The much-anticipated Welsby Cup match between first and second-placed Brothers and Easts lived up to its prestigious tag. Both teams played with guts and determination and Brothers earned a hard-fought 28-17 victory over the Tigers.

In other games, the Sunshine Coast received their first win of the season, narrowly defeating the Gold Coast 26-22. GPS achieved a very convincing win over Norths by winning 30-3. Souths beat reigning Premiers Sunnybank 31-26 whilst Uni came out on top over Wests, winning 13-8.

As each week goes by, the finals keep getting closer and closer. At this stage of the competition, it is really tight at the top and proves that it can be anyone’s game. What will the coming weeks bring for our stellar Premier Grade Competition? Only time will tell…

Until then, you can keep up to date with all the Premier Rugby news by using this link: http://www.redsrugby.com.au/PremierRugby.aspx

On this page, you can look at the ladder for each grade competition to see where your club is placed. There’s also detailed match reports which look at each game and include what coaches were thinking after the match. Happy trawling!

Brothers v Easts.

The much-anticipated Welsby Cup clash between Easts and Brothers didn’t disappoint, with Brothers achieving a hard-fought 28-17 victory over Easts.

Easts were on a mission to maintain possession of the Cup after last year’s victory over Brothers and showed strong displays of attack from the onset, testing Brothers’ stellar defence.

Brothers demonstrated consistently strong team work, combining their skills to stop several Easts players just short of the line and gain more territory. Despite this, it was a frustrating first half for Brothers, with Dallan Murphy’s boot being the sole points provider. Brothers attempted to capitalise on some handling errors from Easts but Easts’ defence proved too strong.

Brothers coach Matt Kaye noted a need for improvement, “Even though it was great to get the win and it’s great that we’re still on the top of the table, we just need to keep improving every week and we’ll work on the holes that showed in our performance today.”

Australian Sevens player Shannon Walker proved to be an integral part of the Easts side, scoring the only try of the first half. His speed and effective attack made him a standout player in the game.

The pace picked up in the second half, with both teams putting more points on the board as the presentation of the much-coveted Welsby Cup loomed. Easts’ defence slightly weakened, conceding three tries in the second half. Coach Pat Richards acknowledged his team’s overall strong performance but also believes that improvement is needed, “I’m still confident as finals get closer but ultimately Brothers was the better side today and we can learn from the experience.”

Coach Kaye also has the finals in his sights, “I’m definitely confident going into the rest of the season but once again, improvement is a necessity in order to get to the finals.”

The presentation of the Welsby Cup to Brothers added to the buzzing atmosphere of the large home crowd, with Ladies Day coinciding with the encounter.

Brothers will move away from Crosby Park next week, being hosted by an ever-strengthening Wests side and Easts will play the Gold Coast Breakers.

Brothers 28 (Dallan Murphy, Luke Beauchamp 2 tries, Dallan Murphy 3 pen, 1 con) defeated Easts (Shannon Walker, Andrew Parker tries, Matt Brandon 1 pen, 2 con)

 GPS v Norths

Match review here

Round 10 Results

Round 11 Matches

The Ladder after round 10

Join the conversation in the forum thread — we’d love your input. Give us your thoughts on the game you attended and we’ll put it in next week’s post. Remember your #3rdtier hashtag when tweeting the games, and check out the 3rdTier Facebook page.

And remember: If You Come, They Will Build It.