The 1976 Brisbane Rugby League season was the 69th season of Brisbane Rugby League premiership. Eight rugby league teams from across Brisbane competed for the premiership, which culminated in a grand final match between the Western Suburbs and Eastern Suburbs clubs.
Season summary Teams played each other three times, with 21 rounds of competition played. It resulted in a top five of Eastern Suburbs, Western Suburbs, Past Brothers, Redcliffe and Wynnum-Manly. However, Wynnum-Manly and Southern Suburbs finished the season equal on points, with Magpies defeating Seagulls in a mid-week play-off.
The 1976 season's Rothmans Medallist was Northern Suburbs forward Darryl Brohman. Brohman would later sign for Sydney club Penrith and feature for Canterbury in its 1984 NSWRL grand final win.
Teams
Club Home ground Coach Captain Eastern Suburbs Langlands Park Des Morris Des Morris Fortitude Valley Neumann Oval Northern Suburbs Bishop Park Past Brothers Corbett Park Redcliffe Redcliffe Showgrounds Barry Muir Ian Pearce Southern Suburbs Davies Park Greg Veivers Western Suburbs Purtell Park Ron Raper Wynnum-Manly Kougari Oval
Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 Eastern Suburbs 211506482313+169302 Western Suburbs211506420280+140303 Past Brothers211308395260+135264 Redcliffe2111010367378-11225 Wynnum-Manly218013303335-32166 Southern Suburbs 218013329428-99167 Fortitude Valley218013276387-111168 Northern Suburbs216015291482-19112
Finals HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Playoffs Southern Suburbs 19-12 Fortitude Valley24 August 1976Lang Park Wynnum-Manly12-17 Southern Suburbs 26 August 1976Lang Park Qualifying Finals Redcliffe6-14 Southern Suburbs28 August 1976Lang ParkIan Smith8,000 Western Suburbs10–19 Past Brothers29 August 1976Lang ParkBernie Pramberg Semi-finals Western Suburbs11-5 Southern Suburbs4 September 1976Lang ParkIan Smith Eastern Suburbs13-3 Past Brothers5 September 1976Lang ParkEddie Ward Preliminary Final Past Brothers10-18 Western Suburbs12 September 1976Lang ParkBernie Pramberg Grand Final Eastern Suburbs1-16 Western Suburbs19 September 1976Lang ParkBernie Pramberg37,000
Grand Final
Western SuburbsPositionEastern Suburbs Greg McCarthyFB Roger Kuhn 2. Mick Reardon WG 2. John Callus 3. Harry Cameron CE 3. Bevan de Bruyn 4. Steve Crear CE 4. Steve Farquhar 5. Wayne Stewart WG 5. Nick Nicolau 6. Geoff Richardson FE 6. Greg Holben 7. Greg Oliphant HB 7. Wayne Lindenberg 13. Max Williamson PR 13. Geoff Naylor 12. Gary Prickett HK 12. John Lang 11. Bob Green PR 11. Rod Morris 10. John Young SR 10. Des Morris 9. Rod Bradshaw SR 9. John Payne 8. John Ribot LK 8. John Abbott 16. Norm Carr Reserves Errol Slingsby 19. Henry Williamson Reserves Alan Currie Ron Raper Coach Des Morris
Western Suburbs made it two premierships in succession, after defeating favourites Eastern Suburbs in an anticlimactic decider.
Easts' solitary point was a field goal by second-rower John Payne, who temporarily gave Tigers the lead in the first-half.
Man of the match Gary Prickett scored the opening try for Wests, with lock John Ribot scoring the second just before half-time. Wests lead 12–1 at half-time and effectively repelled all Easts' efforts in the second-half.
The match was virtually without incident. The most blatant was a high tackle by John Payne on Wests' prop, Max Williamson. Williamson had to be helped from the field, with Payne receiving a long lecture from referee Bernie Pramberg.
Western Suburbs 16 (Tries: Gary Prickett, John Ribot. Goals: Wayne Stewart 5)
Eastern Suburbs 1 (Field goal: John Payne)1975 BRL Grand Final - Wests v Easts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt7mrH-wsrg1976 Brisbane Rugby League Grand Final https://web.archive.org/web/20041225094700/http://queensland.rleague.com/flashback/1976gf.php
References