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So, one day after trekking to Suncorp Stadium with 50 224 other people to witness the annual Dragons choke, I took my place on The Hill at the disappointingly quiet Ballymore Park for the Brisbane Premier Grade final between Souths and Brothers.
The reports that Quade Cooper would make the dash from Wellington to take his place in the Souths line-up turned out to be true and he proved his worth almost immediately by scoring an astonishing individual try after collecting a Brothers up-an-under. The conversion made the score 7-3.
However, Brothers scored two tries before half time, and one try and a penalty after half time, to make the score 23-7. As the match ticked over in to the final quarter Souths scored two tries to close the gap to 4 points and suddenly had all the momentum. Despite this, Brothers managed to resist the sustained Souths pressure and eventually managed to slot a penalty in the final minutes to take the score to 26-19.
Unfortunately, this is where things got ugly over to the right of me on the hill when humorous by-play between opposing groups of supporters erupted in to a mass fist-fight (started when a drunk lower-grade Souths player punched a Brothers supporter in the face).
However all of this couldn't distract the players on the field and Brothers took a well deserved victory.
Eastern Stand
McLean Stand
The Hill
F***ing brawl
Full time