League Table
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drew | For | Against | +/- | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brothers | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 616 | 313 | 303 | 30 |
| Wests | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 517 | 337 | 180 | 28 |
| Valleys | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 458 | 290 | 158 | 22 |
| Wynnum-Manly | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 346 | 543 | -197 | 14 |
| Souths | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 275 | 466 | -191 | 12 |
| Easts | 18 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 321 | 406 | -85 | 10 |
| Norths | 18 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 292 | 471 | -179 | 10 |
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 | Round 15 | Round 16 | Round 17 | Round 18 |
| Round 19 | Round 20 | Round 21 |
Finals
| Stage | Date | Teams | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major Semi-Final | 25 August 1956 | Brothers vs Wests | Details |
| Minor Semi-Final | 26 August 1956 | Valleys vs Wynnum-Manly | Details |
| Preliminary Final | 5 September 1956 | Wests vs Valleys | Details |
| Grand Final | 8 September 1956 | Brothers vs Wests | Details |
President’s Cup Final
| Stage | Date | Teams | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final | 4 June 1956 | Wests vs Brothers | Details |
Pike Cup Final
| Stage | Date | Teams | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final | 3 July 1956 | Brothers vs Wests | Details |
The life of Brian
On the afternoon of Saturday June 30, Australia beat New Zealand 31-14 at the Sydney Cricket Ground to clinch a 3-0 series sweep. It was Valleys fullback Norm Pope’s one and only Test cap, and the first of six for Souths back-rower Tom Tyquin. Alex Watson of Wests scored a couple of tries to clinch Australia’s first ever clean-sweep on home soil.
Brian Davies of Brothers started at prop in all three tests as part of a formidable front row alongside St George captain Ken Kearney and Manly’s Roy Bull. With the Kiwis vanquished, Davies’ thoughts quickly turned to club football. Very quickly.
Davies was back in Brisbane the following morning and then made his way to Oxenham Park at Nundah that afternoon for Brothers’ game against Norths. While he was mercifully allowed to start on the bench, Davies was into the action before half-time, replacing an injured Kev Everding, reportedly enlivening a sluggish Brothers pack and turning a close game into a comfortable 29-16 victory.
Impressive stuff, but this week in the life of Brian was far from done.
Just over 48 hours later he was back in the blue and white stripes of Brothers for the Tuesday night Pike Cup Final against Wests at the Ekka. Summoning reserves of energy from somewhere, Davies proceeded to score three tries in a dominant performance described by the Courier Mail as “[setting] the seal on his reputation as one of the greatest forwards Queensland has produced”.
After the luxury of a three-day break, Davies completed a glorious week by leading Brothers to a 22-17 victory over the defending premiers Valleys at the Gabba on Saturday afternoon, turning in another ‘inspiring’ man-of the match performance which included five goals, and laying to rest any doubt about Brothers’ title credentials in ’56.
There were plenty of contributions to Brothers’ title – rock-solid fullback Mick Shannon, Frank Mellit’s 28 tries, the emergence of gun lock Barry O’Connor, brother of Brian who was players of the year in 1954 – but none as consistently impactful as Davies. He could do it all – the dirty work of the rucks, the hard carries, the soft skill and timing of set-up play on the fringes, kicking goals, leadership by relentless, uncompromising, messianic action.
And as Steve Haddan noted, “1956 always likely to yield a Brothers premiership”. They were clearly the best team. Wests challenged again but were ultimately no match in the Pike Cup Final or Grand Final. Wests would almost certainly have lost the wildly controversial Major Semi-Final, ultimately abandoned by referee Col Wright and awarded to Brothers, though we’ll never know.
Valleys, weakened by the loss of prolific winger Garry Barnett and prop Ben Fotheringham, were strong but never reached the heights of ’55. Norths hit bottom as their rebuild progressed.
Of the also-rans, most notable was Wynnum-Manly’s first finals appearance, with the ‘Seasiders’ winning three of their last five to pip Souths to the last spot in the finals. With excellent former Easts centre Keith Brown leading the way, along with aggressive back-rower Bob Greenhill and exciting young five eighth Bobby Cook, their fans at least had something to cheer after a couple of miserable seasons.
Milestone men
The 1956 season saw a record fall when Valleys fullback Norm Pope surpassed his predecessor Danny O’Connor’s record of 636 points to become the BRL’s all-time leading point-scorer.
Pope finished the season with 714 total points. His 208 points in 1956 also set a new record for most points scored in a single season.
Elsewhere, Brothers occasional fullback Dinny Dall became just the third player after Pope and O’Connor to reach 500 total points.
Wynnum-Manly captain-coach Keith Brown passed Babe Collins to become the second-highest try-scorer in BRL history, finishing the season with 78 tries, just six behind Garry Barnett’s all-time mark. Brown also finished the season within reach of becoming an official member of the 100-game club (though, it’s likely he was already there given the limited games data available by this point in BRL history).
More information about player and competition records is available on the records page.