Foley Shield (rugby league competition)
Encyclopedia
The Foley Shield is a rugby league
competition in North Queensland
administered by the Queensland Rugby League
.
Prior to 1948 an inter-town competition known as the Carlton Cup was contested in North Queensland
. This was revamped, and renamed in honour of Arch Foley, a member of the 1918 Townsville representative team that travelled north to Cairns, and south throughout Central Queensland
. He was a founding member of the Townsville Souths rugby league club, and with later Australian Prime Minister Arthur Fadden
formed the North Queensland Rugby League in 1919.
In 1948 the competition was structured into a Northern Zone (Cairns, Babinda
, Tully
and Eacham
) and a Southern Zone (Mackay
, Ayr
and Townsville). The following year, a Central Zone (Herbert River
, Charters Towers
and Home Hill
) was added. The grand final was played in Townsville, and was a highlight of the rugby league
calendar.
The Foley Shield continued to be held annually until the introduction of the state-wide Queensland Cup
competition in 1996. In 2000 the competition was reinstated, and was contested by Cairns, Mackay
and Townsville.
In an attempt to re-invent the competition and renew the tradition and passion in the shield, Mount Isa, with the Mid-West league, (Mount Isa-Mid West) and Innisfail-Eacham returned to the competition and Cape York/Torres Strait joined the competition, and the Shield was played as a round robin at the Townsville Sports Reserve over the Easter weekend in 2009. In 2010, the competition was moved to the Labour Day Long Weekend, with a preliminary round played in regional centers over the Anzac Day Long Weekend.
In 2011, the competition moved to the 20th to the 22nd of May to be played in Townsville, with no preliminary round played. Townsville will split into two zones, Townsville City and Townsville Country. This brings the Townsville district in line with their Juniors, who found the move successful. This has followed the lead of Cairns who split. into Cairns and Innisfail-Eacham. Also, the re-introduction of Bowen to the Foley Shield (Formerly part of Whitsunday) who will combine with Palm Island, who play a 7 team A-Grade Competition. They will be known as Bowen-Palm Island. Mount Isa-Mid West will be known as Northern Outback, and Cape-Torres will be known as Remote Areas Rugby League. (RARL)
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
competition in North Queensland
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the state of Queensland in Australia. Queensland is a massive state, larger than most countries, and the tropical northern part of it has been historically remote and undeveloped, resulting in a distinctive regional character and...
administered by the Queensland Rugby League
Queensland Rugby League
The Queensland Rugby Football League is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League and selects the members of Queensland State of Origin teams....
.
Prior to 1948 an inter-town competition known as the Carlton Cup was contested in North Queensland
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the state of Queensland in Australia. Queensland is a massive state, larger than most countries, and the tropical northern part of it has been historically remote and undeveloped, resulting in a distinctive regional character and...
. This was revamped, and renamed in honour of Arch Foley, a member of the 1918 Townsville representative team that travelled north to Cairns, and south throughout Central Queensland
Central Queensland
Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton and the Capricorn Coast and the area extends west to the Central Highlands at Emerald, north to the Mackay Regional...
. He was a founding member of the Townsville Souths rugby league club, and with later Australian Prime Minister Arthur Fadden
Arthur Fadden
Sir Arthur William Fadden, GCMG was an Australian politician and, briefly, the 13th Prime Minister of Australia.-Introduction:...
formed the North Queensland Rugby League in 1919.
In 1948 the competition was structured into a Northern Zone (Cairns, Babinda
Babinda, Queensland
Babinda is a small town 60 km south of Cairns, Queensland. It is located in the Cairns Region.The town is noted for its proximity to two of Queensland's highest mountains Mount Bartle Frere and Mount Bellenden Ker....
, Tully
Tully, Queensland
Tully is a small town in Queensland, Australia, adjacent to the Bruce Highway approximately south of Cairns by road and north of Townsville. At the 2006 census, Tully had a population of 2,457....
and Eacham
Shire of Eacham
The Shire of Eacham was a Local Government Area of Queensland. It was located on the Atherton Tableland, a plateau forming part of the Great Dividing Range west of the city of Cairns...
) and a Southern Zone (Mackay
Mackay, Queensland
Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....
, Ayr
Ayr, Queensland
Ayr is a town in Queensland, Australia near the delta of the Burdekin River, named after the Scottish town of Ayr by the settlers from the United Kingdom...
and Townsville). The following year, a Central Zone (Herbert River
Herbert River
The Herbert River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The southernmost of Queensland's wet tropics river systems, it is named after Robert George Wyndham Herbert , the first Premier of Queensland...
, Charters Towers
Charters Towers, Queensland
Charters Towers is a city in northern Queensland, Australia. It is located 137 kilometres inland from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. In 2006 the population was 7,979 people, some 450 fewer than in the 2001 census. During the last quarter of the 19th century the town boomed as the rich gold...
and Home Hill
Home Hill, Queensland
Home Hill, Queensland is a town in Queensland, Australia at the delta of the Burdekin River. It is a sugarcane growing area with underground water supplies to irrigate crops. At the 2006 census, Home Hill had a population of 2,907.- Geography :...
) was added. The grand final was played in Townsville, and was a highlight of the rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
calendar.
The Foley Shield continued to be held annually until the introduction of the state-wide Queensland Cup
Queensland Cup
The Queensland Cup is the premier rugby league football competition in the State of Queensland, Australia.It is a statewide competition with the majority of teams based in South East Queensland but also including sides based in Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton.The competition began in 1996 as a...
competition in 1996. In 2000 the competition was reinstated, and was contested by Cairns, Mackay
Mackay, Queensland
Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....
and Townsville.
In an attempt to re-invent the competition and renew the tradition and passion in the shield, Mount Isa, with the Mid-West league, (Mount Isa-Mid West) and Innisfail-Eacham returned to the competition and Cape York/Torres Strait joined the competition, and the Shield was played as a round robin at the Townsville Sports Reserve over the Easter weekend in 2009. In 2010, the competition was moved to the Labour Day Long Weekend, with a preliminary round played in regional centers over the Anzac Day Long Weekend.
In 2011, the competition moved to the 20th to the 22nd of May to be played in Townsville, with no preliminary round played. Townsville will split into two zones, Townsville City and Townsville Country. This brings the Townsville district in line with their Juniors, who found the move successful. This has followed the lead of Cairns who split. into Cairns and Innisfail-Eacham. Also, the re-introduction of Bowen to the Foley Shield (Formerly part of Whitsunday) who will combine with Palm Island, who play a 7 team A-Grade Competition. They will be known as Bowen-Palm Island. Mount Isa-Mid West will be known as Northern Outback, and Cape-Torres will be known as Remote Areas Rugby League. (RARL)
Teams
| Team | Championships | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Cairns | 14 | 1953, 1955, 1958, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1986, 1993, 1995, 2005, 2006, 2008 |
| Townsville (pre 2011) | 12, 1 Drawn | 1949, 1956, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1982 (Drawn with Herbert River), 1987, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2010 |
| Mount Isa, Mount Isa/Mid West, Northern Outback | 8 | 1969, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1988 |
| Mackay | 7 | 1959, 1984, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2004, 2011 |
| Innisfail | 4 | 1960, 1964, 1968, 1975 |
| Herbert River | 3, 1 Drawn | 1952, 1965, 1980, 1982 (Drawn with Townsville) |
| Innsifail-Eacham | 3 | 1989, 1990, 2009 |
| Babinda | 2 | 1948, 1951 |
| Ayr, Burdekin | 2 | 1950, 1954 |
| Eacham | 1 | 1961 |
| Tully | 1 | 1963 |
| Whitsunday | 1 | 1973 |
| Cape-Torres Strait (from 2009) | 0 | |
| Townsville City (from 2011) | 0 | |
| Townsville Country (from 2011) | 0 | |
Grand Final Results
- 1948: Babinda 7 defeated Ayr 2
- 1949: Townsville 22 defeated Cairns 13
- 1950: Ayr 23 defeated Cairns 15
- 1951: Babinda 19 defeated Ayr 15
- 1952: Herbert River 15 defeated Babinda 4
- 1953: Cairns 18 defeated Townsville 15
- 1954: Ayr 18 defeated Cairns 12
- 1955: Cairns 26 defeated Townsville 17
- 1956: Townsville 23 defeated Cairns 16
- 1957: Townsville 38 defeated Cairns 15
- 1958: Cairns 29 defeated Townsville 15
- 1959: Mackay 29 defeated Cairns 18
- 1960: Innisfail 12 defeated Herbert River 9
- 1961: Eacham 35 defeated Mackay 10
- 1962: Townsville 8 defeated Eacham 3
- 1963: Tully 29 defeated Burdekin 15
- 1964: Innisfail 30 defeated Townsville 8
- 1965: Herbert River 14 defeated Cairns 7
- 1966: Cairns 14 defeated Townsville 10
- 1967: Townsville 16 defeated Innisfail 15
- 1968: Innisfail 22 defeated Mackay 12
- 1969: Mount Isa 12 defeated Townsville 9
- 1970: Cairns 12 defeated Townsville 9
- 1971: Cairns 37 defeated Whitsunday 6
- 1972: Mount Isa 19 defeated Innisfail 16
- 1973: Whitsunday 19 defeated Innisfail 16
- 1974: Cairns 12 defeated Mount Isa 6
- 1975: Innisfail 15 defeated Townsville 4
- 1976: Cairns 11 defeated Townsville 10
- 1977: Mount Isa 18 defeated Innisfail 16
- 1978: Mount Isa 15 defeated Mackay 12
- 1979: Mount Isa 26 defeated Townsville 6
- 1980: Herbert River 18 defeated Burdekin 13
- 1981: Mount Isa 13 defeated Innisfail 9
- 1982: Townsville 25 drew with Herbert River 25 (both teams were declared joint winners after the scores were tied after extra time)
- 1983: Mount Isa 22 defeated Townsville 10
- 1984: Mackay 21 defeated Mount Isa 4
- 1985: Mount Isa 26 defeated Burdekin 2
- 1986: Cairns 36 defeated Townsville 34
- 1987: Townsville 30 defeated Cairns 26
- 1988: Mount Isa 22 defeated Mackay 18
- 1989: Innisfail-Eacham 40 defeated Mackay 12
- 1990: Innisfail-Eacham 28 defeated Cairns 14
- 1991: Mackay 30 defeated Cairns 22
- 1992: Mackay 31 defeated Mount Isa 12
- 1993: Cairns 30 defeated Mackay 24
- 1994: Mackay 22 defeated Cairns 6
- 1995: Cairns 34 defeated Mackay 24
- 2000: Townsville 40 defeated Mackay 16
- 2001: Townsville 28 defeated Cairns 24
- 2002: Townsville 28 defeated Cairns 22
- 2003: Townsville 28 defeated Cairns 26
- 2004: Mackay 44 defeated Cairns 28
- 2005: Cairns 36 defeated Mackay 32
- 2006: Cairns 24 defeated Townsville 22
- 2007: Townsville 14 defeated Cairns 4
- 2008: Cairns 30 defeated Townsville 28
- 2009: Innisfail-Eacham 32 defeated Cape-Torres 22
- 2010: Townsville 48 defeated Mount Isa-Mid West 12
- 2011: Mackay 30 defeated Townsville City 14
History
- Rleague.com World of Rugby League Queensland website
- World of Rugby League Forums
- RL1908 website
- North Queensland Cowboys website
- Foley Shield Website
Results
- "Stinging Comeback", retrieved 22 May 2006.