Australian rules football leagues in regional Queensland

There are several Australian rules football leagues in regional Queensland.

The sport of Australian rules football has a rich history in Queensland which dates back to the 1860s, however the game outside of South East Queensland was slower to take off than in Brisbane.

In 1913, a team of servicemen briefly existed on Thursday Island, but was short lived. In 1944, a league of servicemen was formed around the Atherton Tableland. Teams represented included Wongabel, Wondelca, Kairi, Mareeba and Ravenshoe. The league was a precursor to the nearby Cairns, Queensland league.

In 1955, the Townsville Australian Football League began. Two years later the Cairns Australian Football League was formed. AFL was also introduced to Mount Isa. In the early 1970s, organised leagues started appearing in Mackay, the Darling Downs and Central Queensland.

The Australian Football League has occasionally played pre-season matches in Cairns and there have been semi-regular premiership matches on the Gold Coast.

AFL Cairns

AFL Cairns is a semi-professional league that includes clubs from the Cairns region in Queensland, Australia. It is widely regarded as the strongest regional Australian rules football league in Queensland and has a large base at Cazaly's Stadium which has staged pre-season Australian Football League matches.

The league has significant coverage in local media such as The Cairns Post. Each year the Grand Final attracts between 2,000–3,000 spectators.

AFL Capricornia

AFL Capricornia is an amateur competition played in the areas of Rockhampton, Gladstone and Yeppoon between the months of March and September in the cooler seasons of the Central Queensland climate.

The league is covered primarily by the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin in the local print media.

AFL Darling Downs

AFL Darling Downs is an amateur competition formed as the Darling Downs Australian Football League in 1971. It is based around the city of Toowoomba west of Brisbane. The senior representative team is known as the Demons and wear guernseys modelled on the Melbourne Demons guernseys. The Under 18 representative team who participate in the AFLQ Under 18 competition are known as the "Crows" and wear guernseys modelled on the Adelaide Crows guernseys.

Premiers^[1]

Clubs

Club	Moniker	Colours	Years in Competition	No. of Premierships
Chinchilla	Suns		2013 -	-
Coolaroo	Roos		1971–	8
Dalby	Swans		1980–1994, 1998–2000, 2005–2007, 2010–	–
Goondiwindi	Hawks		1980–	7
Highfields	Lions	Maroon, Blue and Gold	2010–	-
Lockyer Valley	Demons		1981–1994, 1996–2000, 2010– (Moniker was Magpies 1981-2000)	2
South Burnett	Saints		2013-	-
South Toowoomba	Bombers		1972–1993, 1996–1997, 2005– (Known as Central Bombers 2005-2006) (Moniker was Longhorns 1972-1997)	6
Toowoomba	Tigers		1974–2001, 2003- (Moniker was Pinkies 1974-1980)	6
University	Cougars	Red, Blue and Yellow	1976–1998, 2003– (Known as Institute 1976-1989) (Moniker was Eagles 1976-1998)	11
Warwick	Redbacks	Red and black	1999, 2001–	1

AFL Mackay

AFL Mackay is an amateur competition formed as the Mackay Australian Football League in 1970. It is based around the city of Mackay with further clubs in Airlie Beach, Sarina, Alligator Creek, Pioneer Valley and Moranbah. The representative team is known as the Crows.

Premiers

Clubs

Club	Moniker	Colours	Years in competition	Premierships
Magpies Northern Beaches	Magpies		2012 – (Also known as Andergrove Kangaroos 2011)	–
Bakers Creek	Tigers		1971–	9
Eastern Swans	Swans		1970– (Known as East Mackay Demons 1970-1986)[3] (Merged with Trend United in 1987)	6
Mackay City	Hawks		1977–1978, 1980– (Known as Northern Beaches Hawks 1990-1997)	8
Moranbah	Bulldogs		1975–1982, 1989–1991, 2006–	3
North Mackay	Saints		1970– 1970 to 1973 known as North Mackay Colts, played in the navy blue and white Carlton colours.	9
Whitsunday	Sea Eagles		1990– (Known as Bloods 1984-1989)	8
Alligator Creek	Bombers		Juniors only
Sarina	Demons		Juniors only
Pioneer Valley	Power		Juniors only

AFL Mount Isa

AFL Mount Isa is an amateur competition formed as the North West Australian Football League in 1967, changing its name to the Mount Isa AFL in 1969. Prior to this the game was played but was not organised. It is based around the city of Mount Isa.

Premiers

Clubs

* – Young Guns, at various times have fielded two teams including the Bushies and the Bats. Prior to 2010 the club was known as "Lake Nash".

AFL Townsville

AFL Townsville is an amateur competition formed as the Townsville Australian Football League in 1955, the first AFL competition to be formed in Queensland outside of the South East. It is based around the city of Townsville. For a short period in the 1980s, the competition was played during the summer months. The representative team is known as the Eagles and they wear similar guernseys to the Zillmere Eagles old white and blue guernsey's.

Premiers

Clubs

AFL Wide Bay

The AFL Wide Bay competition was formerly known as the Bundaberg-Wide Bay Australian Football League which was formed in 1987 through the merger of the Bundaberg Australian Football League and Wide Bay Australian Football Leagues. The competition currently features teams from the cities of Bundaberg, Maryborough and Hervey Bay. The representative team is known as the Tigers wearing guernseys similar to those of the Richmond Tigers.

Premiers

Clubs

Club	Moniker	Colours	Years in competition	No. of Premierships
ATW Bundaberg	Eagles		1997– (merger of North Bundaberg Kangaroos and South Bundaberg/ATW Magpies)	8
Hervey Bay	Bombers		1987–	15
Bay Power	Power		2004–	–
Brothers Bulldogs	Bulldogs		1987– (known as West Bundaberg Bulldogs 1987-1996)	3
Maryborough	Bears		1988, 1990–1991, 1993–1999, 2001–2012 (Moniker was Tigers 1988–1994)	–

Defunct competitions

Bundaberg AFL

The Bundaberg Australian Football League was an amateur competition formed in 1972 and continued until 1986, before merging with the Wide Bay Australian Football League, starting a new competition called the Bundaberg Wide Bay Australian Football League in 1987, now known as AFL Wide Bay.

The four foundation clubs were Burnett Heads, Southern Suburbs (South Bundaberg), Western Suburbs (West Bundaberg), and North Bundaberg.

Premiers

Clubs

Central Highlands AFL

The Central Highlands Australian Football League was an amateur competition formed in 1983 and ceased operations after the 1997 season. Most of the previous clubs still exist and operate Auskick programs, including Dysart and Emerald. The Moranbah Bulldogs moved to the AFL Mackay after the league folded.

The league was a once flourishing competition with Clubs competing in Seniors, Reserves and juniors in Under 16's, 14's, and 12's. Around 1994, the mines in the area shifted from a five day week into a seven day 12 hour roster, which in turn limited teams' playing rosters. The league then changed onfield playing numbers from 18 to 13 with unlimited bench players. Unfortunately this still did not help and most clubs were forced to cease operations due to lack of playing numbers and not of financial matters.

Prior to the formation of the competition, Dysart, Middlemount and Moranbah had played in the Mackay competition.

Premiers

Clubs

Gold Coast AFL

The Gold Coast Australian Football League was a competition that operated from at least 1961 to 1996 before being absorbed by the Queensland AFL as its Gold Coast Division.

Clubs

Premiers

Maryborough AFL

The Maryborough Australian Football League was an amateur competition that lasted two full seasons in 1981 and 1982. In 1983, there was only a limited number of fixtures, and due to lack of players, the competition folded after the season was over.

In 1983, Biggenden played in the both the Bundaberg AFL and the Maryborough competition. Biggenden 2 lost to Cooloola Coast in the 1983 MAFL Grand Final, as their seniors did the previous year.

Clubs

Premiers

• 1981 Biggenden^[7]
• 1982 Cooloola Coast
• 1983 Cooloola Coast^[8]

Sunshine Coast AFL

The Sunshine Coast Australian Football League was an amateur competition that was formed in 1970 and continued until 1992. The three foundation clubs were Noosa, Maroochydore and Nambour.

In 1993, the clubs from the competition played in the Brisbane Australian Football League, and later split up into various AFL South Queensland Divisions.

Clubs

Premiers

Wide Bay AFL

The Wide Bay Australian Football League was a short lived amateur competition that was formed in 1985 as a result of a breakaway from the Bundaberg AFL. It only lasted two years before merging with the league it broke away from.

Clubs

Premiers

• 1985 Hervey Bay Bombers
• 1986 Hervey Bay Bombers

References

External links

Leagues

• Official AFL Cairns Website
• Official AFL Capricornia Site
• Official AFL Darling Downs Site
• Official AFL Mackay Website
• Official AFL Mount Isa Website
• Official AFL Townsville Website
• Official AFL Wide Bay Website

Clubs

• Brothers Roos Rockhampton Website
• Twin City Lions Townsville
• Thuringowa Bulldogs AFL Club site