South Queensland Crushers was an Australian
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 ...
football club based 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 ...
, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the
New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, as part of the League's expansion plans for professional rugby league in Australia. The competition was re-branded the
Australian Rugby League competition in 1995, which was the Crushers' first season.
The Crushers, whose whole existence was against the backdrop of the
Super League war, were an unsuccessful club. They had to compete for support with the other Brisbane-based club, the
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
, who were already well-established. The Crushers only competed in the three seasons of the Australian Rugby League's premiership, winning the
wooden spoon twice for being last in the competition. Despite the wealth of star players the Crushers managed to attract, they were financially unsustainable and competitively unsuccessful, which ultimately led to their demise at the end of 1997.
History
Formation
The
New South Wales Rugby League competition (NSWRL) began in 1908 as a rugby league competition in the Sydney region of Australia. For the next 74 years, the league only included clubs in the New South Wales region. In 1982, the Canberra Raiders from the Australian Capital Territory, and in 1988, the two Queensland based teams, one from
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 ...
and the other from
Gold Coast were admitted into the NSWRL. The
Brisbane club was the first NSWRL club to be privately owned and in1992 won their first premiership. On 30 November 1992, the NSWRL formally admitted a second Brisbane-based team into the competition, along with three others, from
Townsville,
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
and New Zealand. The newly established Brisbane team was to be known as the ''South Queensland Crushers'', and would enter the
1995 NSWRL competition, which had been renamed the
Australian Rugby League competition (ARL).
In September 1993, the Crushers chose
Bill Gardner as the coach for the team, but after a poor off-season, he was replaced by former Australian international
Bob Lindner.
Darryl van der Velde, a former Brisbane player with experience coaching in England, was the club's inaugural chief executive. The club chose
Lang Park, which had been abandoned by the Brisbane Broncos in favour of
QE II Stadium in 1992,
as their home ground.
The Crushers signed
Queensland representative players
Trevor Gillmeister,
Mark Hohn and
Dale Shearer, as well as three
rugby union international players,
Garrick Morgan,
Anthony Herbert and
Fili Seru. The Crushers also attempted to lure former Australian international captain
Mal Meninga out of retirement for one more season, but failed. By the beginning of the 1995 competition, the Crushers had also signed
North Sydney forward
Mario Fenech, who the club named as their captain.
The club's major sponsor was
XXXX with
Qantas announced as the sleeve sponsor.
The club competed in the
Brisbane Rugby League premiership in 1994 and 1995 to prepare for entry into the ARL.
1995 season – The first season
The Crushers' first match was against the previous season's premiers, Canberra which they lost along with their next three before winning their first match 16–12 against North Sydney in Round five. Trevor Gillmeister had the honour of scoring the Crusher's first ever try. An injury to Dale Shearer and the difficulties for Garrick Morgan to adapt to rugby league saw the Crushers fail to utilise much of its attacking potential. Captain Fenech was dropped to the interchange bench and lost the captaincy which was passed on to Gillmeister. The season's end was dampened after coach Lindner and Fenech feuded, resulting in Fenech being released from the final year of his contract.
In the 1995 season, the club had only won six and drew another in the twenty-two games played. In 1995,
News Limited
News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp.
The group's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television pr ...
, a mass media company, began deliberating a rival rugby league competition, the Super League, and with the rival Broncos a key part of the plans for Super League, the Crushers remained loyal to the ARL competition. The Crushers believed that they would survive and be able to compete on their own. The ARL supported this despite the disappointing results of their first season because of the high home ground crowds, with supporters averaging over 21,000 a season.
1996 season – The second season
The club had bought five players from the
Sydney Roosters to help them improve from their inaugural season, and Queensland representative
Tony Hearn also joined the club for the 1996 season. The opening round of the 1996 season the club gathered two points because of
Canberra
Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
's forfeit but the club only recorded three more wins in the entire season gathering six points on the competition ladder and took the wooden spoon for being last on the ladder. The Crushers won the second round clash against Parramatta before losing ten in a row. The Crushers then won two in a row before plummeting to lose their last eight matches.
Despite a record crowd of 34,263 that watched the Crushers take on the
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
in round 4, the Crushers home ground support only averaged over 13,000 each game. The diminishing crowd numbers and player payments meant the club was on the brink of bankruptcy. The ARL and a mystery supporter bailed the club out with over half a million
dollars in financial relief. With first-grade rugby league divided between two competitions, it would be hard for the Crushers to recoup lost money in establishing the club as it ploughed further into debt.
A glimmer of hope for the club came when the Crushers won the Under 21's premiership, defeating the
Parramatta Eels in the Under 21's Grand Final. This was to be the only premiership of any competition or grade for the Crushers.
1997 season – The third and final season
The 1997 season was not much better for the Crushers, again taking the wooden spoon for the second year running. Major sponsor
XXXX was replaced as the major sponsor by
AVJennings. The club only won four games of the twenty-two match season. The 1997 season for the Crushers saw their home game attendances dwindle to an average of 7,000 and even with free days, which allowed supporters to come to the games free of charge, the club didn't gather support as it had in its inaugural season. The Crushers did however win their final match of the season convincingly 39–18 over the
Western Suburbs Magpies and along with the
North Sydney Bears and
Newtown Jets, the South Queensland Crushers remain one of the few defunct clubs to have won their final game.
Demise
With the unification of the Australian Rugby League and Super League competitions following the 1997 season, the new
National Rugby League competition was formed. This meant that three of the twenty-two teams participating in 1997 would be axed as part of the rationalisation process aimed at reducing teams to an optimal number. With the introduction of the
Melbourne Storm and the fact that the agreement between the Australian Rugby League and Super League was to have a fourteen-team competition in 2000, the future for the Crushers was inevitably demise.
In late 1997, the club's only option of survival was to merge, with the most likely contender the
Gold Coast Chargers, who like the Crushers, were struggling to be able to compete in the competition with the hugely successful
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
being the dominant team in south-east Queensland. However, the National Rugby League approved the Gold Coast team for the 1998 season, and they went alone into the re-unified competition. The South Queensland Crushers were liquidated in December 1997 with debts totalling over
A$3 million.
Season Summaries
Notable players
Over their three-year presence in the
Australian Rugby League premiership, the club managed to produce one Australian international player,
Trevor Gillmeister.
Other notable players include
Dale Shearer,
Mark Hohn,
Craig Teevan,
Mario Fenech,
William David Gressly,
Nigel Gaffey,
John Jones,
Tony Kemp,
Phillip Lee,
Danny Nutley,
Mark Protheroe and
Kurt Wrigley. Players who went on to be successful with other clubs include
Clinton Schifcofske,
Mark Tookey,
Scott Sattler,
Travis Norton,
Chris McKenna,
St John Ellis,
Steele Retchless and
Danny Nutley,
Grant Young.
Records
Club records from 1995–1997.
South Queensland Crushers at Rugby League Project
/ref>
Premierships
*1st Grade: 0
*2nd Grade: 0
*3rd Grade/Presidents Cup: 1 (1996)
*Pre Season: 0
Biggest Wins
Biggest Losses
Most games for club
* 58 Craig Teevan (1995–1997)
Most points for club
* 108 (7 tries, 40 goals), Clinton Schifcofske (1996–1997)
Most tries for club
* 11, Jason Hudson (1996–1997)
Most goals for club
* 40, Clinton Schifcofske (1996–1997)
Most points in a season
* 94 (6 tries, 35 goals), Clinton Schifcofske in 1997
Most tries in a season
* 9, David Krause in 1995
* 9, Jason Hudson in 1997
Most goals in a season
* 35 (35/67 – 61.40%), Clinton Schifcofske in 1997
Longest Winning Streak
2 matches, 30 June – 7 July 1996.
Longest Losing Streak
10 matches, 7 April – 22 June 1996.
Largest Attendance (home)
34,263 vs Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
, Round 4, 1996
Smallest Attendance (home)
2,364 vs Illawarra Steelers, Round 16, 1997
Largest Attendance (away)
49,607 vs Brisbane Broncos at ANZ Stadium, Round 4, 1995
Smallest Attendance (away)
3,107 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs at Redfern Oval, Round 15, 1996
References
;Notes
;Sources
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{{NRL
1992 establishments in Australia
Rugby clubs established in 1992
Defunct rugby league teams in Australia