Bundaberg Past Brothers Rugby League Football Club members past and present will reunite on 30 September to celebrate the club’s 75th anniversary.
All Brothers players, coaches, managers, committee members, volunteers, supporters, and partners are invited to join the reunion dinner in the John Byrne Event Centre at the Brothers Sports Club.
The evening will be hosted by Channel 7 legend Pat Welsh, with special guests Brothers juniors Tony Rea and Les Kiss.
Established in 1947, Past Brothers have racked up an impressive 25 premiership wins in their 75 years.
The club’s first premiership came with the reserve grade side winning in 1948, followed by the A grade team breaking through in 1953.
The club won the 2023 premiership, coached by recently awarded life member Andrew “Wally” Hamilton, clenching their fifth premiership title in 10 years.
Gordon Walker was a player on the 1955 premiership winning team, and now aged 96 is one of the club’s oldest former players.
He, along with son Brad and daughter-in-law Bronwyn, is looking forward to the reunion, which will be a chance to reminisce about old friends and share memories like selling tickets out the front of the Palace Hotel on Saturday mornings in the days before Brothers had a club building.
In 1955 Gordon moved to Bundaberg where his wife Beryl had been born and raised, and quickly became involved with the Brothers Club after running into a couple of players he knew from Lismore.
“The club was good to me,” Gordon said.
“Brothers football got me the job at the fire brigade.
“I never played much because I was on the fire brigade and I missed a lot, I couldn't get it out to the games, sometimes the fellas worked for me to let me play.”
The 1955 grand final was particularly memorable for Gordon, as it was the same day his son Brad was born.
“Because the wife was due that day, I said I won’t to go out and play [but] she said go out and play,” Gordon recalled.
“And she went to the hospital, and I got [called] to say that Brad was born, so instead of celebrating I had to go to the hospital and see him.”
“So that's why I've got to be a Brothers person too,” Brad added.
Gordon later coached the A grade team when then-Brothers coach Elton Rasmussen was called up to join the National team and play for St George.
Past Brothers Reunion Committee Chair Scott Thorne said the reunion would be a night to celebrate and remember the club’s achievements, on and off the field.
“This success doesn’t happen by accident,” Scott said.
“The evening will be about the club celebrating its many members who have come and gone over the years and contributed to the club’s rich culture.
“It’ll be a night of fellowship and sharing fond memories of days gone by.”
Tickets for the event can be purchased from Brothers Sports Club reception for $40.
Available for purchase on the night will be a magazine celebrating 75 years of the club for $10 and a commemorative Kalki Moon Brothers gin for $80, along with a lucky door prize and raffles for an assortment of signed NRL merchandise to win.
For more information about the reunion, contact Scott Thorne on 0437 518 002.
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