Carlton spoil King Harold’s coronation
The 1925 Brisbane Rugby League season is now live on Redcap’s BRL. See how Carlton rose from fourth place by beating all three of the other finals teams to win a well-earned premiership.
‘Twas a curious season. Wests were back – they would make a habit of rising, crashing and burning, and then rising again, like a phoenix or a cartoonish super-villain. With Cec Aysnley a regular again, the return of journeyman half William Brereton, and an emerging forward pack, ‘Suburbs’ finished second after two years in the wilderness.
Valleys, the defending champs, lost a number of key players and couldn’t seem to settle on a combination. Without star fullback Wally Cheyne, the backline was in flux most of the season. While veteran Ted McGrath was still anchoring the pack, it wasn’t the same fearsome outfit it had been the previous year.
The team of the year was Coorparoo, who’d lost their talisman Charlie Thorogood to retirement but gained the great Harold Horder from Sydney. In many ways it was Horder’s season, as the former Shoreman and Rabbitoh ran amok through most of the local defences. His try-scoring duel with Wests flyer Aynsley in round 13 was a particular highlight.
But on the big day, fourth-placed Carlton took home the prize. The ‘Maroon and Whites’ certainly didn’t look premiers early in the season, or even late in the season. They seemed determined to make veteran fullback Ernie Silverthau a half as a way of shoehorning Tom Bath into the team at fullback.
Once Bath was injured, things clicked, with Silverthau’s long kicking from the backfield paving the way for a consistent forward pack, boom centre Morahan and speedy winger Bourke to do their thing. While Coorparoo were missing some key players away on tour with Queensland, Carlton had found their mojo at the right time and comprehensively beat Horder and Co. 26-5 in the challenger final.
More complete Brisbane Rugby League seasons are coming soon on Redcap’s BRL.
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