The pillars in this pack have a rare symmetry because Tom and Nick Jeffries are brothers in a Brothers’ pack.
The first question worth asking isn’t who wears No.4 or No.5 but what could Mrs Jeffries have possibly fed these young, towering locks.
Their sibling grunt will be much needed at Chipsy Wood Oval on Saturday when Brothers (0-2) chase a much-needed win against Souths (1-2) in Round Four of Queensland’s Allsports Physiotherapy Hospital Challenge Cup.
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Apprentice carpenter Tom, 22, is the youngest of four lofty brothers and now officially the tallest at 2.03m with 115kg spread across his frame.
Nick, 24, is an even 2m and 110kg. Now-retired flanker Ben is 26 and all are the younger siblings of former Melbourne Rebels lock Sam Jeffries, 28, who is now winning lineouts for the NEC Green Rockets in Japan.
Some wit has hacked Sam’s Wikipedia page and listed him at 2.10m or the old 6’11” which makes him the same height as NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
All are sons of Kieron Jeffries, once a curly, carrot-haired lock for Brothers in the late 1980s and early ‘90s when he played once for Queensland in curious circumstances.
The pull of playing with his brother in first grade dragged Nick out of retirement this season after battling a series of shoulder reconstructions.
“The possibility of playing with Tom is the whole reason I came back after a few years away,” Nick said.
He declined to go too public with the brotherly banter that has always whizzed between them like machine-gun fire. Tom wasn’t so shy.
“It’s awesome playing with Nick, the brother we always say was adopted as a ‘secret child’ because he’s the only brunette amongst the natural redheads,” Tom said with a grin.
“The ultimate dream has always been to have four brothers on the field in the one game. It doesn’t help that Sam, Nick and I all play the same position but who knows down the track.”
The Jeffries boys have their roles nutted out at Brothers.
Nick is more the strategy guy and calls the lineouts. Tom is a lineout target and has a good motor to keep carting the ball forward.
Backyard games were pretty feisty for the Nudgee College schoolboys on the grassy expanse at the family’s Bridgeman Downs home in Brisbane’s north.
“The backyard games always ended in blood and tears whichever came first,” Tom said.
“Nick and I were the youngest and we’d run full tilt at the older brothers who would practice their big hits on us and try their WWE moves.”
There were the obligatory short fuses and chases with raised cricket bat, a Gray-Nicolls of course, but “the utensils never caused any lasting damage”, laughed father Kieron.
“The banter was always strong. It still is between us all,” Tom said.
“Dad likes to harp on the glory days so you’ll probably hear from him.”
Proud father Kieron played a single for Queensland in 1993 against Canterbury at Ballymore when dragged out of the grandstand.
Someone creatively imagined that a suspension for punching was served when he missed the Brothers-Wests curtainraiser.
Then-Queensland coach John “Knuckles” Connolly didn’t much concern himself with those finer details. He urgently needed a back-up lock for the bench after a game-day injury and told Jeffries to dash home and get his boots.
“The boys throw the ‘one-game wonder’ at me but I got to play 25 minutes or so for Queensland. Played a blinder too I think,” Kieron said with a smile.
“There was a bit of fuss over it and a meeting. Knuckles said he’d work something out but I never heard anything about it again.
“I’m very proud of all the boys.”
And mum Louise. There were no secret recipes just plenty of steaks, lamb, pork, lots of dairy, Weet-Bix spooned down 10 at a time and never a shortage to fill those long legs.
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