Wallabies great George Smith, Scott Higginbotham and Radike Samo are just the start of the high-calibre turnout of Classic Wallabies for a match in Toowoomba on Saturday night.
Former Goondiwindi Emus lock Sam Tweedy certainly did a double-take when he perused the likely line-up…because he’s playing against them.
“I grew up idolising guys like George Smith so there are a few nerves. This is not an opportunity you get every day,” Tweedy said.
Tweedy, 36, has been retired since 2022 but the whiff of a good cause, great fun and being selected in the Darling Downs Team of the Decade XV has brought him back for one more game at Toowoomba Sports Ground on Saturday at 5pm.
Got your tickets yet?? 🦘💚💛 Meet your favourite @classicwallabies THIS SATURDAY as we Rumble in the Region >> Link in...
Posted by Downs Rugby on Monday, February 24, 2025
Tweedy won seven Risdon Cups as Darling Downs premiers with the Emus across more than 200 games for his club.
There will be more than 200 Test caps of experience in the Classic Wallabies side with Henry Speight and Lachie Turner adding some speed to the grunt up front.
Smith played in World Cups and won Bledisloe Cups but there’s one cup he never got his hands on.
“It’s funny. Being from the bush, when we’d get together to watch the Wallabies on TV in a Bledisloe or at the World Cup we’d say, ‘But how many Risdon Cups has he won?’” Tweedy said with a laugh.
A free 10am Kids Clinic run by the Classic Wallabies and a program of four games aims to stir some fund-raising to pay for a development officer and assist the Downs teams travelling to Townsville for the Queensland Country Championships.
**
A Brothers v Wests trial at 3pm is also on the menu in Toowoomba.
For Brothers, it is a valuable final hitout before the Australian Club Championship match against Sydney premiers Easts at Crosby Park on March 8.
It should be a superb day at Crosby Park.
It’s likely the Brethren will be able to call on their new flyhalf Jude Gibbs, free of Reds squad duties for the day.
Wests have a bunch of new faces to meld into a team.
One intriguing new recruit is fullback-winger Matthias Douglas, 21 and a fast-stepping attacker who has played for the Italian Under-20s and Italy’s sevens team.
**
World Cup-winner Matt Cockbain is back in Brisbane to live and is still eager to continue in top-level coaching.
For now, that’s a bonus for his old club GPS where he will work with the pack as an assistant coach during the StoreLocal Hospital Cup.
It’s also good news for Brisbane Grammar because he’s chiming in to assist with the forwards during the GPS First XV season.
Cockbain was a fixture in some of Queensland’s best-ever sides as Minister of Defence from the backrow for seven seasons from 1997.
He hasn’t lived in Brisbane since 2007 because the world of coaching has taken him to Japanese clubs, the Melbourne Rebels, the NSW Waratahs and a stint with Fiji.
A visit to Ballymore on a quiet day this week brought back many memories but few as fond as the grand final-winning night with GPS in 1996 when Souths were upset 12-6.
“The big Jeeps crowd on the hill thought time was up and we’d won it so they flattened the advertising hoardings in front of XXXX Hill and ran on,” Cockbain recalled.
“There was still time to play with a Souths penalty so the ref had to get the crowd off.
“Souths made a bit of a run but nothing came of it. I still remember a GPS fan saying, ‘Mate, even if he had a clear run to the tryline he wasn’t going to make it against that crowd’.
“Good memories.”
**
Congratulations to Rick Archer.
The Sunshine Coast stalwart has been awarded the Norbert Byrne Medal as Queensland Rugby Union Volunteer of the Year.
Archer holds a Director of Coaching position aimed at educating and training coaches.
The expertise he has sharpened at the grassroots level and in schools is vital to improve the coaching qualities on the Sunshine Coast.
**
The Reds Development XV is creating valuable game time. A narrow 48-47 win over Wests at Ballymore Stadium last Saturday was an excellent hitout for both teams.
Backrower John Bryant played until the 70th minute. Hooker Josh Nasser scurried over for a try in his 40 minutes and halfback Louis Werchon also crossed the tryline against his Bulldogs mates who he will join during the Hospital Cup.
"The Brisbane heat is a bit different to playing in the cold of Belfast. It was good to have a hitout like that and feel the lungs," Bryant said.
The Reds Development XV will be in action again tomorrow against University of Queensland from noon as the curtain-raiser to the Reds women playing Penina Pasifika at 3:05pm at Ballymore.
