Aaron Gorrell to lead return to first grade for Brothers

The Wagga club withdrew from the top grade this season, and took part in only the reserve grade, leaguetag and Weissel Cup competitions.

However they have installed the former NRL player, who also boasts more than a decade of coaching experience, as their new coach

Gorrell is looking forward to the challenge of getting the club back on track.

"Looking through who has previously played here, and I've had a little bit to do with a couple of them, I think it's a proud club and they deserve to be back in first grade and be competitive," Gorrell said.

"It is a good challenge for me and I'm looking forward to it."

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Gorrell played 60 games in the NRL with St George Illawarra and Brisbane, and also spent two seasons in the English Super League, before 10 seasons as coach of Queanbeyan Kangaroos.

He's also no stranger to the region after coaching both Group Nine and Riverina, including taking the Bulls through to the Country Championships final this year.

Gorrell believes having the opportunity to start afresh can really help shape the direction the club wants to go in.

"Obviously it wasn't ideal with what happened to them this year not fielding a team but I think it is a good opportunity to start with a blank canvas and build a club around people you want in your club," Gorrell said.

"It's a little bit harder to clear out dead wood if there's too much of it and you can tread on a few too many toes so we're just going to build in the next month.

"We want a few key signings who are good people and build around that.

"There's a few blokes we have been speaking to and I think you can build a club around them and have the right culture.

"That's pretty important."

Brothers president Zac Wilson is thrilled to have Gorrell on board.

He believes his experience will really help the club, who withdrew from first grade due to a lack of numbers following a couple of tough seasons on the field.

"We were actually in contact with Aaron in a previous year about potentially coaching so there's been a bit of history there," Wilson said.

"He's keen to do it, he's got experience playing and coaching at high levels so we're happy to have him on board."

Wilson believes having some new to the club is also going to be a big benefit going forward.

"He's got plenty of experience, new ideas and he's obviously not local which brings some different ideas and different potential for talent identification," he said.

"It's good and we're happy to have him."

Brothers only managed one win with their reserve grade team this season, to finish above Junee on points differential.

It comes after they won just three first games in 2022, two against wooden spooners Southcity, and they were winless in 2021.

However Wilson hopes having Gorrell locked in will be the boost the club needs to be competitive once again.

"Now that we're a month out from the season being finished and now that we've got Aaron on board we can move forward," he said.

"The next month is going to be a big month for us leading into Christmas, getting guys on board.

"Hopefully we can get three or four quality blokes and really build around that.

"Getting our local juniors back will be a big priority.

"We've got some blokes who have been in and around the club before that are keen to play first grade, and definitely have the qualities to play first grade."

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