In exciting news, the back-to-back Premiership winning BRL A Grade team will move from the Wynnum Manly Juniors at Kitchener Park, to the Wynnum Manly Seagulls at BMD Kougari Oval in 2025.

This decision will not only alleviate some financial pressure from our Juniors, but it will create a much stronger Hostplus Cup squad for our seniors.

With all players now able to train and play under the same banner, the pathway from Juniors, to BRL to Hostplus Cup will be as strong as ever.

This will also allow us to have a larger Hostplus Cup squad, with players then splitting in to Cup and BRL A Grade teams for the weekend’s games. However, in this scenario, our players will all play together rather than being split between two affiliate BRL clubs when not selected for Hostplus Cup.

It will also result in more games per gameday at BMD Kougari Oval, as we are hopeful that our BRL A Grade draw will line up nicely with our Hostplus Cup draw (to be released in December).

We’d like to extend our appreciation to the Wynnum Manly Juniors for their efforts in collaborating on this decision over the past few months. We are looking forward to a very successful alignment in 2025.

BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls were proud to induct two new life members at our recent Presentation Gala.

Cate Solah and Steve Heymer are both very deserving recipients of Seagulls life membership given their commitment to the club over decades.

The highest honour our club can award to its members, these two new inductees join an exclusive club of Seagulls legends.

For over 20 years, Cate Solah has dedicated her time to rugby league, from managing junior teams, all the way through to a decade long tenure as a director of this great club. Her passion for footy is demonstrated by her selflessness and dedication of her spare time to help where necessary.

Cate put her hand up immediately to volunteer as team manager for her son’s junior footy teams down the road at Kitchener Park. Her reliability, and care made people believe she could be a real asset to the club, and she was later called upon to be the club registrar. She was then elected by the members of the Wynnum Manly Juniors to be their next president.

As time passed, and her boys grew, her interest swung to senior footy, and back into the team manager role for emerging developmental teams coming through. She was then asked to join the board of directors to help oversee and guide the Seagulls into a new age of professionalism. She continued as a director until the end of the 2023 season, before stepping down to seek further opportunities away from the footy field.

Cate is also a local business owner and was a proud sponsor of the Seagulls for over 10 years through SQS Haulage.

Steve Heymer played all his junior rugby league with Wynnum Manly Juniors, including being the team mascot for the Seagulls 1984 BRL premiership team.

His parents were also heavily involved, with his Dad playing for the Seagulls through the 1960’s and 70’s, and his Mum being the first member of the Wynnum Manly Seagulls cheer squad in the Brisbane Rugby League.

Steve debuted for the Seagulls seniors in 1987, before playing overseas in York, then returning to finish his playing career in our first grade squad in the early 2000’s.

He then began coaching and also held a development role within our academy program. Since that time, Steve has provided outstanding service to our organisation across coaching, managing and sports trainer work – right through to this season with our Hostplus Cup team. He’s been associated with the Seagulls for 40 years across his career as a player and staff member.

Cate and Steve are two people that have committed an incredible amount of time and effort to the club over many years.

The BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls are proud to induct both Cate and Steve as life members of our club.

On Friday, the BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls celebrated the 2024 season with our Presentation Gala at the Wynnum Manly Leagues Club.

Luke Gale was the big winner on the night as he claimed 3 awards.

Players from our Hostplus Cup and BMD Premiership teams, as well as our award winners from the McDonalds Seagulls Academy, joined staff, club sponsors and special guests to finalise the season.

Led by MC Steve Haddan, the best players from each team were acknowledged with the Player of the Year and Players’ Player awards.

Additionally, the club awarded Life Membership to both Cate Solah and Steve Heymer for their incredible contributions over a long period of time.

Two other awards for outstanding achievement across the season were recognised through the Mitch Cronin Medal and the Volunteer of the Year.

The full list of award winners are below:
Life Membership
Cate Solah
Steve Heymer

Hostplus Cup
Player of the Year – Luke Gale
Players’ Player – Cory Paix
Most Diligent – Sione Hopoate
Anthony ‘Chook’ Schweitzer Memorial Supporter’s Award – Luke Gale

BMD Premiership
Player of the Year – Jayda Lofipo
Players’ Player – Sienna Lofipo

Mitch Cronin Medal (Club Person of the Year)
Luke Gale

Best Junior to Senior
Male – Ethan Malt
Female – Mariah Brown

Mal Meninga Cup
Player of the Year – Zane Ford
Players’ Player – Jaycob Kingston-Francis

Cyril Connell Cup
Player of the Year – Zeke Jones
Players’ Player – Zeke Jones

Harvey Norman U19
Player of the Year – Mariah Brown & Hayley Bush
Players’ Player – Caitlin Tanner

Harvey Norman U17
Player of the Year – Emily Whittaker
Players’ Player – Emily Whittaker

Volunteer of the Year (Arch Geary Shield)
Shaun ‘Porky’ Watego