The Toowoomba Clydesdales are a
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 ...
football club based in
Toowoomba
Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...
,
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 ...
. The Clydesdales originally 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 ...
from the competition's inception in 1996 until 2006, and were the feeder club for 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 ...
between 1999 and 2006. They will re-enter the Queensland Cup in 2023 as the Western Clydesdales.
History
"Galloping Clydesdales"
Historically, the Clydesdales were the representative team for the Toowoomba competition. They competed in the
Bulimba Cup between 1925 and 1972, winning on sixteen occasions. In 1924, the team defeated
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
,
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 ...
, Ipswich, the
New South Wales state side and
New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...
holders,
South Sydney. The win against the English touring side was noteworthy as it was the first time England had ever lost to a provincial side. The team, with a large number of incumbent Australian and Queensland players, was coined the "Galloping Clydesdales".
Players to represent Australia while playing for the Clydesdales include
Herb Steinohrt
Herbert Walt Steinohrt (21 October 1897 – 27 December 1985) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s as a front row forward for the Australian national team. He played in 9 Tests between 1928 and 1932 ...
,
Duncan Thompson
Duncan Fulton Thompson MBE (14 March 1895 – 17 May 1980) was an Australian veteran of both WWI and WWII and a rugby league footballer, coach and administrator. He was wounded on active service in WWI and has been named amongst the natio ...
,
Tom Gorman,
Mick Masden,
Dan Dempsey
Dan Dempsey (15 January 1902 – 9 January 1960) was an Australian rugby league Australian Kangaroos, national and Queensland Maroons, Queensland state representative player. He played his career at and is considered one of the nation's finest f ...
and
Duncan Hall
Duncan Hall (24 August 192518 January 2011) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, singled out as having been amongst the greatest of the 20th century. He played in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership f ...
.
Winfield State League (1982-1995)
In 1982, the Clydesdales joined the
Winfield State League
The Winfield State League was a rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It was administered by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition was the QRL's parallel to the NSWRL's Amco Cup knockout and ran alongside the Brisbane ...
. They were eliminated in the semi-final stage in the 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons. During the 1992 season, Toowoomba was re-named the South-West Division.
Queensland Cup (1996-2006)
Toowoomba played in the
inaugural season of the Queensland Cup in 1996, finishing as minor premiers. They claimed their first premiership with a 8-6 win against the
Redcliffe Dolphins
The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisba ...
at
Lang Park
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 ...
. The next two seasons were not as successful, with Toowoomba dropping to 15th place in the
1998 Queensland Cup
The 1998 Queensland Cup season was the 3rd season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition.
The competition was contested by sixteen teams over a 27-week long season (including finals), with the Norths Devils defeating the ...
regular season.
The Clydesdales formed a feeder club arrangement with 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 ...
ahead of the
1999 Queensland Cup
The 1999 Queensland Cup season was the 4th season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition.
The competition was contested by Queensland Cup, fourteen teams over a 26-week long season (including finals), with the Burleigh Bea ...
season, which saw fringe and up-and-coming players from the NRL club turn out for Toowoomba in the Queensland Cup. The Clydesdales were the competition's big improvers as they finished in fourth place and were ultimately eliminated by the defending premiers, Norths Devils.
The following season,
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
, resulted in Toowoomba finishing third and qualifying for their second Queensland Cup grand final, beating Redcliffe 46-12 in the major semi-final. The Dolphins would gain their revenge in the grand final, defeating the Clydesdales 14-6.
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
saw the Queensland Cup return to Toowoomba, as the Clydesdales finished minor premiers with just one loss and one draw all season. In a reverse of the previous year's finals, the
Redcliffe Dolphins
The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisba ...
defeated Toowoomba in the major semi-final to advance directly to the grand final. Toowoomba were able to overcome the
Burleigh Bears
The Burleigh Bears are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Gold Coast, Australia. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup.
Since their admission to the competition in 1997, th ...
in the preliminary final, before facing Redcliffe in a rematch of the previous year's grand final. Halfback
Casey McGuire
Casey McGuire (born 24 January 1980) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. A Queensland State of Origin representative half back, he played his club football in the National Rugby League (NRL) for the Brisbane Broncos (w ...
scored the winning try inside the last minute of the game, giving the Clydesdales a famous 28-26 victory.
Toowoomba would miss the finals during the next two seasons, before returning to the finals in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
and
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
, but were eliminated by the
Wynnum-Manly Seagulls
The Wynnum-Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1951 to 1997. Sin ...
and
Redcliffe Dolphins
The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisba ...
respectively, each game in extra time.
The Clydesdales would return to the minor premiership of the
Queensland Cup in 2006. They would once again ultimately face the
Redcliffe Dolphins
The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisba ...
in the grand final. After scoring the first try of the game, the Clydesdales would eventually lose 6-27.
The Broncos wound up the feeder club arrangement with the Clydesdales in December 2006, resulting in Toowoomba withdrawing from the Queensland Cup. With the creation of the
Townsville Blackhawks in 2015, Toowoomba would be the largest regional centre without a Queensland Cup side
Return to Queensland Cup (2023- )
In July 2022, the
Queensland Rugby League
The Queensland Rugby Football League QRL Constitution, 2009: 3 (QRL QRL Constitution, 2009: 2) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL Commission) and selects the membe ...
announced the Clydesdales would return to the Queensland Cup for the 2023 season. The bid to return a Toowoomba team to the Queensland Cup initially planned to call the team the Western Mustangs
after the existing junior representative team. But in August 2021 it was announced the team, if readmitted, would be named the Western Clydesdales in order to represent both the western Queensland and Toowoomba elements of the club.
The Clydesdales announced a partnership with the
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...
, whereby the NRL club would establish an academy servicing Toowoomba and south-west Queensland and integrate with Clydesdales coaching staff on and off the field.
Former Bulldogs NRL player
Jason Alchin was named as the head coach of the Western Clydesdales for the 2023 season.
Notable players
Many Australian and Queensland representatives have played for Toowoomba during their career.
*
Berrick Barnes
Berrick Steven Barnes (born 28 May 1986) is a former Australian professional rugby union footballer. His usual position is fly-half or inside centre. He is currently signed with Japanese Top League club Panasonic Wild Knights, but previously pl ...
*
Laurie Blake
*
Michael Hancock
*
Ben Ikin
Benjamin Ikin (born 21 February 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and works as the Football & Performance Director for the Brisbane Broncos. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representat ...
*
*
Paul Morgan
*
Herb Steinohrt
Herbert Walt Steinohrt (21 October 1897 – 27 December 1985) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s as a front row forward for the Australian national team. He played in 9 Tests between 1928 and 1932 ...
*
David Taylor
*
Sam Thaiday
Samuel Arthur Thaiday (; born 12 June 1985) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League, serving as their captain from 2012 until 2013. An Australian internationa ...
*
Duncan Thompson
Duncan Fulton Thompson MBE (14 March 1895 – 17 May 1980) was an Australian veteran of both WWI and WWII and a rugby league footballer, coach and administrator. He was wounded on active service in WWI and has been named amongst the natio ...
*
Adrian Vowles
Adrian Vowles (born 30 May 1971) is a former professional Scotland international rugby league footballer who played as a or in the 1990s and 2000s. He played in Australia for several years, gaining State of Origin selection in 1994, but spent ...
*
Carl Webb
Carl Webb (born 20 March 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 2000s and 2010s.
He played for the Brisbane Broncos, North Queensland Cowboys and the Parramatta Eels in the NRL. Webb ...
*
Paul Green (rugby league)
Paul Gregory Green (12 September 1972 – 11 August 2022) was an Australian professional rugby league football coach, best known for taking the North Queensland Cowboys to the NRL premiership in 2015, and a professional rugby league footballer ...
*
Justin Hodges
Justin Hodges (born 25 May 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative , Hodges started his career in the Natio ...
*
Michael Ryan (rugby league)
Michael Ryan (born 9 May 1981) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played as a for the Brisbane Broncos in the Australian National Rugby League competition.
Background
Ryan was born in Brisbane, Queensland
)
, nickname = ...
*
Dane Carlaw
Dane Carlaw (born 21 February 1980 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australia national and Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he played ...
*
Kyle Warren
*
Edwin Brown
Edwin Stanley "Nigger" Brown (1898–1972) was an Australian rugby league player who played in the 1910s and 1920s. A Queensland state and Australian international representative centre, he played club rugby in Toowoomba for Newtown.
Brown, ...
*
Nathan Friend
Nathan "The Hobbit" Friend (born 28 February 1981 in Toowoomba, Queensland) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League (NRL). He previously played for the Brisb ...
*
Dan Stains
Dan Stains (born 28 June 1964) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He played primarily for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, usually as a and as a .
Background
Stains was born in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. He atten ...
*
Lote Tuqiri
Lote Daulako Tuqiri (born 23 September 1979) is a former professional dual-code rugby footballer who primarily played as a winger across both codes. He represented Australia in both rugby league and rugby union, and Fiji in rugby league. Tuqi ...
*
Luke Priddis
Luke Priddis (born 14 April 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. An Australia national rugby league team, Australian international and New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales State of Origin series, Sta ...
*
Brad Meyers
Bradley Meyers (born 5 January 1980), also known by the nicknames of "Big Red", or "Two Step", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian national ...
*
Don Saunders
*
Neale Wyatt
Neale Wyatt (born 2 February 1981) is a former professional rugby league player who played for the Brisbane Broncos, Toowoomba Clydesdales and Celtic Crusaders.
Early life
Wyatt was born in Rockhampton on 2 February 1981. He graduated from ...
See also
References
External links
Clydesdales homepageToowoomba's HomepageDire financial status forces Clydesdales to quit Qld Cup
{{Rugby League in Queensland
1919 establishments in Australia
Rugby league teams in Queensland
Rugby clubs established in 1919
Toowoomba Clydesdales