Brisbane referees have always been a part of the action
The advent of professional rugby league in New South Wales saw many Queensland rugby players leaving for Sydney to play league. In 1908, the Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) banned its players from going to Sydney to play league, which resulted in disgruntled players forming the Queensland Amateur Rugby Football League (later renamed to the Queensland Rugby League). The new organisation was attacked by both the local press and the QRU for introducing professionalism, which they claimed would destroy the sport. The first official club competition commenced on Saturday 8th May 1909 with four Clubs namely North Brisbane, Toombul, Valleys and South Brisbane. With a new sport kicking off, a new referees association was needed.
The Queensland Amateur Rugby League Referees’ Association was formed around the same time. Throughout the first twenty years, there were several disputes between administrators of the game. Being an integral part of the game, the referees were also involved in some of the disputes around who managed what competitions and games. A pivotal moment occurred in 1926. Following a dispute between the then Brisbane Rugby League (BRL) and the then Queensland Ruby League (QRL) over who managed metropolitan games, a number of referees were approached to change the name of the association from the QRL Referees Association to the BRL Referees Association. After some meetings occurred, ultimately a new association was formed called the Brisbane Rugby League Referees Association.
We are honoured to be the custodians of this history and ambassadors for the future of rugby league refereeing in Brisbane.
Throughout the years our Association has survived floods, world wars, many changes to the administration of the game, the Super League days and hundreds of changes to the laws of the game. For close to 100 years we have supplied referees for junior matches to senior grand finals throughout Brisbane, had our members control interstate matches, test matches and touring sides fixtures. Some of our members had long careers refereeing in the ARL competitions including officiating in grand finals and State of Origin matches.
When the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition expanded to the ARL and then ultimately became the National Rugby League (NRL), new opportunities and pathways became available to referees from Brisbane. Many of our members who started on the junior footy fields of Brisbane are now elite match officials refereeing and touch judging routinely in the NRL.
As we approach our centenary, we are documenting our history further and hope to produce a special version for our members and the rugby league community.
