Some people believe that Australian Football - or AFL as it is known in the modern vernacular - arrived in Queensland in 1987 with the advent of the Brisbane Bears. Even more curious is the misconception that AFL in Brisbane started when the Bears relocated to the Gabba in 1993.
In fact, Queensland has a long and rich history of Australian Rules football stemming all the way back to the 1880’s. Indeed our indigenous game was established in Queensland prior to the arrival of the two rugby codes.
In 1883 Queensland sent delegates to the Intercolonial Football Conference which was the forerunner to the Australian Football Council. At the time Queensland boasted more than 300 teams. In 1884 Queensland played New South Wales in a representative match and in 1885 Ipswich defeated a touring Essendon team.
In the early 1900’s history notes that Brisbane Grammar travelled by boat up the Brisbane River to play Ipswich Grammar in a game of “Victorian Rules” as it was commonly referred to at the time. Mythology suggests that in 1901 the Brisbane Independent Schools headmasters took a vote to determine which football code would be adopted in the Independent Schools. Our game was defeated by 1 vote due partly no doubt to its reference as Victorian Rules.
During the 1920’s clubs such as Mayne, Windsor and Yeronga were formed with N. Brown from the Windsor club winning the first De Little Medal in 1927 for the “Best and Fairest and Manliest” player in the League.
In the 1930’s we saw the emergence of the Taringa, Morningside, Coorparoo and Kedron clubs and after the war Wilston Grange and Sandgate were formed.
In 1946 the first Grogan Medal was awarded to Doug Pittard of Western Districts, named after former Mayne secretary J.A. Grogan.
A fire in the offices of the Queensland Australian National Football League destroyed many records of the time but we do know that leagues in Townsville, Cairns, and Mt Isa were established and that Australian Football came to the Brisbane Cricket Ground in 1959.
The 1960’s saw the establishment of the QAFL in 1964 and later in the decade the formation of leagues in Mackay, the Darling Downs and Rockhampton.
The 1970’s saw Australian Football in Queensland attain genuine credibility and status with Queensland winning the National Football League Division 2 Championship in 1974, defeating Tasmania at the Gabba in 1975 and for the first time beating the VFA at the same venue.
In 1980 Robin Hull was appointed the first Regional Director of Coaching and Ken Murphy the first full-time General Manager. ‘Hully’ is still with us today. During the ‘80’s Queensland won consecutive NFL Championships which in many respects provided the impetus for the formation of a VFL team in Queensland. And in 1987 the Brisbane Bears played its inaugural season in the VFL.
In 1991 Queensland defeated Victoria B at the Gabba and the Bears won the AFL Reserve Grade Premiership. In 1993 the Bears moved to the Gabba and in 1994 the QAFL defeated Tasmania and NSW/ACT in representative matches. In 1995 the QAFL was narrowly defeated by a powerful Western Australia team.
With the establishment of AFL Queensland and the wonderful success of the Brisbane Lions in winning back-to back premierships it is both timely and appropriate to pay homage to the pioneers of the past and commemorate our great players of the last century.
On Monday June 16th 2009 AFL Queensland announced the “Queensland Team of the Century” at a Gala Black Tie function. With one hundred players nominated for the team, only 24 were chosen in a wonderful celebration of the past 100 years of football in Queensland.
