Ipswich Jets
 | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Ipswich Jets Rugby League Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | The Jets, |
| Colours |  Green, Gold, White |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Website | ipswichjets.com.au |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) |
|
| CEO | Wayne Wendt |
| Coach | Ben Walker & Shane Walker |
| Captain | Keiron Lander |
| Competition | Queensland Cup |
| 2014 | 5th |
 Current season | |
| Records | |
| Premierships | 2015 |
| Runners-up | 4 (1988, 1989, 2002, 2008) |
| Minor premierships | 1 (2008) |
| Most capped | 258 – Danny Coburn |
The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Originally in the 1980s their colours were green and white, but in recent years gold has been added to the combination.
History
Ipswich were one of the earliest teams to join the Queensland Rugby League after it was founded as the Queensland Amateur Rugby Football League in 1909. Ipswich even contested two of the QARFL's first three grand finals, winning the title in its first year in the competition in 1910. But a long absence from the competition started shortly thereafter, and Ipswich was not represented in Queensland's top league again until the mid-1980s.
From 1982 to 1985, an Ipswich representative team competed in the statewide comps. The following year, an Ipswich team was introduced to the Brisbane Rugby League premiership. They were coached in the 1980s by legendary Australian halfback Tommy Raudonikis. The team's most famous product was Allan Langer, who in 1987 was selected to play halfback for the Queensland State of Origin team while playing for the Jets in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership, even though he was not as yet playing in the New South Wales Rugby League's Winfield Cup which was, at that time, fast becoming the premier rugby league competition in the world.
Kerrod and Kevin Walters also played for the club with Langer in their early years. When all three played together for the Brisbane Broncos later, they were dubbed "the Ipswich connection". Kevin later returned to coach the Queensland Cup side in the mid-2000s before moving to Europe to coach in Super League. Their brother, Steve Walters, played originally for Booval Swifts in the Ipswich Rugby League.
The Jets reached the Grand Finals of the 1988 and 1989 Brisbane Rugby League premiership.
Ipswich continued playing in the Queensland Cup when it was founded in 1997. In the 2007 Queensland Cup, the Jets caused a surprise by upsetting many of their more fancied rivals and pressing for a semi-finals spot, when they had been predicted by most tipsters to finish last.
At the end of the 2008 Queensland Cup preliminary rounds, Ipswich finished four points clear at the top of the ladder, winning their first-ever Queensland Cup minor premiership. As Kevin Walters moved to Europe to pursue a career coaching in Super League, his assistant and former teammate at both the Canberra Raiders and the Broncos, Glenn Lazarus, was promoted to head coach.
Brothers Ben and Shane Walker who assisted Lazarus in 2009 and 2010 have been appointed co-head coaches in 2011, 2012 and again in 2013. Shane played 149 games for the Broncos and South Sydney from 1996-2006, while Ben 135 NRL games for Brisbane, Northern Eagles, Manly Sea Eagles and South Sydney between 1995 and 2006, as well as 44 games for the London Broncos (1995–96) and the Leeds Rhinos (2002). Ben was the NRL's leading point scorer in 2001 when he scored 279 points (18 tries, 103 goals and 1 field goal) in his only season with the Northern Eagles.
NRL bid
In 2010 the Jets announced they will be part of a bid for a licence in an expanded National Rugby League.
List of results
Brisbane Rugby League premiership (First Grade)
- 1986: 8th
- 1987: 6th
- 1988: Runners-up
- 1989: Runners-up
- 1990: 7th
- 1991: 6th
- 1992: 10th (last)
- 1993: Semi finalists
- 1994: Semi finalists
- 1995: 8th
- 1996: Eliminated in preliminary rounds
- 1997: 13th
- 1998: 13th
- 1999: 10th
- 2000: 6th
- 2001: 8th
- 2002: Runners-up
- 2003: Semi finalists
- 2004: 10th
- 2005: 9th
- 2006: 9th
- 2007: Semi finalists
- 2008: Runners-up
- 2009: 8th
- 2010: 12th
- 2011: 5th
- 2012: 5th
- 2013: 5th
Players
Current roster
| Name | Position | Junior Club | Birth date | World Cup Eligibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlin ANDERSON | Runners Son | 3 October 1995 | 
| |
| Marmin Barba | Wing/Centre/Fullback | Mackay | 21 February 1991 |
|
| Chris Walker | Centre/Wing | Toowoomba | 29 July 1985 |
|
| Nemani VALEKAPA | Centre/Wing | 21 May 1989 |
| |
| Brandon McGRADY | Centre/Wing | Mackay Norths | 13 March 1984 |
|
| Josh CLEELAND | Halfback/Hooker | Rockhampton Norths | 25 November 1984 |
|
| Keiron LANDER | Lock | Quilpie Magpies | 29 May 1987 |
|
| Josh SEAGE | Wing/Fullback | Swifts Bluebirds | 13 September 1992[1] | 
|
| Dane PHILLIPS | Second Row/Lock | 16 September 1988 |
| |
| Kurtis LINGWOODOCK | Second Row | Ipswich Swifts | 1 November 1990 |
|
| Sam MARTIN | Second Row | Ipswich Norths | 8 May 1989 |
|
| Tyson LOFIPO | Second/Front Row | Ipswich Brothers | 4 April 1988 |  
|
| Gerico CECIL | Prop/Second Row | Blackbutt | 11 July 1990 |
|
| Kurt Capewell | Prop/Second Row | Charleville | 3 August 1985 |
|
| Troy O'SULLIVAN | Hooker | Noosa Pirates | 26 November 1988 |
|
| Matt PARCELL | Utility | Fassifern | 30 October 1992 |
|
| Billy McConnachie | Utility | Fassifern | 30 October 1992 |
|
| Liam CAPEWELL | Utility | Charleville | 30 October 1992 |
|
Allan Langer Medal
The "Allan Langer Medal", named after the legendary Ipswich halfback is the Jets' player of the year award. [2]
- 2007 Aaron Sweeney
- 2008 Aaron Sweeney
- 2009 Michael Ryan
- 2010 Jacob Ling
- 2011 Lorenzo Maafu
- 2012 Nathenial Neale
- 2013
- 2014
Walters Family Medal
The Walters Family Medal is the Jets' players' player of the year award and honours the famous Ipswich footballing family of brothers Brett,Steve, Andrew,Kerrod and Kevin, of which all but Steve played for the Jets.
- 2007
- 2008
- 2009 Ian Lacey
- 2010 Jacob Ling
- 2011 Ramon Filipine
- 2012 Rowan Winterfield
- 2013
- 2014
Dan Coburn Medal
The "Dan Coburn Medal", named after the Jets' greatest ever player Dan Coburn who over 13 seasons most as captain played 258 games for the Club, is the Jets' clubman of the year award.
- 2009 Matt Barradeen
- 2010 Peter Poppi
- 2011 Keiron Lander
- 2012 Michael Nunn
- 2013
- 2014 Darren Lingard
See also
References
- ^ NRL. "Josh Seage". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ "Sweeney wins Allan Langer Medal" article at qrl.com.au (22 September 2008)
External links
| Federation | |
|---|---|
| Representative Teams | |
| NRL clubs |
|
| NRLW clubs |
|
| Major Competitions |
Former Top-Flight Competition: Brisbane Rugby League premiership |
| Northern Division | |
| Central Division | |
| South-East Division |
|
| Queensland Cup clubs | |
| Queensland Cup seasons | |
| Representative Competitions |
|
| Clubs | |
