Rugby union in Queensland has traditionally been one of the most popular professional and recreational team sports in the state. Rugby union was introduced in the British colony's capital Brisbane in 1876. Initially it struggled to gain a foothold due to the popularity of Australian rules there until it got its break in 1882 with the first inter-colonial matches against New South Wales, and the formation of the Northern Rugby Union. Between 1885 and 1887 it became the dominant code after the leading schools association decided to play it exclusively and after 1890 spread virtually unopposed throughout the colony.
The rise of professional rugby league in Queensland in 1908 and the Great War ultimately saw the disbandment of the Queensland Rugby Union (‘QRU’) after the 1919 season; however, it was later revived and continues to this day as ‘Queensland Rugby’. Despite increasing competition from three other football codes, rugby thrived in its niche nursery, with the Great Public Schools competition and also representative football holding maximum prestige in the state. With the establishment of a permanent new home at Ballymore Stadium from the 1960s rugby experienced a golden era from the 1980s to 2000s. However it went into sharp decline in the 2010s and by 2018 was the least participated of the four major football codes in the state behind rugby league, soccer and AFL though representative matches still attract a significant audience. The Union has been reluctant to publish participation figures in recent years and has been focused on rebuilding the code.
Queensland's most notable product is Rugby Australia Hall of Famer John Eales who was Australia's most successful Rugby captain. All of Queensland's Hall of Famers have also captained Australia and include Tim Horan, Des Connor, Tom Lawton Snr, Mark Loane, Paul McLean, Tony Shaw and Andrew Slack.
History of rugby union in Queensland
Earliest matches
Rugby football commenced in Queensland in 1876, when the Brisbane FC (which had played according to the ‘Melbourne Rules' (now Australian football) since its founding in 1866), and two newly formed football clubs (Bonnet Rouge FC and Rangers FC) elected to play Rugby football. Rugby continued to be played for three seasons. In 1870 Bonnet Rouge and Rangers folded in 1878 and Brisbane FC (which had periodically played both soccer and rugby as well) returned to playing ‘Victorian rules’ (formerly ‘Melbourne rules’). As a result, rugby was rarely played in the following years.
Fred Lea, an Englishman educated at Allesley College near Rugby in Warwickshire, arrived in Brisbane in 1878 and was amazed to find that Victorian Rules in Queensland was the only football being organised. Lea took up the Victorian game, playing it in 1879–81. However, in 1880 he was able to sway two of the local clubs, Brisbane FC and Wallaroo (1878), to try rugby. Take-up of the code, however was initially very slow.
Queensland Football Association era
The Queensland Football Association was formed in April 1880 by both rugby and Victorian rules members. While vastly outnumbered by Victorian Association members rugby members lobbied the QFA to schedule matches on a Saturday every 4 weeks during the Victorian Association season, however due to insufficient numbers rugby play was infrequent in the first few seasons.
Just two rugby matches were played in Queensland in 1880. Three matches were played between the clubs in 1881.
By 1882 newly formed football clubs in rural areas began to debate the adoption of either Australian or Rugby rules.The Brisbane Courier Mon 17 Jul 1882 Page 3 FOOTBALL NOTES. Despite just a handful of rugby clubs being overwhelmed by the QFA's senior Victorian association clubs, the push for representative matches saw the voice of the rugby fraternity grow extremely strong.
The 1882 the QFA accepted a challenge to send a team to Sydney to play intercolonial football under rugby rules against New South Wales. Rugby members of Brisbane FC instigated the move in contact with the Sydney Wallaroo club. The Sydney Rugby Football Union won a bidding war against the Sydney Football Association, as to which code to play under. The SRFU promised to pay full travel and accommodation costs if the Queenslanders agreed to play only rugby, whereas the SFA offered half of the gate takings if the Queenslanders agreed to play only Victorian rules. Due to the prohibitive costs of travel and expected low gate takings for Victorian rules in Sydney, the rugby offer was far more attractive.
As the NSWRU were keen to keep the inter-colony matches going, a NSW team journeyed to Brisbane in 1883. Trained in readiness by Fred Lea, the Queensland team ambushed the visitors and gained a victory over the New South Welshmen. The win gave rugby in Brisbane a huge boost, with many footballers wanting to try the code. Enough players aligned with the rugby body to form two clubs. Filling the void left by the folding of Bonnet Rouge and Rangers, two new clubs, Fireflies and Wanderers were formed.
Rugby members of the QFA became disgruntled with the Victorian Association's unwillingness to consider intercolonial matches. As a result of increasing pressure from the rugby fraternity to play representative matches against New South Wales, QFA clubs in 1883 voted annually as to whether to continue under the Victorian Association or adopt Rugby Union rules.
Rugby Union members were more than prepared to cover the costs of the shorter trip to Sydney. However Victorian Association officials from Melbourne showed apparent disinterest in sending teams to Queensland.The Brisbane Courier 25 Apr 1884 Page 5 FOOTBALL After two Victorian rules tests against New South Wales Queensland rugby footballers began to bypass the QFA and directly organise rugby tests with New South Wales. This angered the QFA and a motion was passed by the QFA secretary that effectively barred players found to be playing Rugby Union from playing at a Victorian Association club, effectively segregating the two codes for the first time since its inception.Queensland Figaro 3 May 1884 Page 15 Football The move was to backfire as it antagonised its rugby members spurring them into action.
Rugby breaks away from the QFA: Formation of the Northern Rugby Union (1883) With Fred Lea (who would be later called 'The Father of Queensland rugby') actively involved, it was decided to form the Northern Rugby Football Union now named Queensland Rugby Union (QRU). On 2 November 1883 a meeting was held at the Exchange Hotel, in Brisbane and the decision was made to form a rugby association in the Colony of Queensland. The name of the newly founded union the Northern Rugby Union, was used to distinguish it from the Southern Rugby Union, which was the governing body of rugby in New South Wales. NRU clubs in response to the QFA, instituted the barring of rugby players from playing Victorian rulesDarling Downs Gazette 7 May 1884 Page 3 Occasional Notes from Brisbane and Rugby players and officials began derogatively reverting to the term "Melbourne Association" and "Melbourne Rules" in reference to the QFA and its rulesRUGBY UNION V. MELBOURNE ASSOCIATION The Brisbane Courier 10 May 1884 Page 6 fuelling a sentiment of them being increasingly anti-rugby and anti-Queensland.
Another club Wasps were formed the following year in 1884 and in 1885 Wallaroo (who had been playing both codes) announced it would drop Victorian rules to reform as a rugby club.
Rugby becomes Queensland's premier football code
Brisbane Grammar through Richard Powell Francis had switched to rugby in 1885 and while continuing to play both codes pushed for the other Independent Schools to also. The association of Independent Schools headmasters in 1887 by 1 voted to adopt rugby exclusively feeling it would best represent Queensland's interests not to play a code with "Victorian" in its name.Ronald Lawson, University of Queensland Press, 1973, page 203 As a result, the big schools of Brisbane Grammar, Ipswich Grammar and Toowoomba Grammar, once strongholds of Australian rules, helped establish rugby throughout the colony. The top-level Rugby competition begun by those schools continues in the local Great Public Schools' Association of Queensland (GPS) system to this day.
Between 1885 and 1887, for the first time in the history of the colony, mainstream newspapers began to report rugby results first, followed by Victorian Association (Australian rules) and Anglo Football (soccer) and take a generally greater interest in rugby signalling the premier status of the code.
The decisive blow to Victorian rules came after the decision to make the NSW v Queensland matches an annual fixture, and the visit of a British rugby team in 1888. Teams from New Zealand soon followed. Unable to provide comparable attractions, Victorian rules lost its grip on Brisbane (the last matches were played in 1890) and rugby union quickly spread throughout Queensland unopposed establishing strongholds in Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Maryborough, Gympie and Charters Towers.
The first Northern Rugby Union competition trophy the Hardgrave Challenge Cup was introduced in 1887. It was won that year by Ipswich Rangers, and then Union Harriers in 1888. The Wallaroo club were champions in 1889 and 1890, thereby becoming the Cup's permanent owners.
Queensland Rugby Union The year 1893 saw the Northern Rugby Union formally constituted and the name changed to the Queensland Rugby Union. The first organised Brisbane club competition had begun in 1887, but by 1899 the Boer War had reduced player numbers and, to counteract this, electorate rugby was initiated which only allowed players to join the district club in the electorate in which they lived. An annual challenge trophy competition, the Hospital's Cup was introduced in 1899. This trophy is now the Premiership trophy contested by Queensland Premier Rugby clubs.
The first decade of the 20th century brought with it a drop in the fortunes of rugby union in Queensland. Electorate rugby collapsed in 1905 allowing for the return of club rugby, but the advent of the professional code, rugby league, in New South Wales saw many union players leaving for Sydney to play rugby league and get paid in the process, something which the amateur code of rugby union could not offer. In 1908, the QRU banned its players from going to Sydney to play rugby league, which resulted in disgruntled players forming the Queensland Rugby League. Of particular note was that at this time, league put down strong roots in the bush and in working class communities and these areas are still the heartland of the modern game of rugby league.
In 1913 nine Christian Brothers' College Football Club (Brothers) players represented Queensland in the interstate clash in Sydney and helped the team to a 22 - 21 victory.
Brothers were such a strong club in these years that they entered two teams "A" & "B" in the senior premiership in 1914 with the teams meeting each other in the Hospital Cup. Both sides were strong and contained internationals and interstate representative players. During these pre war years Brothers also won the inaugural "College" grade competition in 1911.
World War I, from 1916 to 1918, was almost the final death blow to rugby union in Queensland. Many players went away to war and never returned, and the burgeoning popularity of the professional code saw some major clubs and all the GPS schools switch to rugby league. It seemed that the resultant disbandment of the QRU at the end of the 1919 season, heralded the end of rugby union in Queensland.