The Burleigh Bears are an Australian professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
football club based in
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
,
Australia. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the
Queensland Cup
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...
.
Since their admission to the competition in 1997, the club has appeared in six Grand Finals, winning four (1999, 2004, 2016 and 2019) and won the minor premiership twice (2003 and 2004). The team's leagues club and home ground,
Pizzey Park Pizzey is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Amos Pizzey (born 1967), British DJ
* Christopher Pizzey (born 1976), British actor
* Erin Pizzey (born 1939), British novelist and family care activist
* Graham Pizzey (1930–2001), ...
, are located in the Gold Coast suburb of
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
. They currently serve as one of the feeder clubs for the
Gold Coast Titans
The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...
.
History
Formed in 1934 by Bob Singh, originally based out of
Rudd Park
''Scardinius'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without any further qualifiers is also used for individual species, particularly the common rudd (''S. erythrophthalmus''). The ...
in Burleigh, the Bears relocated to
Currumbin
Currumbin ( ) is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Currumbin had a population of 2,920 people.
Geography
The suburb extends from Currumbin Creek in the north to Wyberba Street in the south. The Pac ...
in 1959 after a nine-year cessation. In 1971, they relocated, this time to their current home,
Pizzey Park Pizzey is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Amos Pizzey (born 1967), British DJ
* Christopher Pizzey (born 1976), British actor
* Erin Pizzey (born 1939), British novelist and family care activist
* Graham Pizzey (1930–2001), ...
, in Burleigh's neighbouring suburb of
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
.
Originally, the Bears competed in the
Gold Coast Group 18 competition, before they were admitted to the state's top competition, the
Queensland Cup
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...
, in 1997.
Rick Stone, coached the Bears for 13 seasons, leading them to two premierships, in 1999 and 2004, before returning to the club in 2020 after his predecessor,
Jim Lenihan, was promoted to assistant coach of the
Gold Coast Titans
The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...
.
The Bears have had an affiliation with the Titans since 2007. The Bears briefly became a feeder side to the
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...
in 2008, before aligning back to the Titans in 2009. On 6 December 2019, it was revealed the Bears had extended their affiliation agreement with the Titans until the end of the 2022 season.
Results
Queensland Cup
*1997 - 4th
*1998 - 8th
*1999 - 3rd (Premiers)
*2000 - 4th
*2001 - 2nd
*2002 - 4th
*2003 - 1st (Runners-Up)
*2004 - 1st (Premiers)
*2005 - 3rd (Runners-Up)
*2006 - 6th
*2007 - 7th
*2008 - 6th
*2009 - 7th
*2010 - 7th
*2011 - 7th
*2012 - 9th
*2013 - 11th
*2014 - 7th
*2015 - 9th
*2016 - 2nd (Premiers)
*2017 - 10th
*2018 - 2nd
*2019 - 3rd (Premiers)
Players
Honours
Queensland Cup
* Premierships: 4
::
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
,
2004,
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
,
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
* Runners Up: 2
::
2003,
2005
* Minor Premiership: 2
::
2003,
2004
Records
Most games for club
*201, Shane O'Flanagan
*160, Ali Brown
*146, Martin Griese
*139, Ryan Gundry
*135, Robert Apanui
Most points for club
*1281, Taine Tuaupiki
*964,
Reggie Cressbrook
Reggie Cressbrook (born 23 October 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. Primarily a , he was a foundation player for the North Queensland Cowboys
Playing career
Born and raised in Woorabin ...
*761, Nick Parfitt
*660,
Jamal Fogarty
Jamal Fogarty (born 13 December 1993) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Canberra Raiders in the NRL.
He previously played for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League. Fogarty is an Indig ...
*486,
Greg Bourke
Greg Bourke is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for the Balmain Tigers, Eastern Suburbs and the North Queensland Cowboys in the Australian Rugby League and NRL competition ...
*276, Trent Purdon
Most tries for club
*70, Kurtis Rowe
*69,
Reggie Cressbrook
Reggie Cressbrook (born 23 October 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. Primarily a , he was a foundation player for the North Queensland Cowboys
Playing career
Born and raised in Woorabin ...
*69, Trent Purdon
*66,
Aseri Laing
Aseri Laing (born 6 May 1975), is a Fijian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. He played for the Western Suburbs Magpies from 1993–94 and 1996–98 and then the Melbourne Storm in 1999.
Early life
Born in Mt ...
*61, Nick Shaw
*59, Aaron Douglas
See also
*
National Rugby League reserves affiliations
The National Rugby League (NRL) is the top league of professional rugby league clubs in Australasia. Run by the Australian Rugby League Commission, however, there has not been a league-wide Reserve Grade competition since 1988, when the former Ne ...
*
List of rugby league clubs in Australia
This is a list of current rugby league clubs in Australia.
New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory
State of Origin
New South Wales Blues
National Rugby League
NSWRL Major Competitions
NSW Cup
Ron Massey Cup
Sydney Shi ...
References
External links
Burleigh Bears Official WebsiteQRL Profile
{{Rugby League in Queensland
Rugby league teams on the Gold Coast, Queensland
Rugby league teams in Queensland
1934 establishments in Australia
Rugby clubs established in 1934