The Northern Division of the Queensland Rugby League is responsible for administering the game of rugby league in North Queensland, specifically in the area from Sarina in the south to Cape York and the Torres Strait Islands in the north and west to Mount Isa as well as into the Gulf Communities. There are over 8000 registered players across 36 senior clubs and 39 junior clubs in this division. The Northern Division is responsible for the historic Foley Shield competition that is held each year. Mid West and Mount Isa play in the Toyota Outback Carnival.
Current season or competition: Foley Shield | |
| Sport | Rugby league |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 1909 |
| Country |  AustraliaQueensland |
| Related competition | Central Division South-East Division |
Team of the Century
editIn 2008, the centennial year of rugby league football in Australia, the Northern Division named its team of the century:[1]
- 1. Ray Laird (Mackay, NQ, Qld, Aus)
- 2. Kerry Boustead (Innisfail, NQ, Qld, Aus)
- 3. Alan Gil (Cairns, NQ, Qld, Aus)
- 4. Garry Wellington (Burdekin, Herbert River, Qld, Aus)
- 5. Dale Shearer (Sarina, NQ, Qld, Aus)
- 6. Bob Banks (Charters Towers, Tully, Cairns, NQ, Qld, Aus)
- 7. Arch Foley (Townsville, NQ, Qld – career cut short by World War I)
- 8. Martin Bella (Sarina, NQ, Qld, Aus)
- 9. Brian Fitzsimmons (Cairns, Ayr, Qld, Aus)
- 10. Dan Clifford (Tully, NQ, Qld)
- 11. Jim Paterson (Townsville, Innisfail, Herbert River, NQ, Qld, Aus)
- 12. Angelo Crema (Tully, NQ, Qld, Aus)
- 13. Kel O'Shea (Ayr, Qld, NSW, Aus)
- Reserves:
- 14. Lionel Williamson (Innisfail, NQ, Qld, Aus)
- 15. Matt Bowen (NQ Cowboys, Qld, Aus)
- 16. Marshall Colwell (Mackay, Townsville, NQ, Qld)
- 17. Greg Dowling (Herbert River, Innisfail, NQ, Qld, Aus)
Competitions
editCairns District Rugby League
editThe C.D.R.L (The Marlins) is the governing body for the Cairns eleven club senior competition, which has three grades: A-grade, reserves and colts (under 18's).[2] All finals matches are played at Barlow Park.
Cairns is represented in the Queensland Cup and Mal Meninga Cup (Under 18's) state leagues by the Northern Pride. The competition was renamed the Far North Queensland Rugby League in 2020.
The region's representative teams are known as the Marlins.
Mackay & District Rugby League
editThe Mackay & District Rugby League runs an eight club senior competition of three grades, A-Grade, reserve grade and colts (under 18's) and selects representative sides also represented in the Queensland Cup and Mal Meninga Cup (Under 18's) state leagues by the Mackay Cutters.
The region's representative teams are known as the Sea Eagles.
Mid West Rugby League
editThe Mid West Rugby League is a competition played North Western Queensland, Australia under the auspices of the Queensland Rugby League Northern Division.
The league features six clubs and runs an A-Grade competition for both Men and Women, as well as Junior competitions in the Under 9s, 12s and 16s grades. Uniquely, rounds are played as "musters", where all teams travel to one location for the entire round of games due to the vast travel distances and low population density of the area. This model has since been adopted by other competitiions including the Western Riverina Community Cup and Mid West Cup in neighbouring New South Wales.
Clubs
edit| Mid West Rugby League | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colours | Club | Established | Home ground(s) | No. of A-Grade
Premierships |
A-Grade
Premiership Years |
|
Cloncurry Eagles | Cloncurry Sports Ground | |||
|
Doomadgee Dragons | Doomadgee Sports Ground | |||
|
Hughenden Eagles | Hughenden Sports Ground | |||
|
Julia Creek Saints | Julia Creek Sports Ground | |||
|
Normanton Stingers | Normanton Sports Ground | |||
|
Richmond Tigers | Richmond Sports Ground | |||
Recent Premiers
editA-Grade
- 2023: Normanton
- 2024: Normanton
Juniors
edit| Mid West JRL clubs |
|---|
|
Mount Isa Rugby League
editThe Mount Isa Rugby League is a competition played the vicinity of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia under the auspices of the Queensland Rugby League Northern Division.
Founded in 1929, the league features six clubs and runs competitions in grades from Under 6s-Under 12s and an A-Grade for both Men and Women, with three teams participating in the premier competition in both the Men's and Women's grades.
Two foundation clubs remain from the 1929 season, the Black Star Diehards and the Mount Isa Brothers.
Clubs
edit| Mount Isa Rugby League | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colours | Club | Established | Home ground(s) | No. of A-Grade
Premierships |
A-Grade
Premiership Years |
| A Grade | |||||
|
Mount Isa Brothers | 1929 | Alec Inch Oval, Mount Isa | ||
|
Mount Isa Townies | Alec Inch Oval, Mount Isa | |||
|
Mount Isa Wanderers | 1953 | Alec Inch Oval, Mount Isa | ||
| Women's | |||||
|
Black Star Diehards Mt Isa | 1929 | Alec Inch Oval, Mount Isa | 20 | 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1962, 1964, 1973, 1976, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 2010 & 2013 |
|
|
Cloncurry Eagles | Cloncurry Showground | |||
|
Wranglers RLFC Mount Isa | Alec Inch Oval, Mount Isa | |||
Recent Premiers
editA-Grade
- 2013: Black Star
- 2014: Wanderers
- 2015: Wanderers
- 2016: Cloncurry
- 2017: Townies
- 2018: Townies
- 2019: Townies
- 2020: Wanderers
- 2021: Cancelled due to COVID-19
- 2022: Wanderers
- 2023: Wanderers
- 2024: Townies
Remote Areas Rugby League
edit| Remote Areas Rugby League | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colours | Club | Established | Home ground(s) | No. of A-Grade
Premierships |
A-Grade
Premiership Years |
|
|
Aurukun Kang Kang | ||||
|
|
Central Cape Suns | ||||
|
Cooktown Crocs | ||||
|
Hope Vale Cockatoos | ||||
|
Lockhart River Scorpions | ||||
|
Mulga Tigers | ||||
|
|
Napranum Bulldogs | ||||
|
|
Old Mapoon | ||||
|
|
Pormpuraaw Crocs | ||||
|
Weipa Raiders | ||||
|
|
Wujal Wujal Yindili | ||||
|
|
Zenadth Kes RLFC | ||||
Zenadth Kes Rugby League
edit- Mulga Tigers
- Suburbs
- Roosters (est 2004)
- Pioneer Knights (est 2004)
Townsville District Rugby League
editThe Townsville District Rugby League runs an eight club senior competition of three grades: A-Grade, reserve grade, under 19's and colts (under 18's).
The league selects representative teams to compete in the yearly Foley Shield and Mal Meninga Cup (Under 18's) state league as the Townsville Stingers.[3]
Major Venues
edit- Barlow Park - Cairns (18,000 / 3,750 Grandstand seating)
- BB Print Stadium - Mackay (12,000 / 1,050 Grandstand seating)
- Jack Manski Oval - Townsville (4,000 / 250 Grandstand seating)
- Queensland Country Bank Stadium - Townsville (25,000 / 25,000 Grandstand seating)
