The 1985 Brisbane Rugby League premiership was the 77th season of Brisbane's professional rugby league football competition. Eight teams from across Brisbane competed for the premiership, which culminated in a grand final match between the Southern Suburbs and Wynnum-Manly clubs.
Season summary The format of the 1985 season remained unchanged from the previous year; teams played a total of 21 first-grade games over the pre-season, three games against other Brisbane sides during the Winfield State League, and the 14-round regular season. Teams played each other three times, twice during the regular season and once during either the pre-season or state league. It resulted in a top four of Southern Suburbs, Past Brothers, Wynnum-Manly and Fortitude Valley.
Teams
Club Home ground Coach Captain Eastern Suburbs Langlands Park Wayne Lindenberg Cavill Heugh Fortitude Valley Neumann Oval Peter McWhirter Ross Henrick Northern Suburbs Bishop Park John Barber John Dowling Past Brothers Corbett Park Ross Strudwick Pat Shepherdson Redcliffe Dolphin Oval Ian Pearce Mitch Brennan Southern Suburbs Davies Park Wayne Bennett Norm Carr Western Suburbs Purtell Park Trevor Day Kevin Langer Wynnum-Manly Kougari Oval Des Morris David Green
Results TeamP1P2P3P4ST1ST2ST3ST4ST5ST689101112131415161718192021F1F2GFEastern Suburbs TigersWYN -32NOR -3SOU +12WST -4YYVAL +4BRO -27YRED +16WYN -8NOR +2SOU +16WST +20BRO -2VAL +2RED +7WYN -11NOR +24WST -2SOU -40BRO -4VAL -12RED +2Fortitude Valley DiehardsRED +4WST +36NOR +8BRO -13YWYN -4EST -4YSOU -1YRED +16WST 0NOR +32BRO +2SOU -2EST -2WYN +14RED +6WST 0BRO -18NOR +18SOU -16EST +12WYN -22WYN -3Northern Suburbs DevilsSOU -7EST +3VAL -8WYN +1WST +8RED -4YYBRO -8YSOU -18EST -2VAL -32WYN -6WST +16RED +6BRO -14SOU +2EST -24WYN -16VAL -18WST +7RED -7BRO -2Past BrothersWST +4RED +18WYN -8VAL +13SOU -10YYEST +27NOR +8YWST +8RED -4WYN +36VAL -2EST +2SOU -12NOR +14WST +27RED +4VAL +18WYN +6EST +4SOU -8NOR +2SOU -6WYN -9Redcliffe DolphinsVAL -4BRO -18WST +34SOU -12YNOR +4YWYN -30YEST -16VAL -16BRO +4WST +24SOU +22WYN -7NOR -6EST -7VAL -6BRO -4SOU -10WST +34WYN +2NOR +7EST -2Southern Suburbs MagpiesNOR +7WYN -10EST -12RED +12BRO +10YWST +24YVAL +1YNOR +18WYN -14EST -16RED -22VAL +2BRO +12WST +26NOR -2WYN +38RED +10EST +40VAL +16BRO +8WST +21BRO +6XWYN +2Western Suburbs PanthersBRO -4VAL -36RED -34EST +4NOR -8YSOU -24YYWYN -28BRO -8VAL 0RED -24EST -20NOR -16WYN -2SOU -26BRO -27VAL 0EST +2RED -34NOR -7WYN -38SOU -21Wynnum-Manly SeagullsEST +32SOU +10BRO +8NOR -1YVAL +4YRED +30YWST +28EST +8SOU +14BRO -36NOR +6RED +7WST +2VAL -14EST +11SOU -38NOR +16BRO -6RED -2WST +38VAL +22VAL +3BRO +9SOU -2TeamP1P2P3P4ST1ST2ST3ST4ST5ST689101112131415161718192021F1F2GF
X - Bye Y - Team played a non-first grade State League match Opponent for round listed above margin
Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 Southern Suburbs (P)211506415246 +169302 Past Brothers211506438291 +147303 Wynnum-Manly211506468349 +119304 Fortitude Valley211029390324 +66225 Eastern Suburbs2110011391421 -30206 Redcliffe218013320327 -7167 Northern Suburbs217014296421 -125148 Western Suburbs212217257598 -3116
Finals HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Semi-finals Wynnum-Manly25-22 Fortitude Valley 1 September 1985Lang ParkDavid Manson Southern Suburbs14-8 Past Brothers8 September 1985Lang ParkEddie Ward Preliminary Final Wynnum-Manly35-16 Past Brothers15 September 1985Lang ParkEddie Ward Grand Final Southern Suburbs10-8 Wynnum-Manly22 September 1985Lang ParkDavid Manson31,000
Grand Final
Southern Suburbs 10 (Tries: N. Carr. Goals: G. French 3.)
Wynnum-Manly 8 (Tries: C. Adams. Goals: W. Green 2.)1985 BRL Grand Final - Souths v Wynnum-Manly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNJjr0nf2fc&t=198s1985 Brisbane Rugby League Grand Final https://web.archive.org/web/20041225094700/http://queensland.rleague.com/flashback/1985gf.php
Souths, coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Norm Carr edged out Wally Lewis' Wynnum Manly by one successful goal kick.
Winfield State League
The 1985 Winfield State League was the inaugural season of the Queensland Rugby League's statewide competition. A total of 14 teams competed in the season, 8 of which were BRL Premiership clubs. The remaining six were regional teams from across the state, hence the State League name. The finals were straight final four series held at QRL headquarters at Lang Park, with Wynnum-Manly and the Brisbane Brothers winning their respective semi finals. In the final, the Seagulls completed a 16-0 shutout of the Brothers to win their second consecutive Winfield State League title.
References