Brothers Rugby Club is a rugby union club in Albion, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, which calls itself "Brisbane's Family Rugby Club". Its home is Crosby Park, and its players wear navy and white "butcher stripes". The club fields men's and women's grade teams, colts and junior sides.
History
The Christian Brothers College Football Club was formed at the Carlton Club Hotel on Queen Street on 2 March 1905. From 1906 until 1928 it was known as Christian Brothers Football Club. After first playing in plain hoops, the club adopted its navy and white butcher stripes in 1906, when a Scottish supplier sent irregular hoops by mistake. The club traces this heritage to St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace.
During the First World War, when rugby union was suspended, the club played rugby league as Merthyr Football Club (1917–1918) and as Carlton Football Club in junior grades. By the club's count, it has never gone into recess and has competed in every season since its formation.
The club calls itself the first Brisbane club to secure its own ground, when it moved to Crosby Park, Albion, in 1949. The club fielded junior (colts) teams from 1961, sub-junior (underage) teams from 1968 and a women's team from 1996. In 1991 Brothers merged with the Ascot Clayfield Sub-Junior Club to form the Brothers-Ascot Clayfield Junior Rugby Club.
The club's 120th annual general meeting was held at Crosby Park on 17 December 2025. In 2026 the men's 1st Grade played in the Hospital Cup. On the 2026 grand final weekend the club won the Hospital Cup and the 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade and Colts 2 premierships across two days.
Honours
By the club's count, its 1st Grade premierships are:
- 1st Grade premiers: 1907, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1915, 1919, 1926, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1959, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 2009, 2016, 2023, 2024, 2026
In 2026 the club also won the 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade and Colts 2 premierships, alongside the Hospital Cup.
Ground
The club's ground and postal address is Crosby Park, 103 Crosby Road, Albion QLD 4010. The club's restaurant, Crosby's Bar & Grill, is at Crosby Park, and the ground also has the Green Shed Bar. In 2026 the under-6 to under-9 juniors trained at Windsor Park, Grafton Road, Windsor.
Teams and training
In September 2026 the club had a men's 1st Grade and 2nd to 6th Grade teams, a women's 1st Grade team and five colts teams. Its junior programme runs from the Little Brothers programme for four- and five-year-olds and Get Into Rugby for under-6 and under-7 players, through junior fifteens from under-10 to under-16, to Junior Colts (under-18) and girls' sevens. The club also runs Brothers Touch, a touch football programme with a junior section for children aged 5 to 8 and a senior representative programme.
Training for 2026, as of September 2026:
| Group | Training |
|---|---|
| Senior grades | Pre-season from Tuesday 20 January; Tuesday and Thursday 6:00pm–7:30pm, at Windsor Park until 29 January, then at Crosby Park |
| Get Into Rugby (U6–U7) | Thursday 5:30pm–6:15pm, Windsor Park |
The Little Brothers programme cost $160 a term in 2026.
Club life
The club's teams are known as "the Brethren", and the club invites new members to join the "Blue and White Army".