Tony Cross should be front and centre at Wests’ 2006 premiership reunion lunch on Saturday when all the tales of that triumph start to be embellished.
The excuse from the 2006 title coach says a lot about one of the humble, enduring figures who make the Queensland Premier Rugby scene what it is.
Twenty years on and he’s still coaching, still passing on a bit of wisdom to the young Bulldogs in third grade. Yes. He’ll be at the helm at Sylvan Road from noon in a key clash with a lower grades semi-final spot on the line.
Rugby at Wests is in his blood. It has been since he was a blond-haired enthusiast in the Under-14s at the Bulldogs in the 1970s.
“I keep coming back. I enjoy being around my club and it’s always good being involved with the boys,” Cross said.
“It’s probably a good thing I’m not starting at the pub with the boys at lunch. I’ll catch up soon enough at Wests.”
Now 66, Cross was once a blond-haired halfback who could have hit a bouncer at the old Rosie’s Tavern with a pinpoint pass from 15m away on a night out.
There’ll be plenty of time to catch up. Cross will join the lunch group when they land at Sylvan Road for the Brothers vs Wests clash from 3pm in the Sumo Energy Hospital Cup. Cassidy Holland, 2006’s co-captain, is an assistant coach.
Former Queensland Reds captains John Roe and Scott Higginbotham will be amongst the premiership group.
Both played for the Wallabies but there’s a thing about winning a club grand final.
“A lot play the game and never win a grand final. We were a good complete team, well coached, and we beat Brothers in the best way possible in the dying seconds,” Roe said of 2006.
Premiership reunions are unique. You don’t see runners-up reunions.
“It is special. A premiership keeps you all tied together and keeps you coming back to the club,” 2006 premiership centre Mike Swenson said.
“Players and people come and go at clubs but you remember those teams.”
The Bulldogs fourth graders who won the Bert Bickley Cup in 1986 are also diving in with a full-throttle 40-year reunion.
Those trophy moments in time bring the band back together every five years. Every 10 years. Every 20.
In the case of Norths, their golden Eagles of 1976 celebrated a 50-year reunion at the club in June for Damien Barker and Co. The last time the club won a premiership is so far in the past that we communicated by fax not iPhones.
The excitement around second-placed Norths potentially making the semi-finals for the first time in 34 years is not one of the feel-good stories of this season. It is the feel-good story of the season if there is the right punchline.
The Norths vs Easts clash on Saturday at Courtney Field is huge for both with positions No.2, No.3 and No.4 into the semi-finals so competitive.
When Wests tumbled 76-12 to Brothers in May the season might have unravelled because that was a fifth loss in the opening seven games.
The Bulldogs have regrouped to be fourth. Players like five-try flanker Joseph Fabish, a non-stop ball-carrier and breakdown pest, have been standouts.
Regular appearances from Reds prop Massimo De Lutiis and backrower Connor Anderson, on his return from Japan, have been added factors plus some Fijian flair. Harry McLaughlin-Phillips made a major difference when he was available.
On Saturday, Australia Under-20s lock Will Ross, Vaiuta Latu, Tim Ryan and Charlie Brosnan will be in the Brothers' ranks.
Seventh-placed University of Queensland, with Reds winger Lachie Anderson in harness, must knock off GPS at St Lucia on Saturday to have a hope. Premiers Bond University must go on the road to subdue the dangerous Sunnybank.
The Pilecki-Shaw Cup and the Bunter Bowl are both up for grabs at the Brothers vs Wests match, some tidy silverware ahead of finals.
With only two rounds to go before the semi-finals, the premiership reunion script for 2046 is still to be written.
