences and St Pats to set up a Round 5 thriller with St Edmunds.
“That St Peters one was really close and we almost let it slip but our best half was against Eddies,” Wilkin said.
“I can’t remember the scores exactly but I just remember blowing them off the park which was massive for us, especially how we did it in Ipswich away from home.”
“Then next week we went up against Marist, which was basically like the final but our first half was really bad and we went into halftime trailing 16-15.
“So when we came out in the second half and got that belief back, we ended up putting on around 40-50 points (final score was 43-16).”
Iona secured their undefeated premiership with a 95-3 win over Padua in Round 7 and success has seen lasting results at their Wynnum stronghold.
The Year 8 students who watched Wilkin five years earlier led the charge in Iona’s first ever Aggregate Cup win in 2018 to go along with a share in the First XV title.
It’s a far cry from the up-and-down Iona sides of yesterday and Wilkin is thrilled to see his alma mater succeed.
“Wasn’t always like that when I was there,” he said.
“We were never really one of the top schools, there were a few good years like 2013 but not always so it’s great to see they’re doing well.”
Wilkin underwent surgery four weeks ago to combat another knee injury and is targeting a Super Rugby return in 2020.
Iona will launch their season at home against Padua on Saturday, May 4.
IONA COLLEGE
AIC Premierships: 4
Most recent: 2018 (joint)
SIX IONIANS TO KNOW: Jared Waerea Hargraves, Luke Doherty, Dan Power, Shane Drahm, Ed Quirk, Brad Wilkin
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