End of an Era
Greg Shannon A few weeks ago I attended the latest QRL history committee meeting in Brisbane, which proved to be a significant event as it was the last one to be chaired by one of the great stalwarts of Queensland Rugby League - Kevin Brasch. Anyone who has followed the game for a long time will know who Kevin is, but for those who don’t, he was a former halfback from the 1960s who went on to become one of the codes great administrators, managing the Queensland State of Origin side and Australian sides in the 1980s and was a member, and at one stage chairman, of the Australian Rugby League. Back in 2008 Kev took on the role of establishing and running the QRL histo-
Then & Now ry committee. Your truly was fortunate enough to be part of this committee, and Kev became a great mentor. The many stories he can recall from his 75 years playing, coaching and administering rugby league would fill a book! In his youth, Kev played rugby league before turning briefly to Rugby Union in his teens, making the Queensland rugby union side as a halfback in the late 1950s. Qualifying as a teacher, he moved to the UK and played rugby league for Huddersfield before coming home to play in Brisbane with Valleys club in the old Brisbane Rugby League competition. In those days, rugby league was played under the unlimited tackle rule. Any side who had the ball could keep it all game if
they didn’t knock on or lose a scrum. So the halfback’s role and teamwork with his forwards was vital in trying to win possession through scrums. Kev recalls one day playing for valleys against the old Brisbane Brothers club who had a new front rower from the bush. A few years later after transferring to Mount Isa Kev made the North Queensland (NQ) side to play France. Joining the NQ squad in Townsville, one of the first new NQ teammates he met was that same big front rower who had played for Brisbane Brothers – Tully’s own Danny Clifford. Kev turned to coaching and club administration with the Brisbane Norths club in the 1970’s after returning from Mount Isa. One of the many Brisbane Norths juniors from that time when Kev was the clubs President is MSF’s Mick Ward. When the first origin series was played in 1982 Kev was appointed co-manager of the Queensland side and he also co- managed Queensland sides to England and PNG in 1983. He remained Queensland manager until 1988 and also co-managed Australian sides up until 1991. Now his 80s Kev has finally called full time on his involvement in the game, but it is worth noting just how people like him have helped build the game. They played and coached and administered the game in an era when everyone held down full time jobs and they did it mainly because they simply loved the game.
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