The Queensland Rugby Football League QRL Constitution, 2009: 3 (QRL QRL Constitution, 2009: 2) is the governing body for

rugby league in Queensland Rugby league is the most popular winter sport in the Australian state of Queensland. Prior to the introduction of rugby league, rugby union was the state's most popular sport. After the introduction of League in 1908 it became popular as rugb ...

. It is a member of the

Australian Rugby League Commission The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...

(ARL Commission) and selects the members of the

Queensland rugby league team The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales in the State of ...

. The QRL aims to "foster, develop, extend, govern and control Rugby League Football throughout the State of Queensland". Today the QRL administers the rugby league through its regional divisions. It is also responsible for the

Queensland Rugby League team The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales in the State of ...

. The QRL's headquarters are on Vulture Street,

Woolloongabba Woolloongabba is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Woolloongabba had a population of 5,631 people. Geography Woolloongabba is located south of the CBD. It contains the Brisbane Cricket Ground ('the Gabba') and t ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

History of the QRL

The Queensland Rugby Football League was formed in 1908 by seven

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

players who were dissatisfied with the administration of the

Queensland Rugby Union The Queensland Rugby Union, or QRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within the state of Queensland in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. The QRU was founded in Brisbane in 1883 as the ''Northern ...

(QRU) as the Queensland Rugby Association. Those founding fathers were

Micky Dore Michael Joseph Dore (1 July 1883 – 13 August 1910) was an Australian representative rugby union and rugby league footballer - a dual-code international. He was one of the founding fathers of rugby league in Queensland. Along with Dally Messe ...

, George Watson,

Jack Fihelly John Arthur Fihelly (7 November 1882 – 2 March 1945) was a public servant, politician and rugby union player who represented Australia, a professional rugby league footballer, and a founder of the Queensland Rugby League Early life Fihel ...

, J O'Connor. E Buchanan, Alf Faulkner and

Sine Boland Sinon Bernard "Sine" Boland (12 July 1875 – 1954), born Toowoomba, Queensland, was an Australian soldier, rower and rugby union player and one of the founders of Queensland Rugby League. In rugby union, he played for the Queensland and Austral ...

. Discussion about breaking away from the rugby 'union' and forming a professional 'league' in Queensland can be traced as far back as 1905 through the visions of then Deputy State Premier,

Michael Allison Michael Allison (August 7, 1958 – January 9, 2020), who recorded under the name Darshan Ambient, was an American musician and vocalist known for his ambient electronic music. Life and career Allison attended high school in Modesto, Califo ...

. On 14 March 1908, the breakaway group was first mentioned in the local media, and a fortnight later the first official announcement was made regarding the formation of the Queensland Rugby Association was made. On 16 May that year a hastily assembled Queensland team played the touring New Zealand "All Golds" side in

. Later that month there were three representative games against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, which acted as selection trials for a national team. In 1909, club rugby league officially began, with W. Evans scoring the inaugural try before backing up with another as North Brisbane beat Toombul 8-0 at the

Brisbane Cricket Ground The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Ga ...

, although Valleys were the first premiers. Other teams that entered the competition include: Milton (1909), South Brisbane (1909), West End (1910), Natives (1912),

Merthyr Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

(1917) and

Coorparoo Coorparoo is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Coorparoo had a population of 16,282 people. Geography Coorparoo is by road south-east of the Brisbane GPO. It borders Camp Hill, Holland Park, Stones Corner ...

(1917). In 2012, the QRL formally joined with the

NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

and each

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

club, to form the

, which is the overarching governing body for all of Rugby League throughout Australia. Notwithstanding the Commission's role as supreme governing authority for the code, the QRL retains responsibility for both management of the

Queensland State of Origin team The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales in the State of O ...

in Origin series, as well as day-to-day accountability for the operations of 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 four ...

second-tier league, and junior representative Rugby League, plus divisional leagues, throughout Queensland.

Current Major Competitions

Intrust Super Cup

The Queensland Cup has been contested since 1996. Since 1998 the team winning the Queensland Cup is considered to be the premier club team in Queensland.

FOGS Cup

The

Brisbane A-Grade Rugby League The Brisbane Rugby League (otherwise known as the CAOS BRL Premier A Grade due to sponsorship purposes; formerly known as the Quest Cup, Mixwell Cup, FOGS Cup and In Safe Hands Cup) is a ten-team competition, expanded from a six-team competit ...

, also known as the FOGS Cup, and the

FOGS Colts Challenge The FOGS Colts Challenge is an 11-team rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League, QRL. It is the highest level of junior rugby league in Brisbane before players move into senior rugby. FOGS in an acronym for Former Origin Great ...

is run by the Queensland Rugby League's

South East Division The Queensland Rugby League South East Division (also known as the South East Division) is a rugby league division responsible for the running of rugby league in South-East Queensland. This makes the South East Division responsible for the FOGS C ...

. It is regarded as the division below the

Mal Meninga Cup

The Cyril Connell & Mal Meninga Cups were introduced in 2009 to provide a pathway for young rugby league players to reach the professional levels of the game. Named after famous Queensland rugby league personalities Cyril Connell and

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...

, the Cups have proved popular. Both competitions have the same structure of sixteen team split into two geographically aligned groups. Pool A contains teams from outside of Brisbane while Pool B comprises teams from the Brisbane metropolitan area and two Gold Coast Rugby League selections. The Cyril Connell Cup was discontinued after 2016. The teams are:

47th Battalion Shield

Like the Northern Division's "Foley Shield" or the South-East Division's "Bulimba Cup" the "47th Battalion Shield" is run as the Central Region's regional Carnival and none of the teams are club teams, with the only exception being some of the Women's teams. Its traditionally held over one weekend and normally at one venue with multiple grounds to play on.

The Foley Shield

The Foley Shield competition began in North

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 1948. With the introduction of the Queensland Cup in 1996 the Foley Shield competition was scrapped, only to be reintroduced in 2000. Since the revamp in 2000 it has only contested by the three largest cities in North Queensland; Cairns,

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

and

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

Former

Brisbane Rugby League Premiership

The Brisbane Rugby League Premiership was a former top-flight rugby league competition. The competition ran fom 1922 until 1997, but became a second tier competition with the advent of the ARL Premiership in 1995.

Bulimba Cup

The Bulimba Cup was similar to the Foley Shield in that it was contested by city representative sides in a region, this time the South East Region, with the teams being Brisbane, Ipswich and Toowoomba.

QRL Divisions

The QRL administers rugby league in Queensland through the following divisions. * ''As of 2010 the Central, South West and Wide Bay divisions were amalgamated to form the new Central Division.''

Central Queensland Capras Central Queensland Capras are a semi-professional rugby league football club primarily based in Rockhampton, Queensland and representing Central Queensland. They currently play in the Queensland Cup, the premier rugby league competition in Quee ...

* Central Highlands Rugby League * Central West Rugby League * Gladstone & District Rugby League * Rockhampton & District Rugby League

South West Queensland Mustangs

Roma District Rugby League The Roma District Rugby League is a competition in the Maranoa district of South West Queensland, Australia, run under the auspices of the Queensland Rugby League. History The Roma District Rugby League was established in 1914. Rugby Leagu ...

Toowoomba Rugby League The Toowoomba Rugby League is a competition involving football clubs from the city of Toowoomba and surrounding towns and districts.It is run under the auspices of Queensland Rugby League Central Division. Clubs Clubs with A-Grade team * Dalby ...

** Border Rivers Rugby League

Defunct Competitions

* Western Rugby League

Wide Bay Bulls

* Bundaberg Rugby League * Central Burnett Rugby League * Northern Districts Rugby League *

South Burnett Rugby League The South Burnett Rugby League is a competition played in Queensland, Australia under the auspices of the Queensland Rugby League Central Division. Clubs There are five senior and six junior clubs in the South Burnett Rugby League. Premiers ...

* Sunshine Coast Rugby League

North Queensland Marlins

Cairns District Rugby League The Cairns District Rugby League was formed on 5 August 1918 and is the administrative body for the game of rugby league football in Cairns, Queensland. The CDRL runs senior, junior and women's club competitions and has its headquarters at Barlow ...

* Mackay & District Rugby League * Mount Isa Rugby League * Remote Areas Rugby League * Townsville & District Rugby League

Defunct Competitions

* Mid West Rugby League * Northern Peninsula Area Rugby League

South East Poinsettias

Brisbane Second Division Rugby League The Brisbane Second Division Rugby League is the second division of rugby league clubs in Brisbane. History In 1971 the Brisbane Rugby League began a second division competition. This competition was for Under 23 teams in three grades, and was co ...

''The Poinsettias / The Stingers (Juniors)'' *

Gold Coast Rugby League The Gold Coast Rugby League (also known as the Kevin Bycroft Cup) is a rugby league football competition based in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is under the administration of the Queensland Rugby League through the South East Queensla ...

('' The Vikings'') * Ipswich Rugby League (''The Diggers'')

Seasons

* 1908 Queensland Rugby League season *

1909 Queensland Rugby League season The 1909 Queensland Rugby League season was the inaugural season of rugby league football club competition in Brisbane, Queensland. Club matches had begun in July 1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expeditio ...

1910 Queensland Rugby League season “The Queensland Amateur Rugby League set the air-filled sphere rolling”, opening the competition rounds on 14 May. Three grade competitions were conducted in Brisbane. Ipswich entered a representative team to play the five Brisbane senior tea ...

1911 Queensland Rugby League season The Queensland Amateur Rugby League conducted four grade competitions during 1911 and in representative football, played three sets of three-match series against New South Wales, New Zealand and the "Northern Districts" on New South Wales. Ipswic ...

References

In-line

General

External links

*
League's Queensland page

Queensland Rugby League History

Rugby League clubs in Queensland

{{Rugby league in Australia Rugby league governing bodies in Queensland Ru Rugby league in Queensland 1908 establishments in Australia Sports leagues established in 1908

History of the QRL

Current Major Competitions

Intrust Super Cup

FOGS Cup

Mal Meninga Cup

47th Battalion Shield

The Foley Shield

Former

Brisbane Rugby League Premiership

Bulimba Cup

QRL Divisions

Central Queensland Capras Central Queensland Capras are a semi-professional rugby league football club primarily based in Rockhampton, Queensland and representing Central Queensland. They currently play in the Queensland Cup, the premier rugby league competition in Quee ...

South West Queensland Mustangs

Defunct Competitions

Wide Bay Bulls

North Queensland Marlins

Defunct Competitions

South East Poinsettias

Seasons

See also

References

In-line

General

External links