McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City coaches and squad announced for 2017 National Rugby Championship
The Queensland Rugby Union today announced the McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City squad and coaching staff for the 2017 National Rugby Championship (NRC).
Seventeen players have been selected directly from Queensland Premier Rugby, with all nine clubs represented.
The announcement comes ahead of the first round of Queensland Premier Rugby finals, with 21 Brisbane City players in action this Sunday as Sunnybank and Wests clash in the minor semi-final, while University of Queensland and GPS will go head-to-head in the major semi-final.
The squad also features 18 players with Super Rugby experience and 18 returning Brisbane City players from last season.
There are also five capped Test players including Wallabies allocated players Quade Cooper and Karmichael Hunt, along with Kane Douglas, Samu Kerevi, and Nick Frisby.
University of Queensland Premier Grade head coach Mick Heenan will guide Brisbane City for the first time, having coached the Premier Rugby powerhouse since 2009.
Under Heenan’s direction, UQ has competed in the Queensland Premier Rugby finals every year since 2010 and has won the title three times. More recently, UQ finished the 2017 season as minor premiers, lifting the Horsley Cup for the second-straight season.
Head Coach Mick Heenan said: “It’s a really good blend of some old hard heads like Dan Gorman and some young exciting talent. Reece Hewat is a young guy that I’m particularly excited about.
“I’m happy with the players we’ve got from the professional environment. I think there are some blokes who had a good Reds’ season and some that haven’t made it on the field but have had good seasons playing for their clubs.
“You’re always looking for ways to improve your coaching skill set. The NRC provides the opportunity to work with both professional players and the best from the club, so I’m excited about the challenge.”
Heenan will be assisted in the role by GPS’ assistant coach Elwee Prinsloo, who was assistant coach of the Perth Spirit side that finished as runner-up to Nick Stiles’ Brisbane City in 2015, before claiming the 2016 NRC title.
Now entering its fourth year, the NRC is an exciting brand of Rugby featuring eight teams from across the country and for the first time ever, a team from Fiji.
Brisbane City is the competition’s most successful side, winning the inaugural competition in 2014 before defending it’s with an undefeated run in 2015.
The 2017 season will kick off at Ballymore Stadium with Brisbane City hosting the Fijian team on Saturday 2 September, at 3:00 pm.
For the first time in 2017, Brisbane City will take some of its home matches out to local clubs. The university of Queensland will host Brisbane City v Canberra Vikings on 16 September and Wests’ new Sci-Fleet Stadium will host Brisbane City v Melbourne Rising on 14 October.
For more information, go to www.redsrugby.com.au.
| 2017 McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City squad | |||
| Name | Age | Club | Representative Honours |
| PROPS | |||
| Markus Vanzati | 22 | Reds/Souths | Queensland Schoolboys (2012), Reds U20s (2015), Brisbane City NRC (2015-16), Queensland (2017) |
| Sam Talakai | 25 | Reds/Brothers | Waratahs v British & Irish Lions (2013), Brisbane City NRC (2014-2016), Queensland (2015-) |
| Laione Mulikihaamea | 28 | GPS | Perth Spirit NRC (2016) |
| Salesi Manu | 26 | Bond University | Western Force (2012-2014) |
| Feao Fotuaika | 24 | Sunnybank | Queensland Schoolboys (2011), Australian Schoolboys (2011), Australian U20s (2013), Queensland Country NRC (2014), Brisbane City NRC (2015-16) |
| HOOKERS | |||
| Tonga Ma’afu | 25 | Norths | Queensland Schoolboys (2009-2010), Queensland Country NRC (2014-15), Brisbane City NRC (2016) |
| Andrew Ready | 24 | Reds/Easts | Queensland Schoolboys (2010), Australia A Schoolboys (2010), Reds A (2013-14), Australian U20s (2013), Brisbane City NRC (2014-16), Queensland (2015-), Wallaby XV (2016) |
| Maile Ngauamo | 23 | Souths | Australian Schoolboys (2010-2011), Australian U20s (2013), Greater Sydney Rams (2014) |
| LOCKS | |||
| Kane Douglas | 28 | Reds/Norths | Australian U20s (2009), Australian Wallabies (2012-), Rugby World Cup (2015), Queensland (2016-) |
| Lukhan Tui | 21 | Reds/Souths | Australian U20s (2015-16), Queensland (2016-), Brisbane City NRC (2016), Wallabies squad (2017) |
| Daniel Gorman | 29 | GPS | Queensland Schoolboys (2005), Brisbane City NRC (2014-15) |
| Michael Richards | 24 | GPS | Queensland Schools (2010), Brisbane City U19s (2011), Brisbane City NRC (2016) |
| BACKROW | |||
| Adam Korczyk | 22 | Reds/University of Queensland | Queensland Schoolboys (2012), Australian Schoolboys (2012), Reds A (2014), Brisbane City (2014-16), Queensland (2015-), Australian U20s (2015) |
| Michael Gunn | 22 | Reds/Easts | Queensland Schoolboys (2012), Australian Schoolboys (2012), Reds U20s (2014-15), Reds A (2014), Brisbane City NRC (2014-16), Queensland (2015-) |
| Reece Hewat | 19 | Reds/Norths | Queensland Schoolboys (2015), Australian Schoolboys (2015), Queensland U20s (2017), Australian U20s (2017), Queensland (2017) |
| Jeremiah Lynch | 23 | Wests | Brisbane City NRC (2016) |
| Mitch King | 26 | GPS | Queensland Country Heelers (2010,2011), Reds College XV (2013) |
| Pat Morrey | 21 | University of Queensland | Queensland Country (2016) |
| Jack De Guingand | 25 | University of Queensland | Victorian Schoolboys (2009), Australian Schoolboys (2009), Australian Universities (2012) |
| SCRUMHALVES | |||
| Nick Frisby | 24 | Reds/GPS | Australian U20s (2012), Queensland (2012-), Brisbane City NRC (2014-2016), Wallabies (2016), Wallaby XV (2016) |
| Moses Sorovi | 21 | Reds/University of Queensland | Queensland Schoolboys (2013), Australian Schoolboys (2013), Queensland Indigenous U18s (2013), Queensland U20s (2016), Brisbane City NRC (2015-16), Queensland (2017-) |
| Issak Fines-Leleiwasa | 21 | Sunnybank | Queensland Schoolboys (2012, 2013), Australian Schoolboys (2012, 2013), Youth Olympics Sevens (2012), Reds A (2014), Reds U20s (2014-2015), Australian U20s (2014-2015), Queensland Reds (2015, 2016), Queensland Country NRC (2014-) |
| FLYHALVES | |||
| Quade Cooper (Wallabies allocated player) | 29 | Reds/Souths | Australian Schoolboys (2005-2006), Australian U19 (2007), Queensland (2006-2015, 2017-), Wallabies (2008-), Rugby World Cup (2011, 2015), Brisbane City NRC (2014-2015) |
| James Dalgleish | 22 | University of Queensland | Queensland U16 (2011), Queensland Schoolboys (2012), Brisbane City (2015-16) |
| AJ Alatimu | 24 | GPS | Perth Spirit (2016) |
| CENTRES | |||
| Alex Horan | 20 | University of Queensland | Queensland U20 (2015-16), University of Canberra Vikings (2016) |
| Henry Taefu | 24 | Reds/Sunnybank | Queensland Schoolboys (2010), Australian U20s (2013), Brisbane City NRC (2015-16), Queensland (2016-17) |
| Samu Kerevi | 23 | Reds/Souths | Queensland Schoolboys (2011), Fiji U20s (2012), Queensland (2014-), Brisbane City NRC (2014-2015), Wallabies (2016-) |
| OUTSIDE BACKS | |||
| Karmichael Hunt (Wallabies allocated player) | 30 | Reds/Norths | Queensland State of Origin RL (2006-2009), Kangaroos RL (2006-2008), Queensland (2015-), Brisbane City (2015), Wallabies (2017) |
| Maalonga Konelio | 27 | GPS | Perth Spirit NRC (2015-16) |
| Chris Kuridrani | 25 | Reds/GPS | Fiji U20s (2010), Australian U20s (2011), Queensland (2014-), Brisbane City NRC (2014-) |
| Jayden Ngamanu | 19 | Reds/Souths | Australian Schoolboys (2015), Youth Commonwealth Games Sevens (2015), Queensland U20s (2016-17), Brisbane City NRC (2016), Queensland (2017-) |
| Lachlan Maranta | 25 | Reds/Wests | Brisbane Broncos NRL (2012-16), Queensland (2017-) |
| Ed Fidow | 23 | Wests | Samoa Sevens (2016-) |
| Junior Laloifi | 22 | Sunnybank | Victorian Schoolboys (2012), Australia A Schoolboys (2012), Australian Sevens (2012) |
|
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