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Queensland Reds

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Queensland Reds
File:QueenslandRedsLogo.jpg
Founded1882 (first QLD match)
1996 (Super 12 begins)
LocationBrisbane, Australia
RegionQueensland
Ground(s)Suncorp Stadium (Capacity: 52,000)
Coach(es)Phil Mooney
Captain(s)John Roe
200714th
1st kit
2nd kit

The Queensland Reds (for sponsorship reasons referred to as QR Queensland Reds) represent Queensland in the sport of rugby union. Prior to 1996 they were a representative team selected on merit from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland. With the introduction of the professional Super 12 competition they moved to a franchise model where players are contracted to the Reds through the Queensland Rugby Union.

From 1996 to 2005 they were one of three Australian teams competing in the Super 12 competition, alongside the New South Wales Waratahs and the ACT Brumbies. The Reds finished as minor premiers in 1996 and 1999, but they have never reached the Super 12 final. Since 2006 they have competed in the Super 14 competition.

History

Early Queensland years

Prior to Super rugby competition, the Queensland Reds were a representative team that was selected from the rugby union clubs within the state. Rugby in the state of Queensland has its origins as far back as 1876, which is when it is thought the earliest games were played. In 1882 the first interstate matches were played between Queensland and New South Wales, and the following year the Queensland Rugby Union was formed. That season the first interstate match in Brisbane took place, with Queensland defeating New South Wales 12 to 11 at the Eagle Farm Racecourse. In 1896 the first Queensland team departed for a tour of New Zealand. They played New Zealand in Wellington on August 15, losing 9 to nil at Athletic Park. In 1899 Queensland recorded their first win against an international team, defeating Great Britain 11 to 3 at the Exhibition Ground.

Pre-Super competitions

With the start up of rugby league as well as World War I, Queensland rugby was dormant for a number of years, and the QRU was disbanded in 1919 and would not be revived until the late 1920s. In 1928 the QRU was re-formed, and the GPS competition and major clubs soon returned.[1] The game struggled during World War II, but growth was nonetheless apparent, with the advent of the Queensland Junior Rugby Union and the Country Rugby Union. In 1950 the QRU secured the Normanby Oval at nominal rent from Brisbane Grammar School, before they moved into Ballymore Stadium in 1966, which would serve as the spiritual home of Queensland. In 1980 Queensland defeated the All Blacks, which was the first win against New Zealand. The match was played at Ballymore on July 6 and Queensland won 9 to 3. Two seasons later centenary celebrations took place, with Queensland defeating New South Wales 41 to 7 in the celebratory match.

Early Super Rugby

The first Super 10 tournament of 1993 was not very successful for Queensland, who were grouped in Pool A alongside Auckland, Natal, Western Samoa and Otago. The Reds finished with five points, in fourth place. The subsequent Super 10 competition of 1994 saw Queensland finish at the top of Pool A on 13 points, edging out North Harbour on for and against differential to finish at the top. The Reds went on to play the winner of Pool B, South African side, Natal. The Reds won the final, 21 points to 10 at Kings Park Stadium in Durban. The following season was even more successful for the Reds, who were playing in Pool B for the 1995 season. They finished the season with 16 points, four points clear of second placed team in their pool, the Free State. South African team Transvaal had finished at the top of Pool A and the final was to be decided at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. Queensland won the final 30 to 16, and thus became back-to-back champions.

Super 12

With rugby union officially going professional in 1995, there was a reworking of the tournament. The SANZAR partnership was formed between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), the South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) and the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and the Super 12 was born. The success that the Reds had been building in the early Super Rugby tournaments was clearly carried over into the 1996 Super 12 season, as the Reds finished at the top of the table on 41 points. The Auckland Blues had also finished on 41 points, but Queensland's superior for and against saw them finish in first place.

Queensland hosted the first ever Super 12 semi-final on May 18, 1996. The game was played at Queensland's home of rugby union, Ballymore, and was played against the Natal Sharks, who the Reds had defeated in 1994 to become Super 10 champions. However, the Sharks defeated Queensland 43 points to 25. After a strong inaugural Super 12 season, the subsequent season produced different results. The Reds only managed to win four of their 11 regular season fixtures, and finished in ninth place, well clear of finals contention. In 1997 the Reds had a much better season, finishing in fifth position at the end of the season, missing out on a semi-final position by one place.

The Reds saw similar results of that to their 1996 season for the 1999 competition. Queensland lost only three games during the regular season, and finished at the top of the ladder on 36 points (beating the Stormers to first position due to for and against points). The Reds hosted the Canterbury Crusaders at Ballymore for a semi-final. However, they lost to Canterbury by six points, the final score being 22 to 28. The Reds had fallen to seventh place by the close of the 2000 regular season, still ahead of the Waratahs, but the third Australian team, the Brumbies had finished in first place. The Reds start to the 2001 season saw them lose five of their first seven matches. However, starting with the 29 to 19 win over Northern Transvaal in round eight, the Reds stormed home undefeated until the end of the regular season. The mid season resurgence was enough to see them finish in fourth place and grab a finals position. They played fellow Australian team, the Brumbies in Canberra, and lost 30 points to six.

The Reds found similar results the following season, finishing in fifth place, one position outside a semi-final appearance. Fellow Australia teams, the Waratahs and Brumbies both made it to the semi-finals, with the Brumbies actually becoming the champions. The following season, the Reds finished in eighth place. It was the following two seasons that the Reds had slipped into tenth position come the end of the season.

Super 14

In 2006, the Super 12 became the Super 14 with the addition of the Western Force(AUS) and the Central Cheetahs(RSA). The advent of Super 14 was a turbulent time at the Reds, new team the Western Force went out to sign a playing roster for the coming season, the Reds were mid-way through there 2005 season when the news of player signings started to filter through. QLD were the hardest hit out of the existing Australian S12 teams with more then a dozen Reds and QLD Academy players recruited to head West.

The Reds made an optimistic start to the expanded competition, with a close loss to the Waratahs and a competitive match against defending champions, the Crusaders. In round three, they lost by one point to the Blues, but it was not until round five that the Reds were able to win a game - against one of the new teams, the Force. The Reds finished in 12th place, above the Force and Cats, Jeff Miller finished his reign as coach with the worst Reds season in 11 years.

Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones took over as coach for the 2007 season. New coach Eddie Jones got off to a winning start at Queensland Rugby, in front of a smaller crowd at Ballymore, when he led a Queensland XV to a 63-22 victory over the NEC club and then another impressive win 29-5 on the first of September against a Fiji Development XV. The Reds took part in the one-off Australian Provincial Championship not getting the start they wanted, losing to the Force 32-6 at home in round one but turned it around the next week beating the Waratahs 39-17 in Gosford. The following week the Reds beat the competition leaders The Brumbies 20-19 after a penalty goal by Lloyd Johansson to qualify for the final in the ACT against the same team they beat. However, the Reds lost 42-17. Later in the year the Reds beat the The Cherry Blossoms 29-22 in Japan.

The 2007 Super 14 season saw the Reds finishing a poor season by winning the wooden spoon, they couldn't have started the competition any better when they beat 2006 Grand Finalists the Wellington Hurricanes in Round 1, after that win they would not taste victory again until Round 12. The season was summed up in the final round of the regular season where the Reds were defeated 92-3 by the Bulls. This defeat was by the largest margin in Super Rugby history, although the NSW Waratahs had 96 points scored against them in their loss to the Crusaders in 2004.

Colours and logos

File:QueenslandRedsOldLogo.gif
An older logo.
2007 commerative logo.

The teams' home strip is a red jumper with a white collar, navy shorts with red socks with white hoops. The jersey is manufactured by ISC, and the primary shirt sponsor is Queensland Rail (QR). Traditionally, the Reds Super Rugby logo as well as the traditional Q logo both appear on the jersey, however for 2007 a commerative shield is being worn instead, which incorporates the QRU's four logos over the past 100 years. The Super 14 logo and sponsors Tooheys New appear on the sleeves. The alternative jersey is similar, except that it is predominantly white. The Reds' logo is a Koala, a native Australian animal, with Reds written under neath it.

The 1882 team wore the red and black strip of the Brisbane F.C. for the first ever match in Sydney. Two years later Queensland played in the chocolate strip of the Wanderers Club. Another two seasons later, Queensland were actually playing in blue, the now traditional colours of rivals New South Wales. The blue jersey had an intertwined 'NU' over the chest. In 1887 they played in a white strip with red socks. Both the white and the blue strips where used over the next few years, until the red strip came about in 1895, and became the permanent strip.[2]

In 2007, the Reds used a commemorative jersey in celebration of 125-years of Queensland rugby. This will be accompanied by a new logo featuring four Queensland crests from the past.[3] The 125-year crest featured four sectors; the Northern Rugby Union logo from 1882 (top left), the emblem from 1910 (top right), the 1935 logo (bottom left) and the current koala logo (bottom right).

Awards

Pilecki Medal Awarded to the best Reds player at the end of each season

Stadium

Suncorp Stadium.

The traditional home of Queensland Rugby is Ballymore, which was built in the late 1960s. Throughout the Super 12, the Reds played all their home matches at the stadium, which is located in Brisbane suburb of Herston. The stadium hosted a number of matches during the first ever Rugby World Cup in 1987, including a quarter final. Ballymore was set to host games at the 2003 Rugby World Cup as well, but due to ticket demand, all games were moved to Suncorp.[4]

With the expansion of Super 12 to 14 for the 2006 season, the Reds made the move to the 52,000 seater Suncorp Stadium, the stadium has been described as an investment in the future of the QLD Rugby with easier access and world class facilities. Whilst the Reds received higher crowds in the 2006 season the decision to move was questioned after the Reds fell short of the required average crowd of 25'000, the figure of 25'000 is the point in which the Reds start to make a profit out of the crowd.

At the end of the 2006 season they took their last home game to Dairy Farmers Stadium in North Queensland, home of National Rugby League team the North Queensland Cowboys. However during the off-season of the Super 14, the Reds play a number of friendlies out at Ballymore. In addition the Reds have played pre-season matches on the Gold Coast at Carrara Stadium.

Sponsorship

In 2005 it was announced long term sponsor of the Reds, the Bank of Queensland was not going to continue their support, many supporters of the code were worried that the Reds would not be able to find a sponsor to equal the previous BOQ support. Just before the 2006 season, Queensland Rail announced it signed with the Reds for the highest ever principal naming rights sponsor for the team, ending speculation the Reds financial situation was heading into dire straights.

After the first game of the 2007 season it was announced that Virgin Blue would also become a major sponsor of the Reds in one of the biggest on record as well. This completes a tri-fecta of Queenslands biggest companies all been major sponsors of the Reds. Suncorp is the financial organisation to represent the Reds, Tooheys New is the beer of choice and the Reds joined every other Australian S14 team in having ISC make their jersey.

Anthem/fans

In January 2007 the QLD Reds released a Team Anthem to be sung by the crowd during the match and after wins as well. The song was sung in the Queen Street Mall by members of the team including John Roe, Ben Tune, Peter Hynes and Berrick Barnes [citation needed]. The lyrics can be found on the Queensland Reds official website. The Reds also launched new marketing campaigns for 2007 (eg. "Join the Revolution"/"The Red Army Needs You"); and the fans have since been referred to as "The Red Army".

Rivalries

The Reds' most popular rivalries are obviously those teams in the Super 14 which are Australian (Brumbies, Force and the Waratahs). However, the most famous of these is the interstate clash between the Queensland Reds and the New South Wales Waratahs. The match between these two sides usually draws the largest crowd for the Reds when they are hosting the match, which is sometimes (such as 2006), used as the first game of the season. The matches contested during the season are also for the Bob Templeton Cup, which is a trophy awarded to the winner of the Queensland/New South Wales match.

Former Queensland captain John Eales, prior to the Queensland and New South Wales clash in 2001 quoted former Wallaby Mark Loane to sum up matches against New South Wales, "the most hard fought fights are fighting with your brother in the backyard."[5]

The 2006 clash in Brisbane was particularly notable, as former Reds' winger Wendell Sailor was making his Super Rugby debut for Waratahs in the round one game against the Reds. The Waratahs won that match, which was their first win in Brisbane since 1995. There have been over 270 matches between the two teams, with New South Wales well in the lead with over 170 wins, and Queensland over 80, with 12 drawn.[5] In just Super 12/14 matches, 11 have been played, Queensland winning 8, New South Wales 2 and one being drawn.[6]

Season records

Super 12 placings

Season Ladder Pos'n Pld W D L F A +/- BP Pts Notes
1996 1st 11 9 0 2 320 247 +73 5 41 (lost semi-final to Natal)
1997 10th 11 4 0 7 263 318 -55 4 20
1998 5th 11 6 1 4 273 229 +44 5 31
1999 3rd 11 8 1 2 233 170 +63 2 36 (lost semi-final to Canterbury Crusaders)
2000 7th 11 6 0 5 317 305 +12 6 30
2001 4th 11 6 0 5 300 277 +33 8 32 (lost semi-final to ACT Brumbies)
2002 5th 11 7 0 4 336 287 +49 6 34
2003 8th 11 5 0 6 281 318 -37 6 26
2004 10th 11 5 0 6 217 246 -29 5 25
2005 10th 11 3 0 8 185 282 -97 5 17

Super 14 placings

Season Ladder Pos'n Pld W D L F A +/- BP Pts Notes
2006 12th 13 4 0 9 240 320 -80 6 22
2007 14th 13 2 0 11 201 438 -237 3 11

2007 Super 14 table

Template:2007 Super 14 Table

Current squad

Props

Hookers

Locks

 

Back row

Centres

Wings

 

Fullbacks

Utility backs

  • Henari Veratau

Halfbacks

Flyhalves

Current internationals

Those Selected for the 2007 RWC Squad


Those selected for 2007 RWC Shadow Squad
Remain in Australian and train concurrently to the RWC in case of injuries.

2008 Signings/Resignings/Losses

Resignings

New Signings

Losses

Notable players

Players with 100 or more caps.

Coaches

Captains

  • Tim Horan (1996 - 1997)
  • David Wilson (1998- 1999)
  • John Eales (2000 - 2001)
  • Daniel Herbert (2002 - 2003)
  • Elton Flatley (2004 - 2005)
  • John Roe (2006 - present)

Honours

Records and statistics

  • Highest point scorer in a career - Elton Flatley (629 points, 1996-2006)
  • Highest point scorer in a season - John Eales (155 points, 1996)
  • Highest try scorer in a career - Chris Latham (38 tries, 1998 to present)
  • Highest try scorer in a season - Chris Latham (10 tries, 2002)

See also

References

  1. ^ "History of Queensland Rugby". Queensland Rugby Union. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
  2. ^ "NSW and Queensland Jersey Colours". Queensland Rugby Union. Retrieved 2006-09-14.
  3. ^ "Reds unveil commemorative badge". Scrum.com. Retrieved 2006-12-22.
  4. ^ "Brisbane WC games moved". www.colonialRugby.com.au. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
  5. ^ a b "Waratahs v Reds preview". www.rugby.com.au. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
  6. ^ "Queensland Reds". www.itsrugby.com. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
  7. ^ http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Turinui-joins-Queensland-from-NSW/2007/06/29/1182624158953.html

Template:SANZAR links

Template:Rugby union in Australia links

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