Sport
29 August, 2025
Bears lose to Brothers ending another season of ‘what ifs’
Oakey Bears went down to Brothers 48-30 in a high scoring game at Glenholme Park on Sunday, bringing down the curtain on a mostly competitive, but unsuccessful Men’s A Grade season.
The Brothers Leprechauns finished their own regular season campaign with a polished display and as a result, have qualified for their first finals series in several years.
It was a tight first half with the Bears in front at one stage 12-10, until Brothers took control of the match.
Nick Carrie and Jarryd Dodd scored doubles, a nice reward for Dodd after returning from a long injury a couple of games ago.
Captain Cory McGrady was superb, as was Flynn Kaiser. Jacob Mouatt and Braith Clark also played well for the Leprechauns. Prop Kaiser was especially effective, time and time again making valuable metres.
Oakey certainly was not disgraced in a good performance, which capped off an improved season.
Jayme Turl grabbed a double for the Bears.
Brothers Leprechauns 48 (Nick Carrie 2, Jarryd Dodd 2, Harry Eyers, Wade Austin, Flynn Kaiser, Oliver Chappey, Harry Sterling tries Sam Betros 5, Harry Sterling goals) defeated Oakey Bears 30 (Jayme Turl 2, Will Bevin, Dylan Chown, Harrison Burns tries Tony Clevin 5 goals)
- Andrew O’Brien
SEASON RECAP
There was much intrigue pre-season after the Oakey Bears completely overhauled their roster, signing former NRL player Ash Taylor to captain the side and hiring a professional coach, Alan Kilshaw from England to oversee the entire football program.
Unfortunately, Kilshaw’s move to Oakey with his family didn’t work, and he departed before a game had been played. This resulted in Ash Taylor hastily being appointed to captain-coach, a position he had held in 2024 at Brothers, where the side finished tenth.
Expectations for the Bears were high after Round 1 when the new-look side thrashed Souths 40-6 at Clive Berghofer Stadium.
These hopes were dashed with a 52-18 home defeat to Wattles Warriors in Round 2.
This loss sparked a run of four straight defeats; 30-26 to the Danes at Pittsworth, 32-14 to eventual minor premiers Gatton at home, and a particularly tough 31-24 home loss to Highfields.
A Round 6 trip to Dalby snapped the streak, with the Bears taking out their frustrations on the Diehards with 38 unanswered points, ultimately taking their foot off the pedal to win 38-24.
The home crowd turned out the next Sunday for a Round 7 blockbuster against Warwick, confident of a win.
A see-sawing match saw Oakey hit the front 32-26 with six to go, before a Jake Speed double saw Warwick steal it on the bell.
This loss started another run of defeats, 48-24 against Valleys at John McDonald Complex, 32-24 to the Boars at Goondiwindi, and a 46-14 home thrashing at the hands of Brothers.
A chastened club steeled itself for a trip to the undefeated Gatton in Round 12, and emerged with a creditable 20-6 loss at Cahill Park, the best defensive performance since Round 1.
By this point, Oakey was 2 and 9 for the season and finals hopes were looking faint.
A 50-26 home win in Round 13 against Goondiwindi provided a spark of hope, but as they had been in Round 2, Wattles were the party-poopers, putting 50 points on the Bears for the second time in the year in a 52-12 Round 14 win. A dispirited Bears were loose in defence the next week, losing 44-28 to Dalby at home.
The season’s highlight undoubtedly came the next week in Round 17.
Oakey beat old foes Valleys 38-28, a cathartic win for Bears fans, who had not tasted victory over the Roosters since 2011.
However, this week’s performance provided a more accurate reflection of the season’s efforts.
At times, the defence has simply gone missing at points of the season.
In attack, the new playing group has shown itself to be capable of penetrating all defences except for Gatton and Wattles.
Ultimately, the side finished third-last, the same result for captain-coach Ash Taylor as the year before with previous club Brothers.
In today’s game, and in one of the toughest semi-professional leagues in the state, the role of captain-coach is a huge responsibility.
The Bears will have a big decision to make as to whether he has the capacity to both captain and coach the club to a winning standard.
RESERVE GRADE
Brothers Leprechauns 44 (Brok Whale 2, Anthony Mairu 2, Bryce Whale, William Rayner, Daniel Rub, Dwaine Jacobs tries Kharn Millward 6 goals) defeated Oakey Bears 6 (Kristian Bond try Cameron Moodie goal)
- Max Mayer
