Brisbane Rugby League 1958 season
League Table
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drew | For | Against | +/- | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wests | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 443 | 336 | 107 | 28 |
| Valleys | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 356 | 318 | 38 | 23 |
| Brothers | 18 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 517 | 328 | 189 | 21 |
| Wynnum-Manly | 18 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 369 | 397 | -28 | 17 |
| Norths | 18 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 379 | 458 | -79 | 17 |
| Easts | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 307 | 400 | -93 | 10 |
| Souths | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 278 | 412 | -134 | 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 | 6 September 1958 | Valleys vs Wests | Details |
| Minor Semi-Final | 7 September 1958 | Brothers vs Wynnum-Manly | Details |
| Preliminary Final | 13 September 1958 | Brothers vs Wests | Details |
| Grand Final | 20 September 1958 | Brothers vs Valleys | Details |
President’s Cup
| Stage | Date | Teams | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final | 22 June 1958 | Wests vs Valleys | Details |
Pike Cup
| Stage | Date | Teams | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final | 10 August 1958 | Valleys vs Wests | Details |
Old Brian and the new ‘Terrible Six’
It was a strange, topsy-turvy sort of season.
Souths started with two straight wins, including a statement victory over Brothers in round two. But it seems the statement was ‘this is as good as it’s going to get’. They proceeded to win just three of their last sixteen games and finish last.
Wests looked nothing like contenders in the early going, and it turns out they weren’t really, despite winning ten on the trot from mid-May to late July which took them to a comfortable minor premiership.
There was a lot to like about Wests – new fullback Darryl Stevens and prop Harry Londy, free-scoring winger Barry Erickson and, most notably, the debut of Barry Muir. The pugnacious halfback from the Tweed would go on to play for Australia, and later be run out of town in disgrace after a series of rash decisions in 1968. For now, Muir was on the up.
Wests clearly weren’t happy with Ron McKenzie at five-eighth but didn’t have anyone better. Hooker Jack McLean was seemingly not quite on the level of his counterparts. Defeat to Valleys in the Pike Cup Final and a hammering by Brothers the following weekend indicated the league leader’s true level, and they bowed out of the finals in straight sets.
The Sunday Mail summed it up in their review of the final round when they remarked that “Wests cakewalked through Souths 46-22 yesterday, but it was a gloomy pointer to their Rugby League premiership prospects”.
Valleys were mostly their usual solid selves and made another Grand Final after disposing of Wests. But they were also unusually flaky. The Diehards fell apart for a stretch when captain-coach Norm Pope was unavailable through injury and suspension. They had a young prop, Geoff O’Brien, who was one of the league’s best forwards on his day, but those days were few and far between. Something was wrong, as Mick Mulgrew’s protracted and awkward departure from the club in ’59 perhaps indicated.
Wynnum-Manly were consistently dangerous. Brilliant five-eighth Bobby Cook won a share of the Courier Mail’s player of the year gong, alongside Muir, and they made the finals for just the second time.
But the Seasiders still lacked depth. When a change was needed, they invariably turned to familiar faces who’d been around since the early ’50s – Vince Long, Noel Townsend and Alf Birks, mostly. Wests had Barry Muir. Norths brought future club legend Bill Pearson from Ipswich in ’58. It was same ol’, same ol’ at Wynnum.
Not that bringing back familiar faces is necessarily a bad thing.
Brothers scuffled though through the first two-thirds of the season and were languishing near the bottom of the ladder as the league turned down the home stretch. A close defeat to Valleys in round 15 looked like confirmation that the Bretheren were done in ’58. Victories over Easts and Wynnum-Manly kept them afloat. Then, Brian O’Connor returned.
O’Connor had been the Mail’s player of the year in 1954 but had rarely been sighted since ’55. Since then, younger brother Barry had established himself as part of a formidable forward pack alongside Brian Davies, Peter Gallagher and Phil Coman which had drawn some comparisons to the ‘terrible six’ Brothers pack of Brosnan, Law, Heidke and Co. in the ’40s.
They’d been more mildly threatening than terrible in ’58, until ‘old Brian’ showed up. His return coincided with a 52-18 demolition of Norths in round 18. Wests were swatted aside 39-10 the following weekend and Brothers rose to third by season’s end.
And it became old Brian’s finals series. Four tries in the Minor Semi-Final against Wynnum-Manly, another two against Wests in the Preliminary Final, and a commanding performance (and another try) in the Grand Final as part of “one of the greatest displays ever seen by a club pack of forwards” in the Bretheren’s crushing win over Valleys.
Brian would be back in ’59 and Brothers would contest another Grand Final. But the balance of power was shifting. The other Brian – Brian Davies, rampaging prop, captain, goal-kicker, general inspiration – left for Canterbury. An ‘Immortal’ fullback turned up at Norths and a year later Brothers’ master coach Bob Bax would also head to Nundah.
Norths were about to deliver a ‘terrible six’ of their own.
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