The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-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 112 ...

club based in Redcliffe,

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_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League (BRL) premiership competition in 1960, and since 1996 have played in 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 ...

. The Redcliffe Dolphins thrived in the BRL. However, the 1988 admission of 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 com ...

team in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition caused the decline of the BRL. Although a separately licensed

Dolphins (NRL) The Dolphins are a professional rugby league football team based in the Redcliffe Peninsula area of the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, that competes in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL). Launched as a bid for inclusion into the NRL b ...

team is scheduled to compete in the fully professional 2023 national competition, the Redcliffe squad will continue to play in the Queensland competition. Through this NRL licence, the Dolphins organisation has become the only former BRL club to regain top-flight status after that competition became a second-tier league with the advent of the

in 1988, similar to the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

team

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

franchise, the

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

History

Founded on 27 February 1947, Redcliffe District Rugby League Football Club Inc. (known as Shellgrit) entered Under 17, Reserve Grade and First Grade teams in that year's Sandgate Suburban Rugby League competition. Through the 1950s, Redcliffe also played in the Kilcoy, Murrumba and Geraghty Cup competitions. On 19 November 1959, Redcliffe received full district club status and was accepted into the Brisbane first grade competition. Throughout the 1960s, a number of famous players came through the ranks of the Dolphins to represent Queensland and

, including Trevor Harken and

Arthur Beetson Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM (21 January 1945 – 1 December 2011

. In 1965, Redcliffe won its first Brisbane Rugby League Premiership. In 1972, Redcliffe were coached by former Kangaroo Ken Day. Redcliffe's halfback

Greg Oliphant Greg Oliphant (born 22 June 1950) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, a state and national representative who made one Kangaroo tour. Oliphant played in the New South Wales Rugby League for the two seasons of 1978-197 ...

was selected to go on the

1978 Kangaroo tour The 1978 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France comprised the Australia national rugby league team's fourteenth tour of Great Britain and ninth tour of France, and took place from September to December 1978. Coached by Frank Stanton and captai ...

but did not play in any

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

. Australian national coach Frank Stanton coached Redcliffe in 1980. The Redcliffe club won further premierships in 1994, 1996 and 1997 and has also appeared in 12

grand finals, making it the most successful team in that competition. In the 2000s, a new National Rugby League team based on the

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 ...

proposed calling itself the Gold Coast Dolphins. Redcliffe threatened legal action, so the team was alternatively named 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 ...

. Redcliffe defeated Toowoomba in the 2006 Queensland Cup grand final at

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

under the coaching of Anthony Griffin. In 2018, Redcliffe won their sixth Queensland Cup title, defeating

Easts Tigers The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1997, where ...

36-22.

NRL Team

From 2023 onwards, the Redcliffe Dolphins' fully professional spin-off team, known simply as the

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

, compete separately in the National Rugby League. Notwithstanding, the semi-professional Redcliffe Dolphins continue to compete as they are in the

and other Queensland rugby league competitions.

Home ground

Redcliffe's current home ground, Kayo Stadium, formerly known as Moreton Daily Stadium and Dolphin Oval, was first opened in 1979. After multiple upgrades between 2016 and 2020, the stadium has an approximate capacity of 11,500 including 10,000 seats. Image:Dolphins rugby league sign on wall.jpg, Leagues Club wall Image:Moreton Daily Stadium view.jpg, Kayo Stadium Image:Moreton Daily Stadium goal posts.jpg, Stadium goal posts Image:Moreton Daily Stadium signs.jpg, Moreton Daily signage (now Kayo Stadium) Image:View of Moreton Daily Stadium.jpg, Stadium view from club Image:Front of Redcliffe Leagues Club.jpg, Redcliffe Leagues Club

Queensland Cup results

* 1996: Runners-up * 1997: Premiers * 1998: Preliminary finalists * 1999: Runners-up * 2000: Premiers * 2001: Runners-up * 2002: Premiers * 2003: Premiers * 2004: 6th * 2005: Preliminary finalists * 2006: Premiers * 2007: Runners-up * 2008: Semi Finalists * 2009: 11th * 2010: 8th * 2011: Preliminary Finals * 2012: Runners-up * 2013: 8th * 2014: 11th * 2015: 7th * 2016: Runners-up * 2017: 2nd * 2018: Premiers * 2019: 7th * 2020: Cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic * 2021: 5th * 2022: Runners-up

Notable players

Arthur Beetson Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM (21 January 1945 – 1 December 2011

Petero Civoniceva Petero Civoniceva ( (Thee-vo-nee-thee-vah); born 21 April 1976), is a Fijian-Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representa ...

Chris Close Christopher "Choppy" Close (born 5 February 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. A robust three-quarter back, he represented Australia internationally and Queensland in St ...

* Greg Conescu *

Michael Crocker Michael "Croc" Crocker (born 21 June 1980) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a typ ...

Wally Fullerton-Smith Wally John Fullerton-Smith (born 9 July 1960) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative back-rower, he played club f ...

* Dane Gagai *

Henry Holloway Henry Holloway (1931–1999) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. A national representative forward, he played club football in New South Wales and Queensland and represented both states. Holloway later coached in Brisbane. C ...

* Adam Lawton *

Adam Mogg Adam Mogg (born 31 July 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s. A Queensland State of Origin representative , he played in the National Rugby League (NRL) for Australian clubs the Canberra Rai ...

Bryan Niebling Bryan Niebling (born 18 July 1960) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. Niebling played in the forwards. After a successful Brisbane Rugby League premiership, and representative caree ...

Shane Perry Shane Perry (born 9 November 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s whose usual position was halfback. He played in the National Rugby League for the Western Suburbs Magpies, Canterbury-Bankst ...

* John Ribot *

Brent Tate Brent Tate (born 3 March 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or er in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australia national rugby league team, Australia international and Queensland rugby league team, Queens ...

* Reece Walsh * Kevin Yow Yeh

References

Sources

Redcliffe Dolphins Statistics
(archived). Originally retrieved 7 December 2005

External links

* {{Rugby League in Queensland Rugby clubs established in 1947 1947 establishments in Australia Rugby league teams in Brisbane Rugby league teams in Queensland Redcliffe, Queensland