page_title: Queensland Reds
section_title: Early Queensland years
hierarchical_section_title: Queensland Reds / History / Early Queensland years
caption_attribution_description: English: Battle-stained Queensland Rugby Union Team, photographed after the match in July 1899 Front row - F. Kent, S. Boland, W. Tannee, E. Currie, A. Colton. Centre - A. Gralton, C. S. Graham, R. McCowan (Captain), T. Colton. Back row - W. Evans, P. Carew, T. Ward, W. H. Austin, A. Corfe, L. Dixon. (Description supplied with photograph.).
context_page_description: The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland. With the introduction of the professional Super 12 competition they moved to a model where players are contracted to the Reds through the Queensland Rugby Union rather than selected on the basis of club form.
  From 1996 to 2005 they were one of three Australian teams competing in the Super 12 competition, alongside the New South Wales Waratahs and the ACT Brumbies. Queensland finished as minor premiers in 1996 and 1999. From 2006 to 2010, they competed in the expanded Super 14 competition as one of four Australian sides. Beginning in 2011, they are one of five Australian sides in the expanded and renamed Super Rugby, winning the competition in its first season in its new format. In 2012 they finished first in the Australian conference.
context_section_description: Refer also to Rugby union in Queensland
  The first recorded games of rugby in Queensland were played in 1876, when the existing Brisbane Football Club (formed in 1866), switched to rugby to align with the newly formed 'Rangers' and 'Bonnet Rouge' football clubs. However, it was reported that the game was soon varied to suit the preferences of the local players, and “rugby, with Brisbane variations, was the game played” (The Brisbane Courier, 10 July 1876). Most of these games were played at the Queen's Park (now part of the City Botanic Gardens (see image at right). However, the Brisbane Courier reported in 1879 that the Brisbane FC had reverted to what had become known as the 'Victorian rules', “in place of the Rugby Union Rules played by the club during the last three seasons”.
  In 1880, the club became a foundation member of the Queensland Football Association (QFA), along with Wallaroo, Excelsiors and Athenians (Ipswich), where it was decided to recognise and play mostly 'Victorian rules', with occasional games of 'Rugby' rules. However, in 1882, a Brisbane FC representative (Daniel Foley Pring Roberts) arranged a rugby match against the Sydney Wallaroos Rugby club, after the NSWRU (Rugby Union) offered to pay all costs associated with the match. Brisbane advocates of the Victorian rules game reacted angrily and declared that no QFA player would be permitted to play under rugby rules, which led to the formation of the Northern Rugby Union (now the Queensland Rugby Union) in late 1883.
  The following years saw rapidly increasing popularity of the rugby game. As rugby historian Sean Fagan noted:
  The defining moment in the code battle came with the 1886 Queensland [Rugby] side, who defeated NSW for the first time in Sydney. “The success of this team undoubtedly won the day for rugby game in Queensland. The Victorian game supporters were struggling hard to uphold the premier position they had gained but after the brilliant performance of the 1886 team, who lost only one match through their tour, the rugby game became very popular and the next season several new clubs were formed and the Victorian game began to wane” (QRU Annual, 1902).
  In 1883, the first inter-colonial match in Brisbane took place, with Queensland defeating New South Wales 12 to 11 at the Eagle Farm Racecourse. In 1896 the first Queensland team departed for a tour of New Zealand, where they played New Zealand at Athletic Park in Wellington on 15 August, losing 9 to nil. In 1899 Queensland recorded their first win against an international team, defeating The Lions 11 to 3 at the Exhibition Ground (see team photo at right).
  The Queensland team remained a representative team selected solely from the rugby union clubs within the state, until the advent of the Super rugby competition in the 1990s.
caption: Queensland Rugby team 1899: Front row – F. Kent, S. Boland, W. Tannee, E. Currie, A. Colton. Centre – A. Gralton, C. S. Graham, R. McCowan (captain), T. Colton. Back row – W. Evans, P. Carew, T. Ward, W. H. Austin, A. Corfe, L. Dixon
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