| Rugby league in Queensland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Governing body | Queensland Rugby League |
| Representative team | Queensland |
| Nickname(s) | football, footy |
| First played | 1908 in Brisbane |
| Registered players | 67,911[1] 138,000+ (including variants)[2] |
Club competitions | |
Audience records | |
| Single match | 58,912 1997 Super League Grand Final (ANZ Stadium, Brisbane) |
Rugby league in Queensland is the most watched winter sport in the state and the second most participated football code after soccer. Rugby league was introduced in 1908 and within just a few years it surpassed rugby union there to become the most popular football code as players switched to play professionally in the Queensland Rugby League.[3] In the 1920s, Queenslanders began leaving to play professionally in the New South Wales Rugby League which became a more popular competition. However Queensland maintained a strong rugby league culture, with the state continuing to perform well in interstate rugby league. The later advent of the State of Origin series ensured that players would return to represent their state.
Queensland is home to four professional clubs, the Brisbane Broncos (1987), North Queensland Cowboys (1992), Gold Coast Titans (2007) and The Dolphins (2023) all participating in the National Rugby League. Lang Park, the spiritual home of the code in Queensland, is home to the two Brisbane based clubs. The Broncos, the oldest and most popular in the state, records the highest annual revenue of all NRL clubs.[4] Along with financial competitiveness, the Broncos have been voted one of Australia's most popular and most watched football teams,[5] and has one of the highest average attendances of any rugby league club in the world; 33,337 in the 2012 NRL season.
Queensland origin legends include: Wally Lewis, Darren Lockyer, Mal Meninga, Johnathan Thurston, Arthur Beetson, Shane Webcke, Gordon Tallis, Wendell Sailor, Greg Inglis, Bob Lindner, Trevor Gillmeister, Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Paul Vautin, Lote Tuquiri, and Petero Civoniceva.[6]
- ^ "Rugby League Report". SportAus.
- ^ https://touchfootball.com.au/media/13721/tfa_annual-report-2021-2022.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Spracklen, Karl; Spracklen, Lee (2021). "'(Simply) the best', or remembering when tina turner met the winfield cup: Nostalgia and the construction of authenticity in rugby league online spaces". Sport in Society. 24: 74–87. doi:10.1080/17430437.2020.1789103. S2CID 225567283.
- ^ Lanigan, Louise (21 February 2013). "Brisbane Broncos Annual Financial Report for 2012" (PDF). Brisbane Broncos Limited. Brisbane: Ernest and Young. p. 61. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
- ^ Heming, Wayne (30 October 2009). "Brisbane Broncos voted Australia's most popular football team". foxsports.com.au. Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
- ^ Legends name greatest Queensland team of all time by Troy Whittaker for NRL.com 18 November 2020
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