Redcap's BRL

Two becoming one

The complete 1930 Brisbane Rugby League season is now live on Redcap’s BRL. See how Carlton won the BRL title undefeated – well, sort of – with a summary of every game and all the team lists and point-scorers available by clicking on each round in the 1930 season page.

There was plenty of interest within the 1930 season – the sudden rise of a deep and dominant Carlton, the steady ascent of the next great Valleys team, the beginning of the end of University, the extraordinary scenes at the Carlton-Coorparoo semi-final – but really, it was all about détente and then peace between the BRL and QRL.

The treaty was finally signed on 9 July and the season re-jigged as a result, with the premiership curtailed and a ‘League Cup’ tournament, incorporating Brothers, who’d opted to play only in the QRL league, and returning representative players like Vic Armbruster and Alf Cruden, commencing the same weekend as the premiership semi-finals.

The 1930 League Cup is the closest thing the BRL ever had to the NSWRL’s City Cup – a tournament played entirely outside the premiership, a second season. The League Cup games are therefore considered equivalent to premiership games for the purposes of player statistics.

And for this reason, Valleys’ achievements in 1930 deserve some broader recognition. They won the President’s Cup (beating Carlton in the semi-final, sort of), beat Carlton in the Premiership Final, and dominated the League Cup. Along with Toombul in 1908, it could be considered one of two quasi-premierships in BRL history.

Which is to take nothing away from Carlton. The southsiders went unbeaten through the regular premiership season. While some cracks were appearing toward the end, most notably losing to Valleys in the Final and struggling in the League Cup, they beat Valleys convincingly in the Challenge Final and were deserving premiers.

Veteran forwards Salmon and Ryan, who’d been part of their last premiership in 1925, provided ballast. They had a quality half in Costello, one of the league’s brightest young talents in Mick Maloney and, importantly, some handy players in reserve for when injury and representative commitments took their toll.

But Valleys had assembled a scary looking team. Future club legends ‘Skinny’ Donovan and Fred ‘Firpo’ Neumann had established themselves. Young forward Eugene Robson was already a representative player and the brothers Little (who really weren’t) were imposing presences. Carlton would take some dethroning, but Valleys were well on their way back to number one.

More complete BRL seasons are coming soon on Redcap’s BRL.