# 1975 Brisbane Rugby League season

The 1975 Brisbane Rugby League season was the 67th season of Brisbane Rugby League premiership. Eight rugby league teams from across Brisbane competed for the premiership, which culminated in a grand final match between the Western Suburbs and Redcliffe clubs.

## Season summary

Teams played each other three times, with 21 rounds of competition played. It resulted in a top five of Western Suburbs, Northern Suburbs, Redcliffe, Eastern Suburbs and Wynnum-Manly.
The 1975 season's Rothmans Medallist was Northern Suburbs player Steve Calder.
With seconds remaining in the decider, Redcliffe were trailing 26–24 to minor premiers Western Suburbs. The Dolphins had the ball and launched a bomb hoping for the best. However, before the ball landed, fans had flooded Lang Park ensuring there was no chance for Redcliffe to pressure Wests' receiver into an error. The ball ended up going into touch, ensuring that the fans did not ruin the final play of the game.

### Teams

| Club | Home ground | Coach | Captain |
| Eastern Suburbs | Langlands Park | Des Morris | Des Morris |
| Fortitude Valley | Neumann Oval | Henry Holloway | Marty Scanlan |
| Northern Suburbs | Bishop Park | Tommy Bishop | Tommy Bishop |
| Past Brothers | Corbett Park | Brian Fitzsimmons | Wayne Bennett |
| Redcliffe | Redcliffe Showgrounds | Barry Muir | Ian Pearce |
| Southern Suburbs | Davies Park | Harry Bath | Gary Dobrich |
| Western Suburbs | Purtell Park | Ron Raper | Harry Cameron |
| Wynnum-Manly | Kougari Oval | T. Berry | Nev Hornery |

### Ladder

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Western Suburbs | 21 | 16 | 0 | 5 | 473 | 296 | +177 | 32 |
| 2 | Northern Suburbs | 21 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 467 | 346 | +121 | 27 |
| 3 | Redcliffe | 21 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 387 | 337 | +50 | 26 |
| 4 | Eastern Suburbs | 21 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 390 | 338 | +52 | 24 |
| 5 | Wynnum-Manly | 21 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 352 | 342 | +10 | 21 |
| 6 | Past Brothers | 21 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 347 | 385 | -38 | 17 |
| 7 | Southern Suburbs | 21 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 331 | 490 | -159 | 12 |
| 8 | Fortitude Valley | 21 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 289 | 495 | -206 | 9 |

## Finals

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd |
| Qualifying Finals |||||||
| Eastern Suburbs | 7-9 | Wynnum-Manly | 30 August 1975 | Lang Park | Eddie Ward | 8,000 |
| Northern Suburbs | 15–2 | Redcliffe | 31 August 1975 | Lang Park | Ian Smith | |
| Semi-finals |||||||
| Redcliffe | 22-15 | Wynnum-Manly | 6 September 1975 | Lang Park | Ian Smith | |
| Western Suburbs | 21-11 | Northern Suburbs | 7 September 1975 | Lang Park | Eddie Ward | |
| Preliminary Final |||||||
| Northern Suburbs | 2-25 | Redcliffe | 13 September 1975 | Lang Park | Eddie Ward | |
| Grand Final |||||||
| Western Suburbs | 26-24 | Redcliffe | 21 September 1975 | Lang Park | Ian Smith | 41,000 |

## Grand Final

| Western Suburbs | Position | Redcliffe |
| Greg McCarthy | FB | Tony Obst |
| 2. Michael Flesser | WG | 2. Brian Gardiner |
| 3. Harry Cameron (c) | CE | 3. Peter Flanders |
| 4. Greg Heading | CE | 4. Ian Pearce (c) |
| 5. Wayne Stewart | WG | 5. Victor Tighe |
| 6. Geoff Richardson | FE | 6. Steve Williams |
| 7. Greg Oliphant | HB | 7. Brian Winney |
| 8. Norm Carr | LK | 8. Ian Thinee |
| 9. Rod Bradshaw | SR | 9. Rod Halley |
| 10. Henry Williamson | SR | 10. Forrester Grayson |
| 11. Max Williamson | PR | 11. Bevan Bleakley |
| 12. Kel Brown | HK | 12. Bob Jones |
| 13. John Young | PR | 13. Steve Bullow |
| 14. Bob Green | Reserves | 14. Chris Mason |
| 19. Carlo Costa | Reserves | 15. Geoff Russell |
| 20. C Anderson | Reserves | 16. Peter Leis |
| | Reserves | 19. Brad McArthur |
| Ron Raper | Coach | Barry Muir |
Redcliffe's storming finish was not enough, as Western Suburbs held on to claim its first premiership in 21 years.
Redcliffe were coming home strong 26–24, but Panthers held on, to win their ninth premiership and first since 1954. Redcliffe won the scrum count 7–4, the Dolphins winning the penalties 11-7 as well.
Western Suburbs 26 (Tries: H. Cameron, R. Bradshaw, G. McCarthy, G. Heading. Goals: W. Stewart)
Redcliffe 24 (Tries: T. Obst, I. Pearce, G. Russell, B. Bleakley. Goals: I. Pearce 6)