Redcap's BRL

Brisbane Rugby League 1943 season

League Table

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drew	For	Against	Diff	Points
Valleys	10	9	1	0	202	53	149	18
Brothers	10	7	3	0	190	99	91	14
Norths	10	6	4	0	131	82	49	12
Souths	10	6	4	0	158	119	39	12
Easts	10	2	8	0	77	247	-170	4
Wests	10	0	10	0	82	240	-158	0

Rounds

Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5
Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Round 9	Round 10

Finals

Stage	Date	Teams	Link
Minor Semi-Final	24 July 1943	Norths vs Souths	Details
Major Semi-Final	31July 1943	Valleys vs Brothers	Details
Preliminary Final	7 August 1943	Brothers vs Norths	Details
Grand Final	14 August 1943	Brothers vs Valleys	Details

Pike Cup

Stage	Date	Teams	Link
Final	5 June 1943	Brothers vs Valleys	Details

Skip to 1944 season

Valleys win the battles but lose the war (again)

Back in 1938, Valleys produced a near-perfect season. The ’38 Diehards were the most dominant team the BRL had seen to that point, arguably the most dominant of all time. They lost just one premiership game all season. Trouble was, that game was the Grand Final.

1943 was a similar tale. The Diehards weren’t quite as dominant as they had been in ’38. They even lost a regular season game – a narrow defeat to the defending and eventual premiers Brothers in round nine. They also lost the Pike Cup Final to Brothers in June. But they still finished well clear atop the table and any doubt about Valleys’ title credentials was seemingly extinguished when they slaughtered the Bretheren 34-7 in the Major Semi-Final.

The 1943 Grand Final was, like ’38, a tale of missed opportunities. Leading 7-5 in the dying stages of the first half, Valleys launched an attack and created an overlap on the edge. Veteran centre Len Walker was unmarked but couldn’t gather the pass with the line open.

From there, Brothers’ fearsome forward pack gradually wore down their Diehard counterparts. As the always colourful Truth put it, “Brothers came with such daring, dazzling dash at the death that the Diehards were left with backs to the wall… and no wall”.

Eddie ‘Three-Pigs’ Brosnan was man of the match, Kangaroo winger Len Dawson’s try put Brothers in front with just under 10 minutes to go, and a youngster, M Pascoe on the other wing scored the clincher in a 13-7 victory at the Exhibition. Valleys had blown it, again.

Well, actually there were some interesting forces at play, and while Valleys were in a privileged position and weathered the worst of it, they weren’t immune.

The war effort, both abroad and at home, was still making it difficult for most to field a team. Easts took on Souths in round two with just nine players. Brothers were so short when they played Wests in round eight that they gave jerseys to a couple of club officials, Jack Constable and Tom Conway, neither of whom had played first grade since 1932. Wests turned to a district cricketer called Clarrie Lye who, while very fast, apparently knew little about the finer points of rugby league, though he did eventually become a handy player.

The effects weren’t evenly spread, though. Not only were lots of American troops in town, plenty of service personnel from around Australia, including a few very good league players, joined them. With barracks at Kelvin Grove, Bulimba and the City, many ended up in the royal blue of Valleys.

Joining Firpo Neumann, Jack Bates and former Brothers and Easts forward Bert Scraggs at the Diehards were Newcastle hooker Walmsley and Canterbury forwards Bob Farrar and Henry Porter, who would have an interesting reunion with Brisbane in 1947. St George fullback and future fast-bowling great Ray Lindwall even played in that Preliminary Final demolition of Brothers. It seemed a little unfair.

But the vagaries of the time, the potential for half the team to be unavailable at short notice, meant that come Grand Final day Valleys were without Porter, Walmsley, Lindwall and Bates. A couple of greenhorns started for Valleys in the decider, and it eventually showed.

While Brothers had their issues, they managed to keep their core players, Brosnan, half Les Ridgewell, pivot Lisle Creedy and prop Les Heidke together for most of the season, including the Grand Final. Their champion team might’ve beat Valleys anyway – they had before, after all – but it puts things in a different light. It was a mighty losing effort by the omnipotent Diehards.

Skip to 1944 season