# 1985 Brisbane Rugby League season

The 1985 Brisbane Rugby League premiership was the 77th season of Brisbane's professional rugby league football competition. Eight teams from across Brisbane competed for the premiership, which culminated in a grand final match between the Southern Suburbs and Wynnum-Manly clubs.

## Season summary

The format of the 1985 season remained unchanged from the previous year; teams played a total of 21 first-grade games over the pre-season, three games against other Brisbane sides during the Winfield State League, and the 14-round regular season. Teams played each other three times, twice during the regular season and once during either the pre-season or state league. It resulted in a top four of Southern Suburbs, Past Brothers, Wynnum-Manly and Fortitude Valley.

### Teams

| Club | Home ground | Coach | Captain |
| Eastern Suburbs | Langlands Park | Wayne Lindenberg | Cavill Heugh |
| Fortitude Valley | Neumann Oval | Peter McWhirter | Ross Henrick |
| Northern Suburbs | Bishop Park | John Barber | John Dowling |
| Past Brothers | Corbett Park | Ross Strudwick | Pat Shepherdson |
| Redcliffe | Dolphin Oval | Ian Pearce | Mitch Brennan |
| Southern Suburbs | Davies Park | Wayne Bennett | Norm Carr |
| Western Suburbs | Purtell Park | Trevor Day | Kevin Langer |
| Wynnum-Manly | Kougari Oval | Des Morris | David Green |

### Results

| Team | P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | ST1 | ST2 | ST3 | ST4 | ST5 | ST6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | F1 | F2 | GF |
| Eastern Suburbs Tigers | WYN -32 | NOR -3 | SOU +12 | WST -4 | Y | Y | VAL +4 | BRO -27 | Y | RED +16 | WYN -8 | NOR +2 | SOU +16 | WST +20 | BRO -2 | VAL +2 | RED +7 | WYN -11 | NOR +24 | WST -2 | SOU -40 | BRO -4 | VAL -12 | RED +2 | | | |
| Fortitude Valley Diehards | RED +4 | WST +36 | NOR +8 | BRO -13 | Y | WYN -4 | EST -4 | Y | SOU -1 | Y | RED +16 | WST 0 | NOR +32 | BRO +2 | SOU -2 | EST -2 | WYN +14 | RED +6 | WST 0 | BRO -18 | NOR +18 | SOU -16 | EST +12 | WYN -22 | WYN -3 | | |
| Northern Suburbs Devils | SOU -7 | EST +3 | VAL -8 | WYN +1 | WST +8 | RED -4 | Y | Y | BRO -8 | Y | SOU -18 | EST -2 | VAL -32 | WYN -6 | WST +16 | RED +6 | BRO -14 | SOU +2 | EST -24 | WYN -16 | VAL -18 | WST +7 | RED -7 | BRO -2 | | | |
| Past Brothers | WST +4 | RED +18 | WYN -8 | VAL +13 | SOU -10 | Y | Y | EST +27 | NOR +8 | Y | WST +8 | RED -4 | WYN +36 | VAL -2 | EST +2 | SOU -12 | NOR +14 | WST +27 | RED +4 | VAL +18 | WYN +6 | EST +4 | SOU -8 | NOR +2 | SOU -6 | WYN -9 | |
| Redcliffe Dolphins | VAL -4 | BRO -18 | WST +34 | SOU -12 | Y | NOR +4 | Y | WYN -30 | Y | EST -16 | VAL -16 | BRO +4 | WST +24 | SOU +22 | WYN -7 | NOR -6 | EST -7 | VAL -6 | BRO -4 | SOU -10 | WST +34 | WYN +2 | NOR +7 | EST -2 | | | |
| Southern Suburbs Magpies | NOR +7 | WYN -10 | EST -12 | RED +12 | BRO +10 | Y | WST +24 | Y | VAL +1 | Y | NOR +18 | WYN -14 | EST -16 | RED -22 | VAL +2 | BRO +12 | WST +26 | NOR -2 | WYN +38 | RED +10 | EST +40 | VAL +16 | BRO +8 | WST +21 | BRO +6 | X | WYN +2 |
| Western Suburbs Panthers | BRO -4 | VAL -36 | RED -34 | EST +4 | NOR -8 | Y | SOU -24 | Y | Y | WYN -28 | BRO -8 | VAL 0 | RED -24 | EST -20 | NOR -16 | WYN -2 | SOU -26 | BRO -27 | VAL 0 | EST +2 | RED -34 | NOR -7 | WYN -38 | SOU -21 | | | |
| Wynnum-Manly Seagulls | EST +32 | SOU +10 | BRO +8 | NOR -1 | Y | VAL +4 | Y | RED +30 | Y | WST +28 | EST +8 | SOU +14 | BRO -36 | NOR +6 | RED +7 | WST +2 | VAL -14 | EST +11 | SOU -38 | NOR +16 | BRO -6 | RED -2 | WST +38 | VAL +22 | VAL +3 | BRO +9 | SOU -2 |
| Team | P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | ST1 | ST2 | ST3 | ST4 | ST5 | ST6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | F1 | F2 | GF |
* X - Bye
* Y - Team played a non-first grade State League match
* Opponent for round listed above margin

### Ladder

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Southern Suburbs (P) | 21 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 415 | 246 | +169 | 30 |
| 2 | Past Brothers | 21 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 438 | 291 | +147 | 30 |
| 3 | Wynnum-Manly | 21 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 468 | 349 | +119 | 30 |
| 4 | Fortitude Valley | 21 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 390 | 324 | +66 | 22 |
| 5 | Eastern Suburbs | 21 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 391 | 421 | -30 | 20 |
| 6 | Redcliffe | 21 | 8 | 0 | 13 | 320 | 327 | -7 | 16 |
| 7 | Northern Suburbs | 21 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 296 | 421 | -125 | 14 |
| 8 | Western Suburbs | 21 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 257 | 598 | -311 | 6 |

## Finals

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd |
| Semi-finals |||||||
| Wynnum-Manly | 25-22 | Fortitude Valley | 1 September 1985 | Lang Park | David Manson | |
| Southern Suburbs | 14-8 | Past Brothers | 8 September 1985 | Lang Park | Eddie Ward | |
| Preliminary Final |||||||
| Wynnum-Manly | 35-16 | Past Brothers | 15 September 1985 | Lang Park | Eddie Ward | |
| Grand Final |||||||
| Southern Suburbs | 10-8 | Wynnum-Manly | 22 September 1985 | Lang Park | David Manson | 31,000 |

## Grand Final

Southern Suburbs 10 (Tries: N. Carr. Goals: G. French 3.)
Wynnum-Manly 8 (Tries: C. Adams. Goals: W. Green 2.)

## Winfield State League

The 1985 Winfield State League was the inaugural season of the Queensland Rugby League's statewide competition. A total of 14 teams competed in the season, 8 of which were BRL Premiership clubs. The remaining six were regional teams from across the state, hence the State League name. The finals were straight final four series held at QRL headquarters at Lang Park, with Wynnum-Manly and the Brisbane Brothers winning their respective semi finals. In the final, the Seagulls completed a 16-0 shutout of the Brothers to win their second consecutive Winfield State League title.
* 1985
| Wynnum Manly | 16-0 | Brisbane Brothers |
* Lang Park