Redcap's BRL

Valley of death: The 1924 Brisbane Rugby League season

The 1924 Brisbane Rugby League Season is now live on Redcap’s BRL. See how Valleys overcame a rising Brothers team to win yet another title, and how a canny piece of lawfare by the defending premiers, Coorparoo decided the make-up of the finals.

Valleys’ 1924 season is something American saber-metricians and traditionalists might argue about forever, if they had any interest in rugby league. Were the Royal Blues a team with a ‘feel’ for the game who could turn it on when they needed to, or were they just lucky?

Despite their commanding lead atop the table and excellent defensive record, they often fell behind and won a series of close games, even against mediocre opposition. On two of the three occasions they met the next best team (Brothers) in a significant game, they got rissoled.

The defending champions, Coorparoo fell off a cliff, only scraping into the finals after a late-season surge, and after Carlton were stripped of a competition point for fielding an unregistered player against Valleys.

The new(ish) boys, Grammars were arguably the team of the season, finishing third and pushing Valleys all the way in the semi-final. Brothers and their big, mobile pack gave a hint of their future trajectory, retaining the Pike Cup and rissoling Valleys in the premiership final.

But Valleys won the one that mattered – the Challenge Final – and when it mattered most, opposition attacks usually died short of their line. Veteran captain Ted ‘Deadwood’ McGrath picked up his fifth premiership, while Ted Stanley was part of his fourth. ‘

1924 was also the start of the civil war between the BRL and QRL, which kicked off with a dispute about money, venues and scheduling during the season. I’m not going to dedicate any further space to it or spend any time on the short-lived QRL club competition which was later played alongside the BRL. I recommend the work of Steve Haddan and/or Max and Reet Howell on the subject.

More complete Brisbane Rugby League seasons coming soon on Redcap’s BRL.