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Brisbane Rugby League premiership

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Brisbane Rugby League
SportRugby league
Inaugural season1922 (1909 as QRL)
Ceased1997
Replaced byAustralian Rugby League
Queensland Cup
Country Australia
Last premiers Redcliffe Dolphins (1997)
Most titles Fortitude Valley Diehards (16 titles)
Related competitionBrisbane Rugby League (2001)

The Brisbane Rugby League premiership was a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Queensland Cup. The competition consists of Brisbane's top six rugby league clubs. Each participating team is a feeder club for the Queensland Cup.

Prior to 1922, the competition was conducted under the auspices of the Queensland Rugby League. Until the 1980s it was the premier sporting competition in Brisbane, attracting large crowds and broad media coverage. The Brisbane Rugby League however, had been in slow decline for some 15 years as large numbers of its players left to compete in the more lucrative Sydney Rugby League, and began to lose popular interest with the creation of the Brisbane Broncos in 1988. Also in 1988, the Sydney Rugby League de facto superseded the Brisbane Rugby League by going national and including the Brisbane and Gold Coast clubs. However, the BRL maintained legal top-flight status until the advent of the national Australian Rugby League premiership in 1995, which superseded both Brisbane Rugby League premiership and the Sydney Rugby League premiership. The Brisbane Rugby League premiership then became a second-tier competition until it ceased and was fully replaced at this level by the Queensland Cup before the 1998 season. The FOGS Cup, a third-tier competition under the NRL and Queensland Cup, changed its name to the Brisbane Rugby League in 2016.

History

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Predecessor: QRFL

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The Queensland Rugby Football League (QRFL) was formed in 1908 by seven former rugby union players who were dissatisfied with the administration of the Queensland Rugby Union (QRU). The new organisation was attacked by both the local press and the QRU for introducing professionalism, which they claimed would destroy the sport. The "founding fathers" of the QRFL included John Fihelly, an Australian Labor Party Member of Parliament who became Minister for Railways and Deputy Premier.

The first official club competition kicked off in Brisbane on 8 May 1909. Norths played against Souths before a handful of spectators at Brisbane Cricket Ground.[1] Matches were played under the auspices of the Queensland Amateur Rugby Football League (later renamed Queensland Rugby League). The foundation clubs were:

Queensland Rugby Football League Grand Finals
Season Grand Final Information
Premiers Score Runners-Up
1909 Fortitude Valley 22–4 South Brisbane
1910 Ipswich 17–2 Toombul
1911 Fortitude Valley-Toombul 13–2 Ipswich B
1912 Brisbane Natives 10–0 South Brisbane
1913 West End 5–3 Brisbane Natives
1914 Fortitude Valley 18–8 West End
1915 Fortitude Valley 10–9 West Brisbane
1916 West Brisbane 4–2 Fortitude Valley
1917 Fortitude Valley 13–5 Brothers Old Boys/Merthyrs
1918 Fortitude Valley 16–12 Brothers Old Boys/Merthyrs
1919 Fortitude Valley 28–2 Coorparoo
1920 West Brisbane 16–8 Brothers Old Boys
1921 Carltons 12–10 Coorparoo

Note: Queensland Rugby League era statistics are not counted as Brisbane Rugby League statistics.

Schism: establishment of the Brisbane Rugby League

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In 1922 the Brisbane Rugby Football League (Brisbane Rugby Football League, later Brisbane Rugby League) was formed out of dissatisfaction with the way the Queensland Rugby League ran the game. Those involved took particular exception to the salary being earned by Harry Sunderland as secretary of the Queensland Rugby League. The Brisbane Rugby League took control of the local competition. Competing in the Brisbane Rugby League competition that year were Brothers, Carltons, Coorparoo, University, Valley and Wests, with Past Grammars rejoining in 1924. Although the Queensland Rugby League attempted to regain control of the Brisbane Rugby League competition in 1923 and 1924, the Brisbane Rugby League remained steadfast and the dispute simmered into the next decade. so dire did the situation become, that by the late 1920s, the Queensland Rugby League commenced its own competition involving Ipswich clubs and two supporting Brisbane clubs.

Until 1932 Brisbane Exhibition Ground was the home of rugby league in the city. The complicated arrangement between the Brisbane Rugby League, Queensland Rugby League and Royal National Association (who administered the Exhibition Ground) led to Brisbane Cricket Ground being used for rugby league matches.

In 1933 district football was introduced to provide community support and player equalisation. This meant that players had to live within a certain distance of their club. Accordingly, Brisbane was divided into Eastern Suburbs (incorporating Coorparoo and Wynnum), Southern Suburbs (incorporating Carltons), Western Suburbs, Northern Suburbs (incorporating Past Grammars), Fortitude Valley and Past Brothers (whose players had to prove that they had attended a Christian Brothers school). In 1934, the University Amateur Rugby League Club folded and disappeared from the competition.

In 1953 the friction between the Queensland Rugby League and Brisbane Rugby League ended, with the Brisbane Rugby League being replaced by the Brisbane division of the Queensland Rugby League.[2] Former Brisbane Rugby League chairman and Queensland Rugby League secretary Ron McAullife eventually secured the use of Brisbane Football Stadium as a permanent home for rugby league in Queensland. Teams that joined the Brisbane Rugby League competition around this time were South Coast (1952–1953), Wynnum-Manly (1951) and Redcliffe (1960).

A then-record crowd at Brisbane Football Stadium of 19,824 saw Northern Suburbs defeat Fortitude Valley in the Brisbane Rugby League grand final in September 1961.[3]

Golden Years

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In 1967 the Queensland Rugby League removed the residential qualifications for players in Brisbane Rugby League clubs, meaning that players did not have to reside in their certain suburbs to play for their teams. This reduced community support for teams, and club decisions began to be made on a more commercial basis.

This coincided with the commencement of television broadcasts of Brisbane Rugby League games in the same year. The money made from jersey sponsorships and advertising hoardings at grounds was not able to compete with poker machine money available to Sydney Rugby League clubs in the Sydney Rugby League, and an increasing number of players left the Brisbane Rugby League. This also affected the popularity of the Bulimba Cup which had been held between the cities of Brisbane, Ipswich and Toowoomba since the 1930s.

In 1978 the premiership trophy, the Kirks Cup was replaced by the Winfield Cup.

The Queensland Rugby League commissioned Eric White Associates to investigate the administrative structure of the game in Queensland in 1977. One of the recommendations was the creation of a statewide competition. The Winfield State League was created in 1982. The State League competition ran in parallel to the Brisbane Rugby League competition from 1982 to 1995. Also, like with Sydney's competition, Brisbane's competition was also called the Winfield Cup during the 1980s, due to sponsorship from Winfield cigarettes. The Queensland Cup would eventually replace both the State league and the Brisbane Rugby League premiership in 1996 and 1998.

In the 1980s, two further teams were added to the Brisbane Rugby League competition: Ipswich (1986) and Logan (1987).

Despite some New South Wales Rugby League (Sydney Rugby League) premiership games being re-broadcast during late night timeslots from the late 1970s, the Brisbane Rugby League remained the more popular competition in Queensland until 1988 with the weekly live broadcast of the Match of the Round being played at Lang Park.

Decline

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In 1986 the New South Wales Rugby League decided to allow a team from Brisbane to enter the Sydney Rugby League premiership. While the New South Wales Rugby League was originally negotiating a Brisbane team sponsored by the Queensland Rugby League, a private bid in the form of the Brisbane Broncos was instead accepted by the New South Wales Rugby League. The Brisbane Broncos debuted in the Sydney Rugby League premiership in 1988.

As the Broncos began to represent Brisbane at rugby league in the public eye the Brisbane Rugby League competition entered the terminal phase of its decline. The dominance of the Brisbane Broncos in the media resulted in the Brisbane Rugby League losing live coverage of games and receiving only minor interest from the sports media. The drop in interest saw the Brisbane Rugby League, its clubs and its junior development base incurring significant and crippling financial losses. Several longstanding clubs were not able to survive the impact over the coming years.

From 1988, Brisbane Rugby League players weren't chosen to represent Queensland again. The Brisbane Rugby League premiership was fully superseded by the Australian Rugby League Premiership which took nationwide first-class status in 1995. The Brisbane Rugby League became a state competition from 1995-97 until the Queensland Cup, which became a league-style competition in 1998, superseded the Brisbane Rugby League as the top state league. Redcliffe won the last Brisbane Rugby League Grand Final in 1997 defeating Eastern Suburbs 35–6, and the league was then declared defunct.

On 26 September 2014, the South East Queensland Division announced that they will be scrapping the existing FOGS Cup structure and reforming the Brisbane Rugby League as the state's secondary competition.[4] Legally, although they share the same name, this competition is completely separate from the original BRL.

Brisbane Rugby League Club Teams

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Colours Club Name Club Nickname First Season(s) Last Season(s) BRL Premiership Seasons
Premiership/s Runners-Up/s
Brisbane
(Reserve Grade)
Broncos 1994 1995 0 0
Brisbane Brothers Leprechauns 1930 1997 9 10
Eastern Suburbs Tigers 1917 1997 8 16
Fortitude Valley Diehards 1909 1995 17 14
Ipswich Jets 1986 1997 0 2
Logan (City) Scorpions 1988 1997 0 0
Northern Suburbs Devils 1920 1997 13 9
Christian Brothers Old Boys 1917, 1920 1918, 1929 1 1
Redcliffe Dolphins 1947 1997 4 6
Southern Suburbs Magpies 1919 1997 8 9
South Queensland
(Reserve Grade)
Crushers 1994 1995 0 0
University Students 1920 1933 2 0
Western Suburbs Panthers 1915 1997 10 8
Wynnum-Manly Seagulls 1951 1997 4 1

(Reserve Grade) = Reserve Grade side to the Senior Grade side.

Representative Brisbane Rugby League team

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Selected players from the Brisbane Rugby League clubs, represented Brisbane in a representative team called Brisbane Firsts or Brisbane Capitals against various Sydney Rugby League clubs or against Sydney Firsts or Sydney Capitals

First-grade wins, losses, win percentage and draws

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Teams in bold still existed during the at the end of the 1st-grade competition in 1994.

All Time Ladder
Pos Team 1st season Pld W L D W%
1 Valley-Toombul 1911 20 14 5 1 70.00%
2 Natives 1912 22 15 7 0 68.18%
3 Fortitude Valley 1909 1,382 831 506 45 60.13%
4 Ipswich B 1911 10 6 3 1 60.00%
5
Toowong
1914 11 6 5 0 54.55%
6 Norths Devils 1920 1,266 681 548 37 53.79%
7 South Brisbane 1909 58 31 27 0 53.45%
8 Seagulls-Diehards 1988 36 19 16 1 52.78%
9 Ipswich A 1910 19 10 8 1 52.63%
10 Past Brothers 1931 1,126 569 519 38 50.53%
11 Redcliffe Dolphins 1960 733 370 345 18 50.48%
12 South Queensland Crushers 1994 22 11 10 1 50.00%
13 Wests Panthers 1915 1,353 668 637 48 49.37%
14 Easts Tigers 1917 1,322 636 640 46 48.11%
15 Souths Magpies 1919 1,286 612 638 36 47.59%
16 Past Brothers (Merthyr) 1917 182 86 84 12 47.25%
17 Ipswich Jets 1986 171 80 82 9 46.78%
=18 Ipswich West End 1916 10 4 5 1 40.00%
=18 Wynnum 1914 10 4 6 0 40.00%
20
Toombul
1909 18 7 10 1 38.89%
21 University 1920 200 76 116 8 38.00%
22
Bulimba
1915 19 7 9 3 36.84%
23 Wynnum-Manly Seagulls 1951 852 303 530 19 35.56%
=24 West End 1913 48 16 29 3 33.33%
=24 North Brisbane 1909 33 11 22 0 33.33%
=24 East Brisbane 1910 9 3 6 0 33.33%
=24
Kurilpa
1912 9 3 6 0 33.33%
=24
West End-Grammars
1920 6 2 3 1 33.33%
=29
Westerns
1917 22 7 13 2 31.82%
=29 Brisbane Broncos 1994 22 7 15 0 31.82%
31
Woolloongabba
1912 28 8 14 6 28.57%
32
South Coast
1952 35 8 27 0 22.86%
33 Logan City Scorpions 1988 130 28 94 8 21.54%
34 Railways 1913 39 8 30 1 20.51%
35 Wynnum District 1931 56 8 46 2 14.29%
36 Ipswich Starlights 1916 9 1 7 1 11.11%
37
Wattles
1916 12 1 10 1 08.33%
=38
Bulimba-Railways
1920 4 0 4 0 00.00%
=38
South Brisbane United
1911 7 0 7 0 00.00%

Grand Final results

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Season Grand Final Information
Premiers Score Runners-Up Venue
1922 Western Suburbs* 20–9 Coorparoo Brisbane Exhibition Grounds
1923 Coorparoo 13–2 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Exhibition Grounds
1924 Fortitude Valley 11–8 Christian Brothers Brisbane Exhibition Grounds
1925 Carltons 24–5 Coorparoo Davies Park
1926 Christian Brothers 6–5 Coorparoo Davies Park
1927 Northern Suburbs 13–11 Western Suburbs Davies Park
1928 University Students 10–7 Carltons Brisbane Exhibition Grounds
1929 University Students 12–11 Coorparoo Brisbane Exhibition Grounds
1930 Carltons 19–8 Fortitude Valley Davies Park
1931 Fortitude Valley 27–9 Northern Suburbs Davies Park
1932 Western Suburbs 8–7 Northern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1933 Fortitude Valley 9–3 Western Suburbs Davies Park
1934 Northern Suburbs 7–4 Western Suburbs Davies Park
1935 Brisbane Brothers 11–9 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Cricket Ground
1936 Western Suburbs 13–12 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Cricket Ground
1937 Fortitude Valley 9–7 Western Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1938 Northern Suburbs 16–10 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Cricket Ground
1939 Brisbane Brothers 11–9 Northern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1940 Northern Suburbs 17–11 Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Cricket Ground
1941 Fortitude Valley 13–7 Northern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1942 Brisbane Brothers 20–11 Southern Suburbs Oxenham Park
1943 Brisbane Brothers 13–7 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Exhibition Grounds
1944 Fortitude Valley 16–12 Northern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1945 Southern Suburbs 21–11 Northern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1946 Fortitude Valley 5–2 Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1947 Eastern Suburbs 15–2 Southern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1948 Western Suburbs 14–8 Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1949 Southern Suburbs 22–8 Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1950 Eastern Suburbs 14–10 Western Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1951 Southern Suburbs 20–10 Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1952 Western Suburbs 15–14 Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Cricket Ground
1953 Southern Suburbs 21–4 Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1954 Western Suburbs 35–18 Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Cricket Ground
1955 Fortitude Valley* 17–7 Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Cricket Ground
1956 Brisbane Brothers 17–10 Western Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1957 Fortitude Valley 18–17 Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Cricket Ground
1958 Brisbane Brothers 22–7 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1959 Northern Suburbs 24–18 Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Football Stadium
1960 Northern Suburbs 18–5 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1961 Northern Suburbs 29–5 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1962 Northern Suburbs 22–0 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1963 Northern Suburbs 18–8 Southern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1964 Northern Suburbs 13–4 Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Football Stadium
1965 Redcliffe 15–2 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1966 Northern Suburbs 9–6 Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Football Stadium
1967 Brisbane Brothers 6–2 Northern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1968 Brisbane Brothers 21–4 Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1969 Northern Suburbs 14–2 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1970 Fortitude Valley 13–11 Northern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1971 Fortitude Valley 18–10 Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1972 Eastern Suburbs 16–15 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1973 Fortitude Valley 15–7 Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
1974 Fortitude Valley 9–2 Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Football Stadium
1975 Western Suburbs 26–24 Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
1976 Western Suburbs 16–1 Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1977 Eastern Suburbs 17–13 Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
1978 Eastern Suburbs 14–10 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1979 Fortitude Valley 26–0 Southern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1980 Northern Suburbs 17–15 Southern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1981 Southern Suburbs 13–9 Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
1982 Wynnum-Manly 17–3 Southern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1983 Eastern Suburbs 14–6 Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
1984 Wynnum-Manly 42–8 Southern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1985 Southern Suburbs 10–8 Wynnum-Manly Brisbane Football Stadium
1986 Wynnum-Manly 14–6 Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Football Stadium
1987 Brisbane Brothers 26–8 Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
Brisbane Broncos enter the Sydney Rugby League,which begins a quick demise for the Brisbane Rugby League.
However, it officially remains a top-flight competition along with the Sydney Rugby League as before
1988 Fortitude Valley-Tweed 17–14 Ipswich Jets Brisbane Football Stadium
1989 Fortitude Valley 28–4 Ipswich Jets Brisbane Football Stadium
1990 Fortitude Valley 17–16 Northern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1991 Eastern Suburbs 25–10 Western Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1992 Western Suburbs 40–10 Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1993 Western Suburbs 18–12 Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1994 Redcliffe 24–18 Western Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
The Brisbane Rugby League officially becomes a second-tier state competition when the Australian Rugby League Premiership is formed.
Brisbane Broncos and South Queensland Crushers reserve grade teams enter the Brisbane Rugby League in 1994.
1995 Wynnum-Manly 32–24 Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
Brisbane Broncos and South Queensland Crushers reserve grade teams leave the Brisbane Rugby League after 1995.
1996 Redcliffe 16–12 Southern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1997 Redcliffe 35–6 Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
  • * = Team undefeated
  • Although the Brisbane Rugby League took a significant financial and competitive downturn, it did not become a second-flight competition when the Brisbane Broncos entered the Sydney Rugby League in 1988. Rather, it officially lost top-tier status after the 1994 season, before the advent of the Australian Rugby League, in 1995.

Brisbane Rugby League Premiers (All Grades) (1922–1997)

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Season Premiers (Senior Grade) Premiers (Reserve Grade) Premiers (Third Grade) Venue
1922 Western Suburbs* Coorparoo Carltons Brisbane Exhibition Grounds
1923 Coorparoo Northern Suburbs Coorparoo Brisbane Exhibition Grounds
1924 Fortitude Valley Carltons* Fortitude Valley Brisbane Exhibition Grounds
1925 Carltons Coorparoo Northern Suburbs Davies Park
1926 Christian Brothers Western Suburbs* Fortitude Valley* Davies Park
1927 Northern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Coorparoo Davies Park
1928 University Students Christian Brothers Western Suburbs Brisbane Exhibition Grounds
1929 University Students Coorparoo* Western Suburbs Brisbane Exhibition Grounds
1930 Carltons Coorparoo Western Suburbs* Davies Park
1931 Fortitude Valley Carltons* Western Suburbs* Davies Park
1932 Western Suburbs Carltons Fortitude Valley Brisbane Cricket Ground
1933 Fortitude Valley Western Suburbs* Western Suburbs Davies Park
1934 Northern Suburbs Western Suburbs* Western Suburbs Davies Park
1935 Brisbane Brothers Fortitude Valley Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Cricket Ground
1936 Western Suburbs Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley Brisbane Cricket Ground
1937 Fortitude Valley Northern Suburbs Fortitude Valley Brisbane Cricket Ground
1938 Northern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Fortitude Valley Brisbane Cricket Ground
1939 Brisbane Brothers Southern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1940 Northern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Fortitude Valley Brisbane Cricket Ground
1941 Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley Southern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1942 Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Railway Southern Suburbs Oxenham Park
1943 Brisbane Brothers Fortitude Valley Southern Suburbs Brisbane Exhibition Grounds
1944 Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley Southern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1945 Southern Suburbs Southern Suburbs Southern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1946 Fortitude Valley Southern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1947 Eastern Suburbs Western Suburbs Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Cricket Ground
1948 Western Suburbs Fortitude Valley Southern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1949 Southern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1950 Eastern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Western Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1951 Southern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Western Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1952 Western Suburbs Northern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1953 Southern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Cricket Ground
1954 Western Suburbs Fortitude Valley Northern Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1955 Fortitude Valley* Brisbane Brothers Western Suburbs Brisbane Cricket Ground
1956 Brisbane Brothers Northern Suburbs Fortitude Valley Brisbane Cricket Ground
1957 Fortitude Valley Western Suburbs Fortitude Valley Brisbane Cricket Ground
1958 Brisbane Brothers Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1959 Northern Suburbs Redcliffe Western Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1960 Northern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1961 Northern Suburbs Southern Suburbs Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1962 Northern Suburbs Redcliffe Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1963 Northern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1964 Northern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Western Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1965 Redcliffe Western Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1966 Northern Suburbs Redcliffe Northern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1967 Brisbane Brothers Northern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1968 Brisbane Brothers Northern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1969 Northern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1970 Fortitude Valley Eastern Suburbs Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1971 Fortitude Valley Northern Suburbs Northern Suburbs* Brisbane Football Stadium
1972 Eastern Suburbs Northern Suburbs Wynnum-Manly Brisbane Football Stadium
1973 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Brothers Northern Suburbs* Brisbane Football Stadium
1974 Fortitude Valley Eastern Suburbs Fortitude Valley Brisbane Football Stadium
1975 Western Suburbs Wynnum-Manly Wynnum-Manly Brisbane Football Stadium
1976 Western Suburbs Western Suburbs Wynnum-Manly Brisbane Football Stadium
1977 Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Western Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1978 Eastern Suburbs Redcliffe Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1979 Fortitude Valley Brisbane Brothers Wynnum-Manly Brisbane Football Stadium
1980 Northern Suburbs Southern Suburbs Southern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1981 Southern Suburbs Redcliffe Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
1982 Wynnum-Manly Redcliffe Southern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1983 Eastern Suburbs Southern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1984 Wynnum-Manly Southern Suburbs Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
1985 Southern Suburbs Brisbane Brothers Southern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1986 Wynnum-Manly Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Football Stadium
1987 Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Brothers Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
1988 Fortitude Valley-Tweed Redcliffe Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1989 Fortitude Valley Northern Suburbs Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
1990 Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley Brisbane Brothers Brisbane Football Stadium
1991 Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1992 Western Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Not contested in 1992 Brisbane Football Stadium
1993 Western Suburbs Wynnum-Manly Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
1994 Redcliffe Redcliffe Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
1995 Wynnum-Manly Redcliffe Not contested in 1995 Brisbane Football Stadium
1996 Redcliffe Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Brisbane Football Stadium
1997 Redcliffe Redcliffe Redcliffe Brisbane Football Stadium
  • * = Team undefeated

Quotes

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  • "Well that is a tragedy, to be honest with you. There's no club identity at all now. If you don't follow the Broncos well who do you follow? That means you've got to follow a New South Wales side. I think I'm sure that's what McAuliffe didn't want to happen. But when they brought in the Queensland side into the NSWRL that was the end of the Brisbane Rugby League, as far as that was concerned. It should never have happened because as it turned out, if we did lose players from Queensland to go to New South Wales we had the State of Origin. We've been winning the State of Origin, and you can imagine if we were keeping our players, the club competition would be just as good as what it was when I was playing. But that is a tragedy as far as I'm concerned is that the people miss that club identity." -Barry Muir, in 2001, on the decline of the Brisbane Rugby League and the rise of the Sydney Rugby League.
  • "Yeah well the crowd was great, they supported you wholeheartedly, they came along but it wasn't only down here on the football field it was on the streets up there. People would come up and talk to you, they'd stop you in the street and get your autograph and have a talk to you and wish you all the best and really support you in what you were doing and lifting the Club. There was four or five players here that were top-line footballers and we used to go up on the terrace and sell raffles in front of McCarthy's Jewellers store on the terrace and we'd do an hour there and then pop down to the Manly Hotel and do an hour there and then we'd pop down to Fishers (pub) and do an hour there. The players were prepared to do it because they were getting the support from this area and they would give it back on the playing field and however they could meet the people on the streets. I don't think anyone turned away from you, it was just one big happy family. We used to have like a barbecue after the game and there'd be 100 or 200 people that would turn up for the barbecue, we had it at various areas." -Lionel Morgan, in 2001, on the support of the Brisbane Rugby League in the Wynnum-Manly district.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Pramberg, Bernie (2 May 2009). "Leo Donovan special guest at Brisbane Rugby League celebrations". The Courier-Mail. Australia: Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  2. ^ Gallaway, Jack (2003). Origin: Rugby League's greatest contest 1980–2002. Australia: University of Queensland Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-0-7022-3383-8.
  3. ^ "Norths thrash Valleys 29–5". The Sun-Herald. Australia. 24 September 1961. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  4. ^ "Brisbane Rugby League rebirth". Queensland Rugby League. Australia. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
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