On Saturday 16th of November, some of our staff and female players headed down to McDonalds Capalaba to support McHappy Day.

Always a fun day for the community, our local McDonalds restaurants raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) South East QLD to fund the great work they do with sick kids.

Seagulls players and staff attended McDonalds Capalaba on the day, after previous years fundraising at McDonalds Tingalpa and Wynnum West.

Channel 9 did a live cross to speak to our players and staff around fundraising efforts on the day, providing a great opportunity for us to promote our connection to McDonalds Bayside.

Despite the pouring rain on the day, the local community showed up to support RMHCSEQ.

McDonalds Bayside do a great job in funding community sport initiatives and have been a partner of the Seagulls for many years.

We continue to recommend that you support the businesses that support the Seagulls.

 

BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday 13 Decembers at 6pm inside the Wynnum Manly Leagues Club (Skyview Room).

To nominate for our board, please complete and return the nomination form by COB Friday 22 November. Email admin@wynnumseagulls.com.au to receive a board nomination form.

To become a Seagulls member and have your vote counted on the night, please purchase membership by COB Friday 22 November.

You can purchase club membership by clicking here.

Note: You cannot nominate for the board or purchase club membership to vote at our AGM after Friday 22 November. Also, Seagulls football club membership is completely separate to Wynnum Manly League Club membership – you cannot purchase one and vote at the other’s AGM.

Thank you to our members for your support in 2024 and we look forward to seeing you at our AGM to finalise our year.

#UpTheGulls

 

Do you own or work for a business that likes to invest back into the local community, and wants to increase their exposure to generate new business?

Or do you simply love rugby league and might want to be involved at the BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls?

Sponsorship opportunities for our 2025 season are currently open, with a range of assets available to our partners.

Whether you’d like to see your logo on our jersey or on our social media pages, or secure the naming rights to one of the many initiatives that we operate, we can create a sponsorship package to suit the goals and budget of your business.

Your sponsorship will also expose you to an incredible network of businesses and people that also support the Seagulls.

We have a fantastic network of sponsors at the Seagulls, ranging from construction to real estate, electrical to physiotherapy, vehicles to banking, and everything in between, which may present opportunities to expand your own professional dealings.

Sponsorship solidifies the future of our club and supports the development of rugby league players on their journey to the NRL and NRLW.

If you are interested in more information, or would just like to have a coffee and a chat, please contact Tom Cosgrove at the Seagulls on tcosgrove@wynnumseagulls.com.au or 0413169089.

#UpTheGulls

 

Wynnum Manly Leagues Club have shown their incredible support for the Seagulls rugby league club with a monumental donation of $440,000.

At our recent Presentation Gala, Leagues Club board members were joined on stage by Seagulls Chairman, George Hill, as he discussed the importance of this financial injection.

This Game Changer Relief payment from the Leagues Club will help us to continue to deliver a high-quality rugby league program, support community initiatives, and plan for an exciting future. It will also eliminate our debt, as well as fund the addition of the BRL A Grade team under the Seagulls seniors banner in 2025.

We’d like to extend our sincere thanks to the Wynnum Manly Leagues Club for their investment. This is not only a timely donation, but a vital contribution to allow on and off-field success at the Seagulls long into the future.

We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the Wynnum Manly Leagues Club and maintaining our strong relationship long into the future.

BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls are pleased to welcome C&H Recruitment on board as a Platinum Partner for the 2025 season.

C&H Recruitment is a supplier of short- and long-term labour hire solutions to a range of clients and industries Australia wide.

“We support the regions in which we operate through various sponsorships and community involvement. We operate in all major states across Australia, and our diverse team include Recruitment Resources, Recruitment Consultants and Business Account Managers – with dedicated personnel focusing on individual contracts and clients.

Our team are handpicked for their knowledge of the recruitment industry, experience across a variety of fields such as logistics, transport, manufacturing, construction, and mining among others, and their ability to manage complex operations with a focus on safety and efficiency.

We have access to a database of up to 750,000 workready labour resources in Australia, and have achieved retention targets of 83%, well above industry norms.

C&H Recruitment is backed by over 85 years of combined industry knowledge within our leadership team which allows prospective clients in the various sectors to have confidence in our service offering in understanding our clients’ operational needs and methodologies.”

The C&H Recruitment logo will feature on both our Men’s and Women’s jerseys, and they will look to offer employment opportunities to players, and the wider Bayside community, where possible.

To learn more about C&H Recruitment, you can get in touch here:
W: candhrecruitment.com.au/
Ph: 07 3332 0050
E: info@candh.global

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

Based at BMD Kougari Oval, the Wynnum Manly Seagulls TAFE at School Program promotes excellence by equipping senior high school rugby league players with the right tools to pursue success in and outside the playing arena, while providing a clear pathway to employment in the sports industry.

Students enter the 2-year rugby league coaching immersion program in year 10 or 11, attending 1-day a week during the school year while completing two qualifications, Certificate II in Sport Coaching and III in Sport Coaching (SIS20321/SIS3042) delivered by a specialised educator from TAFE Queensland (RTO 0275).

The program is fully contextualised around the sport of rugby league and the class regularly transitions between the classroom, pitch and gym to create an active and engaging learning environment. Upon completion, students will earn up to 8QCE credit points, contribute to their ATAR, qualify to work or volunteer in assistant coaching roles at rugby league clubs and sports organisations and/or pathway into higher study.

TAFE Queensland Academy of Sport Manager, Jesse O’Hara said “This program based at the home of the Wynnum Manly Seagulls creates a fully contextualised rugby league coach education program for students in their final years of high school, building in two qualifications so that players get the benefit of an awesome education to support their QCE or ATAR, while learning in a highly engaging and active environment.”

This ideal is perfect for players who want to incorporate their passion for rugby league and the sports industry into their final years of high school.

If you are interested in learning more about the 2025 program and how to join, follow these steps:

To Apply

1. Visit www.tafeapply.com
2. Use the application code TQB2501
3. Follow the prompts and select the Wynnum Manly Seagulls TAFE at School program
4. Check with your school to approve the application

To kickstart Paul Green Medal Day on Sunday, the BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls welcomed back our 1984 Premiership team for their 40 year reunion.

Hosted by the Wynnum Manly Leagues Club, a full house attended to celebrate potentially the best BRL team ever put together.

In addition, 50% of the proceeds from the reunion lunch were split evenly with the Australian Sports Brain Bank (ASBB), who are Australia’s leading researcher into the effects of CTE in sportspeople.

Steve Haddan kept our guests entertained as MC, and showed his extensive knowledge of the BRL throughout the event.

Ladbrokes came on board as a sponsor of the event and gave away a trip for 2 to the NRL Grand Final, including diamond seats, an ambassador cruise, food & drinks, valued at $5,000!

Wally Lewis and Prof. Michael Buckland were the first guests on stage to discuss CTE and the importance of research into the issue.

Then halfback Peter Dawes joined Coach Des and Captain Rod Morris on stage to recap the 1982 team’s triumph as a lead-in to the 1984 team.

After lunch, Wally was back on stage with Des Morris and Greg Dowling to share the memories from the 1984 premiership win.

Plenty of money was raised for the ASBB during the live and silent auctions, with some very generous contributions, particularly from BMD’s Mick Power and Bartons’ Mark Beitz.

All in all, a very special event to celebrate a year of dominance from the Seagulls in 1984, as well continuing the fundraising for CTE research.

The Seagulls would like to thank the following people for the contributions to our 1984 premiership reunion:
– BMD’s Mick Power AM, Scott Power, Toni Richards
– Bartons’ Mark Beitz, Kelly McKenna, Gaylene Gillard-Beitz
– Amanda Green
– Peter Dawes, Gene Miles, Bruce Cory, Wally Lewis
– Event sponsor – Ladbrokes
– Creatives – Kit Kreative, Signmart, Bayside Hampers, Paul Comber

Set yourself a reminder for 2026 as well wrap up an incredible period of football for the Seagulls, and celebrate the 1986 premiership win!