The Wynnum Rugby Union Club, known as Wynnum Bugs, is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

football club located in

Wynnum Wynnum is a coastal suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wynnum had a population of 12,915 people. The suburb is a popular destination in Brisbane due to its coastline, jetty and tidal wading pool. Geography Wynnu ...

, in Queensland, Australia. The original Wynnum club was one of the founding teams of the Brisbane Premiership (now

Queensland Premier Rugby Queensland Premier Rugby is a semi professional club rugby union competition in Queensland, Australia. Nine clubs play in the competition, eight of which are from Brisbane with one club from the Gold Coast. The premiership has been contested ...

) that was formed by the revived

Queensland Rugby Union The Queensland Rugby Union, or QRU, is the Sports governing body, 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 ...

in 1929. The club now plays in the

Sunshine Coast Rugby Union The Sunshine Coast Rugby Union is the local rugby union competition on Australia's Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sunshine Coast. Through Sunshine Coast Rugby Union Limited it serves as the governing body for rugby on the Sunshine Coast. History ...

competition, after having been in the Brisbane-based QSRU competition for several decades. Wynnum's junior teams play in th
Brisbane Junior Rugby Union
(BJRU) competition.

Name and colours

The Wynnum Bugs' nickname comes from the

Moreton Bay Bug ''Thenus orientalis'' is a species of slipper lobster from the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. ''T. orientalis'' is known by a number of common names. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization prefers the na ...

, a species of lobster found in

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

, near

. The team's colours are red, white and blue.

History

The original Wynnum Rugby Union Football Club was formed in 1929, and played in the Brisbane Premiership that year. In 1979, the club was refounded when 7-year-old Evan Willis asked his father Jeff "Willo" if he could ''"play the game that they play at Ballymore in Wynnum".'' When Jeff discovered that there wasn't a rugby union club in Wynnum, his wife Pam and himself starting work to establish the Wynnum Junior Rugby Union Club. The club was based at an old rubbish dump, Elanora Park, on the Foreshore in the north of Wynnum. The "Wynnum Bugs" were almost named the "Wynnum Muddies". But, th
Redlands Rugby Club
who were established at a similar time, claimed the "Muddies" nickname and the Wynnum club then became known as the "Moreton Bay Bugs". The first team to play under the Wynnum Bugs name was an U8's fixture against Ascot-Clayfield on the 11th of April, 1979 and recorded a 20-16 win. Since 1979, where the club fielded only a couple junior teams, the Bugs gradually grew throughout the 1980's in teams and playing numbers. In 1989, club president Milton Lovell's efforts to field an under 16s in 1987, the Bugs would field their first ever senior (over 18) side, a Colts under 19s side. The first open age Senior team was assembled in 1990. Wynnum was amongst the inaugural clubs to play in the restructured Queensland Suburban Rugby competition sponsored by Coca-Cola in 1994, and its junior teams played in the Brisbane Junior Rugby Union (BJRU) competition. In The QSRU competition, the Bugs won multiple 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and Colts premierships across this time period. However, the 1st grade was yet to win a premiership, after making multiple grand finals though the 1990s and early 2000s. Wynnum won the

Barber Cup A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

for the QSRU Division I premiership in 2007. The team finished as runner up in 2012 and 2013, The Wynumm Bugs regained the Barber Cup in 2014, defeating Caboolture 45–42 in the grand final at Ballymore. The club also won the Sydney Cup for the QSRU club championship in 2014. In 2018 they defeated Caboolture in the Barber Cup Grand Final before both clubs decided to join the

competition for the 2019 season. Three Wynnum players were selected in the 2022

Sunshine Coast Stingrays The Sunshine Coast Stingrays is an Australian rugby union football team that represents Queensland's Sunshine Coast region. The Stingrays played in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition from 2005 to 2013, but now focus on competing in the Qu ...

squad.

References

External links

Wynnum Rugby
official website {{QSRU Rugby union teams in Queensland 1929 establishments in Australia Rugby clubs established in 1929 Sporting clubs in Brisbane Wynnum, Queensland Sunshine Coast Rugby Union