Brisbane Rugby League (Barry Cup) 1913 season
League table
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drew | For | Against | Diff | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West End | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 103 | 73 | 30 | 16 |
| South Brisbane | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 104 | 88 | 16 | 12 |
| Natives | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 95 | 79 | 16 | 10 |
| Railways | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 75 | 140 | -65 | 6 |
Rounds
Finals
No finals – premiership decided on a first-past-the-post basis, with West End’s victory over Natives in round 11 clinching the Barry Cup. Natives’ skipper Hughie Mullins was incensed by this outcome and penned a rather incendiary letter (refer below) to the Editor of the Brisbane Courier.
From the ashes (part 2)
The league took on another new look, party influenced by the political turmoil of the time. At full strength, Railways’ team contained six or seven Valley-Toombul players and it’s not entirely clear why this was. Steve Haddan suggested a connection to the industrial unrest in Brisbane around the time leading to the rise of TJ Ryan’s Labor Government in 1915. The rail yard at Mayne, the infrastructure in the suburbs to the north, and the trains themselves may well have employed many of the Valley-Toombul number.
West End were formed around players from Kurilpa and Woolloongabba. The moustachioed man of many clubs, David Harrower, and veteran forward A Hoolahan, formerly of East Brisbane, provided ballast to the pack. Much as Souths-Logan like to claim a lineage back to 1909 – and they’re not entirely wrong – the birth of West End in 1913 was the genesis of the Magpies.
Woolloongabba would be back, before Coorparoo would more firmly establish the foundations of present-day Easts.
In the end, it was the former Kurilpa fullback, E Rose who provided the season’s decisive moment, cutting through the defence of Natives, the defending premiers, to score the only try in what was a quasi-final on 13 September. West End’s victory gave them a four-point lead atop the table and saw them declared premiers, with the league shelving a potential three-way playoff between the ‘All Blacks’ (West End), Natives and Souths.
Natives were not best pleased with this outcome. Club founder, Hughie Mullins was furious and challenged West End (among others) to a playoff through a letter in the Courier. It wasn’t to be, and Natives were never heard from again.
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