All posts ofThe Creative Writer

Arch Foley and the Foley Shield   Notable North Queensland Firsts 1915 First time the majority of Queensland team from North Queensland – nine players chosen 1920 First North Queensland player to be picked for a Test match – Harry ‘Mucker’ Fewin (playing for Brisbane Carltons at the time) 1921 First time the reigning Bulimba […]

Queensland Rugby League Team, 1951   Qld vs NSW Game 1, 1951 – Bernie Drew rises to the occasion. The state of the game of rugby league in Queensland the late 1940s was at a critical juncture. Since the end of World War II, Queensland had won only two games overall in the interstate series. […]

The Australian Test Team in the Battle of Brisbane III   Battle of Brisbane I Date: June 18th, 1932 Venue: The ’Gabba Score: Australia 15 – Great Britain 6 Before the game, the Australian coach, Harry Sunderland, made an audacious visit to the visitors’ dressing room. He proceeded to give a ‘helpful’ explanation of how […]

‘The Downs Fox’ was born in Warwick, Queensland in 1895. At 17, he started playing for Starlights in the Ipswich competition and debuted for Queensland in 1915. Although he was shot at Dernancourt, France in the right lung in World War I, he survived to become the captain of the Queensland team. He made his […]

Organiser, manager and second-rower Mike Dimitro brought 21 players with him for the American All Stars Tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1953. Dimitro was an elite American football player who had come to Australia during World War II and developed a keen interest in rugby league while being involved in services wrestling and […]

Bobby Bax was a ‘player’s coach’. His success was founded on building up an exceptional team culture where he and his players grew to genuinely care about each other. The camaraderie that developed as a result was evident on the football field, game after game and year after year. If there was a blue on […]