Brisbane Rugby League 1933 Season
League Table
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drew | For | Against | Diff | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wests | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 223 | 146 | 77 | 18 |
| Valleys | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 231 | 129 | 102 | 16 |
| Brothers | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 221 | 127 | 94 | 15 |
| Easts | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 211 | 131 | 80 | 15 |
| Norths | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 234 | 129 | 105 | 14 |
| University | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 142 | 383 | -241 | 4 |
| Souths | 12 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 119 | 336 | -217 | 2 |
Rounds
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 8 | Round 9 | Round 10 | Round 11 | Round 12 | Round 13 | Round 14 |
Finals
| Stage | Date | Teams | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-Final | 9 September 1933 | Wests vs Easts | Details |
| Semi-Final | 9 September 1933 | Valleys vs Brothers | Details |
| Premiership Final | 16 September 1933 | Valleys vs Wests | Details |
| Challenge Final | 23 September 1933 | Valleys vs Wests | Details |
Pike Cup
| Stage | Date | Teams | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final | 1 July 1933 | Valleys vs Wests | Details |
Wests’ Faustian pact
Wests picked up in the 1933 season right where they left off in 1932 – winning a lot, seven league games in a row to be precise. Victory over Valleys in the penultimate round in late August saw the ‘red and blacks’ clinch the minor premiership and right of challenge for the second season in a row. A second consecutive premiership appeared ripe for the plucking.
With their position at the head of the table secure, Wests chose to rest a few key players, including hooker Tom Purtell and captain ‘Ack’ Jones, from their final round game with Easts. While it wasn’t exactly a second-string or weak outfit, it did lose convincingly to the Tigers, and in the process effectively handed a finals spot to Easts at the expense of Norths, who beat a full-strength Brothers team to briefly keep their hopes alive.
For their understrength lineup and weak performance, Wests were booed off the Gabba. While there was much grumbling and gnashing of teeth among league administrators, there was little recourse to punish the adulterous westerners. Fate would have to do.
A few weeks later, Wests, having edged Easts in a tight semi-final, went down to Valleys in the Final. Not only that, a trio of important players in Taylor, Johnson and Philpott were unavailable for the Challenge Final against Valleys at Davies Park the following weekend.
And Valleys, perhaps predictably, finished off an understrength Wests team in the challenger, no doubt prompting Norths supporters and a some others who’d booed them off the field a few weeks earlier to snigger up their sleeves in celebration.
Which is to take nothing away from Valleys. They still had a strong forward pack and inspirational skipper Skinny Donovan. They’d picked up premiership-winning half Eddie Costello from Carlton and welcomed back five-eighth Dud Bird after a season away. They had a little trouble settling on a backline combination, especially with Firpo Neumann struggling to stay on the field, but when it mattered the Diehards came through and clinched the club’s tenth title.
After two poor seasons, Brothers re-emerged as a threat. They’d already pinched the brilliant Mick Moloney and forward N Mulholland from Carlton a couple years earlier, and in 1933 they followed that up by nabbing star centre Eric Hogan, his brother Vince and experienced standoff Leo Dwyer, among others. It was an interesting reversal of the exodus of players from Merthyr in 1919 that enabled Carlton to establish themselves. Carlton’s successor, Souths would spend a few seasons rooted to the foot of the table afterward.
Easts continued Coorparoo’s cruising altitude – neither struggling or seriously threatening. After a slow start, Norths improved significantly and only narrowly missed the finals. They’d already picked up sharp-shooter non-pareil, George Lockie from University, and were about to welcome a player who would go on to become a club legend, the former Coorparoo forward Edward ‘Babe’ Collins who spent 1933 playing in the Ipswich league. Very good times were ahead.
University, premiers in 1928 and ’29, were awful. Their nadir was a 75-20 mauling suffered at the hands of Norths at Nundah Oval in round 11 which broke a couple of records. The 55-point margin exceeded the 45-0 win by Wests over University in 1920 as heaviest defeat in BRL history, while Norths’ 75 points blew away Coorparoo’s 55-point haul against Grammars in 1925. The ‘Students’ were not long for the BRL.
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