Full name | West Brisbane Bulldogs | |
---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | Bulldogs, Dogs | |
Founded | 1951 | |
Location | Toowong (Memorial Park) | |
Region | Brisbane | |
Ground(s) | Sedgman Oval, Sci-Fleet Stadium | |
League(s) | Queensland Premier Rugby | |
| ||
Official website | ||
westsbulldogsrugby |
Wests Rugby Union Club or Wests is an Australian rugby union club, based in Toowong, that competes in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition.
The bulk of Wests' players are drawn from the western suburbs of Brisbane where local rivals GPS and University, only a few suburbs away, also compete for players. Wests also draw from Ipswich and Springfield.
Wests is one of the smaller Premier Rugby clubs in terms of player numbers, but it has achieved a share of success in the competition, winning premierships in 1977, 1985, 2006, and 2022.
Their theme song is based on "Take Me Home, Country Roads". [1]
Wests Rugby Union Club was founded in 1951 and only fielded one team, but went on to win the reserve grade competition in that first season. Player numbers increased in following years and the club was promoted to the first grade competition in 1955. [2]
The Bulldog mascot was adopted in 1956. The club's blue and white jerseys were changed to red, white and blue in 1959 to be more distinguishable from the Brothers' colours, but were finally changed to green and gold in 1961 when Wests amalgamated with the Toowong Rugby Club. The merger prompted a shift of home ground from Normanby in Spring Hill to Memorial Park at Sylvan Road in Toowong. [2]
Wests won the first grade Premiership in 1977, the club's 23rd season in the competition. Stan Pileki and Trevor Davies were the props in the team that was captained by Geoff Wessling. [2] [3]
In 1985, Wests won its second Premiership, and went on to become Australian Club champions in 1986 by defeating Parramatta. Later that year, Wests played Toulouse in the final of the Toulouse Masters, losing 11–6. [2]
Wests had four players selected for Australia at the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup; Roger Gould, Troy Coker, Bill Campbell and Brian Smith. The depth of future talent at the club in 1987 was illustrated when Wests won all three Colts grade (under 19) premierships on the same day. Thirteen players from the Colts I team went on to representative honours; most notably Phil de Glanville, the future England Captain, who played at centre. [2]
In 1991, Wests won the Minor Premiership but lost the Grand Final to Souths, and a period of rebuilding on and off the field followed. Clubhouse facilities were extended in 1992–93, and the first Women's team was formed in 1994. [2] Wests began another resurgence in the late 1990s. The club made the Grand Final three years in a row from 1998 to 2000 but fell agonisingly short each time.
They finally broke through to win the Premiership again for the first time in 21 years, by beating rugby stronghold Brothers by one point in 2006. [2] The 2020s Wests crop have included Connor Anderson, Lopeti Faifua, Filipo Daugunu, Hunter Paisami, Ilaisa Droasese, Carter Gordon, Mason Gordon (rugby union), Isaac Henry (rugby union), Angelo Smith, and Glen Vaihu.
Wests became the Minor Premiers in 2022 and went on to defeat the University of Queensland 44–27 to win the Grand Final. In 2023, the Bulldogs made their first back-to-back grand final in over 20 years, ultimately being defeated by Brothers 26-24. In 2024, Wests made their third consecutive Grand Final in a rematch against Brothers, however were once again defeated by two points, going down 29-27.
Premiers (Hospital Challenge Cup)
Runners-up (Vince Nicholls Memorial Trophy)
The Australian Club Championship is a challenge match between the Brisbane and Sydney club premiers. Wests have played in the fixture three times (1986, 2007 and 2023), winning it once (1986).
Past and present international players
Australian Representatives
International Representatives
The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos currently compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club has won six premierships, including two New South Wales Rugby League premierships, a Super League premiership and three NRL premierships. The Broncos have won two World Club Challenges, and four minor premierships in multiple competitions. Prior to 2015, Brisbane had never been defeated in a grand final, and since 1991, the club has failed to qualify for the finals five times. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the National Rugby League since it began in 1998, winning three premierships. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the history of rugby league, having won 59.9% of games played since its induction in 1988, second only to Melbourne Storm with 67.3%.
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by the New South Wales Rugby League, including the Canterbury Cup NSW, the Jersey Flegg Cup, Harvey Norman Women's Premiership, Tarsha Gale Cup, S. G. Ball Cup and the Harold Matthews Cup.
The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They play in the Hostplus Cup, and, through their predecessors, are one of the oldest clubs in Australia. Norths have won 14 A Grade, 17 Reserve Grade and 14 Colts/Third Grade Premierships. They hold the record for most consecutive first grade Brisbane Rugby League premierships, winning six in a row between 1959 and 1964 and being crowned champions most recently in 2022.
The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1997, where they won eight premierships.
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fifteen teams, thirteen of which are based in Queensland, with one based in New South Wales and one in Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
The Western Suburbs Panthers, or the West Brisbane Panthers, or often simply referred to as Wests for short, is a semi professional rugby league club based in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The club is the oldest in the QRL and despite absences from the top grade in recent years and several name changes the club continued to operate. After leaving the Queensland Cup, they participated in the Brisbane A-Grade competition from 2005 until their senior sides disbanding in 2012. In 2013, the club entered a voluntary hiatus, but was announced to be part of the revived Brisbane Rugby League.
The Past Brothers Rugby League Football Club, or Brisbane Brothers Rugby League Football Club nicknamed the Leprechauns, or more commonly known as Brothers, or as The Brethren, was a rugby league club based in the city of Brisbane, Australia, that played in the top level of football from its foundation in 1929 until 1998. The club previously played in the Queensland Cup and the Brisbane Rugby League premiership, but no longer plays in those competitions.
Sunnybank Rugby Union Club is an Australian rugby union club based in the Brisbane suburb of Sunnybank, Queensland, currently competing in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. It was established in 1969 and has won three premierships since it entered.
The University of Queensland Australian Football Club (UQAFC) is an amateur Australian rules football club playing in the QFA Division 1, Division 4 and QAFLW League competitions, overseen by AFL Queensland. UQAFC home games are played at the University of Queensland's Playing Field 2, on the corner of Sir William MacGregor Drive and Thynne Road, St Lucia, Brisbane.
Queensland Premier Rugby is a semi professional club rugby union competition in Queensland, Australia. Nine clubs play in the competition, eight clubs are from Brisbane, and one club is from Gold Coast.
The premiership has been contested in its present form since 1929.
Brothers Rugby Club is an Australian rugby union club based in Brisbane, Queensland. The name alludes to its beginnings as a rugby club founded by alumni of schools established by the Congregation of Christian Brothers.
The University of Queensland Rugby Club is an Australian rugby club, based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Queensland. They currently compete in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. They were formed in 1911, as rugby was adopted by the Sports Association at the University of Queensland as a major sport.
The 1994 NSWRL season was the eighty-seventh season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs, including 14 from within the borders of New South Wales plus two from Queensland, competed for the J J Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final match for the Winfield Cup trophy between the Canberra Raiders and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
The Australian rugby league premiers are the winners of the top grade competition in Australian rugby league, which is currently the National Rugby League. From 1908 until 1995, when the ARL Premiership was formed, there were two premiers, one each from Sydney and Brisbane. This occurred again in 1997 during the Super League war.
The earliest known records of regular soccer games in Brisbane date from the early 1880s, when a group comprising mostly Scottish immigrants commenced playing at Queen's Park, adjacent to Alice and Edward Streets in the city and vacant land in Melbourne Street South Brisbane, between Grey and Stanley Streets. This group of players subsequently formed the Anglo-Queensland Football Association in early 1884, and commenced playing fixtures at the sports field behind the Pineapple Hotel, in Main Street Kangaroo Point, and at Queen's Park, in June 1884.
The Queensland Suburban Rugby Union, or QSRU, is affiliated to the Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) and runs the rugby competition colloquially known as "Subbies" in Brisbane and South East Queensland.
The Wynnum Rugby Union Club, known as Wynnum Bugs, is a rugby union football club located in Wynnum, in Queensland, Australia. The original Wynnum club was one of the founding teams of the Brisbane Premiership that was formed by the revived Queensland Rugby Union in 1929.
The Camden Rugby League Football Club is an Australian rugby league football club based in Camden, New South Wales, formed in 1910. They currently play in the Group 6 Rugby League competition.
The Queensland Amateur Rugby League conducted four grade competitions during 1911 and in representative football, played three sets of three-match series against New South Wales, New Zealand and the "Northern Districts" on New South Wales. Ipswich fielded two teams in the senior QARL competition and also held two lower grade premierships. Club competitions continued in Maryborough.
The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is contested by a subset of clubs from that competition. The current premiers are the Newcastle Knights.