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Queensland Rugby League

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The logo of the Queensland Rugby League.

The Queensland Rugby League (QRL) is the governing body for the sport of Rugby League in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and selects the members of Queensland State of Origin teams.

The origins of Rugby League in Queensland go back to May 16, 1908, when a hastily assembled Queensland team, comprised of disgruntled former rugby union players, played the touring New Zealand "All Golds" side in Brisbane. Shortly afterwards the "Queensland Rugby Football Association" was founded. Informal club games were played in Brisbane in July. Later that month there were three representative games against New South Wales, which acted as selection trials for a national team.

State Team

Interstate Matches

The QRL administers the state Rugby League team, the Queensland Maroons. The Maroons first played New South Wales in 1908, but did not win a match until 1922. The was the start of Queensland's only golden period before the introduction of State of Origin. After Queensland won the series in 1926 there was no Kangaroo Tour to Great Britain. It has been suggested that the New South Wales Rugby League had the tour called off as there would have been no choice but to select a majority of Queenslanders in the Australian team.

As the twentieth century progressed, New South Wales proved to be the dominant team. Sydney teams funded by poker machine revenue attracted many Queenslanders south of the border, and the "residential" selection policy meant that the Maroons would often be losing to a New South Wales team with many Queenslanders in it.

In the 1970s Queensland only won four matches, and it was decided that if New South Wales won the first two games of the 1980 series that there would be a State of Origin selection policy for the last game. This meant that selection would be based on the state a player made his senior debut in, not the state that he currently played in. Queensland won the first State of Origin match 20-10 on 8 July, 1980. After Queensland lost the first two games in 1981 the third match was again a State of Origin match. Queensland also won this game, and all subsequent series have been played under State of Origin rules.

Tour Matches

Between 1908 and 1979 Queensland would play matches against a number of touring Test teams. In 1983 the Queensland team toured Papua New Guinea and Great Britain.

Against Great Britain

Played: 16 Won: 5

Against France

Played: 4 Won: 3

Against South Africa

Played: 1 Won: 1

Queensland Residents

Since 1988 a Queensland Residents team has been selected from players in QRL competitions (as opposed to the National Rugby League or its antecedents).

Against New South Wales Residents

The Queensland Residents team has played a New South Wales Residents (consisting of New South Wales players not in the top grade competition) team since 1994 as a curtain-raiser to one of the State of Origin matches. Queensland has won the Residents game in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2003.

Against Western Australia

Each year the Queensland Residents since 2003 team plays Western Australia. Queensland has the matches in 2003 and 2004, both of which were played in Perth. Western Australia will travel to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland to play the match in 2005.

Tours

The Queenland Residents team under took a number of overseas tours between 1988 (when the Brisbane Broncos were formed and 1995. They have toured New Zealand (1988, 1990, 1992), Papua New Guinea (1989, 1995), France (1989), Fiji (1992, 1993), Western Samoa (1993), Tonga (1993) and South Africa (1994).

Competitions

Brisbane Rugby League

The first official club competition kicked off in Brisbane on May 8 1909. The foundation clubs were North Brisbane, Toombul, Valley, South Brisbane and Milton. Matches were played under the auspices of the Queensland Rugby Football League (QRFL, later QRL). In 1922 the Brisbane Rugby Football League (BRFL, later BRL) was formed out of dissatisfaction with the way the QRFL ran the game. The BRFL took control of the local competition. The foundation BRFL clubs were Brothers, Carltons, Coorparoo, University, Valley and Grammars.

By the 1920s the Queensland Rugby League had established itself as a force to rival the NSWRL. 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 Cooparoo and Wynnum), Southern Suburbs (incorporating Carltons), Western Suburbs, Northern Suburbs (incorporating Grammers), Fortitude Valley and Past Brothers (whose players had to prove that they had attended a Christian Brothers school). In 1934 University returned to rugby union.

Teams to later join the BRL were South Coast (1952-1955), Wynnum-Manly (1952), Recliffe (1955), Ipswich (1985) and Logan (1988).

The BRL declined after the Brisbane Broncos joined the New South Wales Rugby League competition in 1988, and was supersceded by the Queensland Cup competition in 1998. Redcliffe won the last BRL Grand Final in 1997 defeating Easts 18-16.

See also: Brisbane Rugby League premiership winners

Queensland Cup

The Queensland Cup has been contested since 1996, and since 1998 the team winning the Queensland Cup is considered to have won the Premiership. (In 1996 and 1997 it was contested parallel to the BRL competition.) The Queensland Cup grew out of the Winfield State League that was held from 1982-1995.

See also: Queensland Cup winners

Current Teams

The following teams are contesting the Queensland Cup in 2005:

Previous Teams

The following teams have contested the Queensland Cup in previous years:

Foley Shield

The Foley Shield competition began in North Queensland in 1948. With the introduction of the Queensland Cup in 1996 the Foley Shield competition was scrapped, only to be reintroduced in 2000.

In 2005 the Foley Shield was contested by Cairns, Mackay and Townsville, and won by Cairns, who defeated Mackay 36-32 on 31 July at the Townsville Sports Reserve.

See also: Foley Shield winners

Divisions

Below the Queensland Cup, the state is divided into 6 divisions.

See also

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