Ronald Edward McAuliffe

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(25 June 1918 – 16 August 1988) was an Australian politician and sports administrator in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. He is best remembered for his years running the

Queensland Rugby League The Queensland Rugby Football League QRL Constitution, 2009: 3 (QRL QRL Constitution, 2009: 2) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL Commission) and selects the mem ...

, and his instrumental role in the formation of the

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two States and territories of Australia, Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales Blues and the Queensland ru ...

. McAuliffe attended school at St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. In 1932 he played

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

for the Gregory Terrace firsts. He started playing senior rugby league in 1937 for the

Northern Suburbs Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney's north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sy ...

club, but with the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he joined the Australian Imperial Force. He served as a Warrant Officer for five years, before being honourably discharged after service in the

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and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

with the 2/2 Casualty Clearing Station. After the war McAuliffe worked with the

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both Commuter rail, suburban and Regional rail, interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well ...

ways Audit Office. Whilst living at New Farm he formed social bonds with a number of

Valleys A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ve ...

players. In the late 1940s he moved to Fortitude Valley's Brunswick Street, sharing a flat Roy Westaway, a former international representative playing for the Diehards. According to

Australian rugby league hall of fame The National Rugby League Hall of Fame was first established as the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2002, before being reestablished in 2018 in its current form. The hall of fame honours the contributions made to the National Rugby League ...

inductee

Duncan Hall Duncan Hall (24 August 192518 January 2011) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, singled out as having been amongst the greatest of the 20th century. He played in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership fo ...

, who was also playing for Valleys: :(Ron) was one of those blokes who was always around the place... he knew everyone worth knowing, and everyone knew him. He drank at the Valley pub with us every night after work. In fact, he was one of those blokes who was the life of the party and who never seemed to want to go home. He was always around. McAuliffe was elected to the Valley's committee and became the club's delegate to the

Brisbane Rugby League The Brisbane Rugby League premiership was a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in Brisbane Rugby League (2001), 2001, kno ...

in 1951. In 1952 he was elected chairman of the Brisbane Rugby League. In 1953 the Brisbane Rugby League was subsumed into the

(QRL). Ron McAuliffe became secretary to the organisation and began negotiations with the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...

to lease

Lang Park Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rectangular sporting st ...

. On 30 June 1971 McAuliffe was elected as a Senator for the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

in the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

. That year he also became president of the QRL. Although initially opposed to the idea, McAuliffe became a driving force behind the establishment of the

. The 1980s were to prove a golden period for rugby league in Queensland. McAuliffe sat in the Senate until 30 June 1981. At the end of 1981 he was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. McAuliffe died in August 1988 from a stroke. His funeral was held on 17 August 1988 at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in

Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestri ...

and he was buried in

Nudgee Cemetery Nudgee Cemetery & Crematorium is a large Roman Catholic cemetery at 493 St Vincents Road, Nudgee, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The cemetery opened in 1867 and is still operating. Over 31,000 people are buried there. Services The cemetery ...

.McAuliffe, Ronald Edward (1918–1988)
—

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

. Retrieved 20 December 2014. His pall bearers included then

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

and

captain

Wally Lewis Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sp ...

. In his obituary ''

The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

'' journalist

Barry Dick Barry Dick is an Australian journalist. He retired in 2015, after more than 40 years as a sports reporter and editor in Brisbane. Dick was the rugby league editor for ''The Courier-Mail'', and wrote the ''For Argument's Sake'' column during the f ...

wrote that "he on McAuliffeloved a drink, loved an argument, and most of all, he loved company." The Ron McAuliffe Medal is awarded to each year's State of Origin Queensland player of the series.

's Ron McAuliffe stand was also named in his honour. In 2009 McAuliffe was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.

Sources

* Gallaway, Jack ''Origin: Rugby League's Greatest Contest 1980-2002'' University of Queensland Press, 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:McAuliffe, Ron 1918 births 1988 deaths Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian rugby league administrators Australian rugby league players Norths Devils players Politicians from Brisbane Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Rugby league players from Brisbane Rugby League State of Origin Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Burials at Nudgee Cemetery 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian sportsmen