Redcap's BRL

A complete record of the Brisbane Rugby League, 1909 to 1995, and more…

Brisbane Rugby League (QARL) 1911 season

This cartoon from just before the start of the 1911 season seems to depict league as being in good health, with the dismal game, rugby union looking a bit sad, and Aussie rules looking a tad deranged. Seems about right.

League table

TeamPlayedWonLostDrewForAgainstDiffPoints
Ipswich B96211654811713
Valley-Toombul9621158986013
South Brisbane963096821412
Ipswich A826043120-774
North Brisbane835011010916
South United716055170-1152
The league went back to a four-team finals format in 1911, with the defending champions, Ipswich A only qualifying after a number of Norths players defected to South United, leaving the ‘red and blacks’ unable to field a team late in the season. South United’s only ‘win’ was in fact a forfeit by Ipswich A in round 9.

Rounds

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

Finals

StageDateTeamsLink
Semi-final16 September 1911Valley-Toombul vs South BrisbaneDetails
Semi-final16 September 1911Ipswich B vs Ipswich ADetails
Final23 September 1911Valley-Toombul vs Ipswich BDetails
Challenger Final30 September 1911Valley-Toombul vs Ipswich BDetails

Skip to 1912 season

The empire strikes back

Valleys’ is an interesting history. Beyond the many titles and great players, there’s all the other teams they absorbed or attempted to absorb. First there was Toombul, and then the short-lived Bulimba electoral district team. It’s still not entirely clear what the 1913 Railways team was, but Valleys both were Railways and superseded them.

Then, several decades later, they latched onto the Seagulls club at Tweed Heads, then Caboolture and, finally, in a last-ditch bid to survive, Brothers.

Anyway, with Messrs Dutton, M’Comb, Holzberger and Massey from Toombul on board, Valley-Toombul romped home and knocked-off minor premiers Ipswich B in back-to-back finals. The Ipswich ‘junior’ team excelled themselves to finish top of the table, having only entered the league in round 3, with the team featuring some players who would go onto to become greats of the Ipswich league, including forward William Richmond, fullback H Biddle and stalwart half William Munro.

As for the defending champs, competing here as Ipswich A, it seems injury and a busy schedule of inter-city matches did for them. They did qualify for the semi-finals, but only because of the spectacular meltdown of Norths, who had at least four players defect to South United and couldn’t field a team by season’s end.

Speaking of South United, while they were wildly unsuccessful, their dissolution along with Norths’ meltdown, was seemingly the genesis of Natives, premiers in 1912

Skip to 1912 season

Villeneuve (the fancy word for Newtown) was where Redcap (this Redcap, not the 1920s version) lived in his very first days, though I understand where we lived would technically be considered part of Mount Archer now. Still, it’s remarkable a place as small as Villeneuve (population ~200 at last count) could field a team.

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