Glebe (rugby league team)
2444408
222263045
2008-06-28T11:49:12Z
Bongomanrae
366449
{{Infobox rugby league club
| clubname = Glebe
| image = [[Image:Glebe 1908.svg|150px]]
| fullname =Glebe District Rugby<br/>League Football Club
| nickname = The Dirty Reds
| short name = Glebe
| founded = 1908 as ''Glebe''
| exited = 1929
| ground = [[Wentworth Park|Wentworth Oval]]<br/>[[Glebe, New South Wales|Glebe]], [[Sydney]]
| capacity = 20,000<ref>Note that this figure is based on the assumption that a record crowd of 20,000 achieved in a 1915 match against [[Balmain Tigers|Balmain]] was also the maximum capacity of the ground. {{cite web|url=http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/venues/wentworth.html|title=Rugby League Tables / Venues / Wentworth|publisher=Rugby League Tables & Statistics|accessdate=2008-03-08}}</ref>
| ceo =
| coach =
| captain =
| league = [[New South Wales Rugby League|NSWRFL]]
| season =
| position =
| minorpremierships = 1
| minorpremiershipyears = 1911
| runnerups = 4
| runnerupyears = 1911, 1912, 1915, 1921
| homejersey = Glebe home jersey 1908.svg
}}
'''Glebe''' were an Australian [[rugby league]] foundation club who played in the [[New South Wales Rugby League|New South Wales Rugby Football League]]'s [[New South Wales Rugby League premiership|Sydney premiership]] from 1908 until their exit at the end of 1929. They were formed on [[9 January]] [[1908]], with some sources suggesting that they may have been the first [[Sydney]] rugby league club to have been created. They were nicknamed and well known as the "Dirty Reds" due to the [[maroon]] colour of their playing jerseys.<ref name="rl1908">{{cite web|url=http://rl1908.com/Clubs/Glebe-Rugby-League.htm|title=Rugby League History - RL1908.com - Glebe RLFC|publisher=RL1908|accessdate=2008-03-09}}</ref>
Based in [[Glebe, New South Wales|Glebe]] and playing most of their home matches out of the local [[Wentworth Park|Wentworth Oval]], Glebe remained a highly competitive team for many years. Though they came close at times, the club was never able to secure a premiership title. After struggling towards the end of the 1920s the club was eventually voted out of the premiership.
==History==
The club began their premiership campaign with an 8–5 victory over [[Newcastle Rebels|Newcastle]] on [[20 April]] [[1908]].<ref name="stats1908">{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/seas/1908.html|title=Rugby League Tables / Season 1908|publisher=Rugby League Tables & Statistics|accessdate=2008-03-10}}</ref> Throughout the season they either remained close to or on top of the ladder and with one round remaining were on equal points with [[South Sydney Rabbitohs|South Sydney]] and [[Sydney Roosters|Eastern Suburbs]] to lead the competition. In the last regular-season match, Glebe went down 10–5 to sixth-placed [[Balmain Tigers|Balmain]] and ended up running third overall, although the match ended up having no impact on who they would play in the finals a week later. In their semi final, Glebe went down 16–3 to [[minor premiership|minor premiers]] South Sydney and were knocked out of the competition.<ref name="stats1908"/>
In 1909, the club again lost their final regular-season match against Balmain 10–5 and ended up missing out on a possible finals berth by virtue of the loss.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/seas/1909.html|title=Rugby League Tables / Season 1909|publisher=Rugby League Tables & Statistics|accessdate=2008-03-10}}</ref> In 1910, the club had a mediocre season and had little chance of ever taking the premiership out. The 1911 season was arguably the most successful in the club's history, taking out the minor premiership outright by two points and winning 11 of their 14 matches on the way including their first-ever victory over local rivals Balmain 41–2 in the second last regular-season match of the season.<ref name="stats1911">{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/seas/1911.html|title=Rugby League Tables / Season 1911|publisher=Rugby League Tables & Statistics|accessdate=2008-03-10}}</ref> However, they came up against an Eastern Suburbs side led by [[Dally Messenger]] who had won six matches straight.<ref name="stats1911"/> In the final in which Glebe had a chance to take away the premiership, Eastern Suburbs won 22–9, forcing the first-ever [[Grand Final]] to be played since the minor premiers had a "right to challenge" if they were to lose the final. In a match where Glebe were leading almost all the way, Eastern Suburbs fought back and took the lead within the final ten minutes to 11–8, giving them the premiership.
Following Glebe's failure to convert their minor premiership into a premiership in 1911, the [[New South Wales Rugby League|New South Wales Rugby Football League]] decided that no finals would be played from 1912 unless two teams were tied on equal points at the end of the season. In round 4, Glebe faced Eastern Suburbs in front of a record crowd of 22,000 at the [[Sydney Showground|Royal Agricultural Society Grounds]], going down 10–2.<ref name="stats1912">{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/seas/1912.html|title=Rugby League Tables / Season 1912|publisher=Rugby League Tables & Statistics|accessdate=2008-03-10}}</ref> After 10 rounds, Glebe trailed Eastern Suburbs by just two points and were to face them the following week with four rounds to go. In a match in which Glebe almost certainly had to win to stay in premiership contention, Eastern Suburbs won a close match 6–4 in front of another record crowd of 25,000 at the [[Sydney Sports Ground]] and ended up taking away the premiership 4 points in front of Glebe at the end of the season.<ref name="stats1912"/>
1913 and 1914 proved to be mediocre seasons for Glebe and despite winning more games than they lost in each year, the club only managed to finish fourth and fifth respectively. In 1915, however, they came close to taking out the premiership. With four rounds remaining and equal with their local rivals, Glebe was to face the undefeated Balmain at the Sydney Sports Ground. Again, however, Glebe failed to win this crucial game, losing 12–2 in front of 20,000 people and allowed Balmain to take a one-match lead. With both teams winning their remaining games, Balmain ended up taking out the premiership. Overall in 1915, Glebe won 12 out of their 14 matches, a club best, losing twice to Balmain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/seas/1915.html|title=Rugby League Tables / Season 1915|publisher=Rugby League Tables & Statistics|accessdate=2008-03-10}}</ref>
Glebe finished out the decade continuing to win more games than they lost each season and regularly finished within the top 4, but without a finals system in place they were unable to captialise on this relatively strong position. In 1922 they finally managed another shot at the premiership with they and [[North Sydney Bears|North Sydney]] finishing on equal points at the end of the season. In the final, North Sydney easily accounted for Glebe 35–3, again denying Glebe the elusive premiership title.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/seas/1922.html|title=Rugby League Tables / Season 1922|publisher=Rugby League Tables & Statistics|accessdate=2008-03-10}}</ref>
[[Image:Glebe home jersey 1918.svg|thumb|125px|right|The jersey used by Glebe in the latter part of their tenure.]]
From 1923 onwards, the club's form started to decline and for the first time since 1910, Glebe lost more games than they won. In 1926, they were given another shot at the premiership when the finals series was reinstated. Finishing second to runaway leaders South Sydney, Glebe were to face off against fourth-placed [[University (rugby league team)|University]] for a place in the final. However, they lost this decisive match 29–3 and were sent out of the finals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/seas/192.6html|title=Rugby League Tables / Season 1926|publisher=Rugby League Tables & Statistics|accessdate=2008-03-10}}</ref>
In their final three seasons, Glebe struggled at the bottom of the premiership after the departure of their long-time player [[Frank Burge]]. Out of nine teams they finished eighth in 1927, seventh in 1928 and eighth in 1929.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/glebe/glebe_ss.html|title=Rugby League Tables / Season Summary / Glebe|publisher=Rugby League Tables & Statistics|accessdate=2008-03-11}}</ref> At the end of the 1929 season for reasons unknown, the New South Wales Rugby Football League General Committee voted 13–12 to expel Glebe from the competition. One theory is that Balmain made a deal with South Sydney to remove Glebe as a means of consolidating both of their local territories.<ref>{{cite news|first=Phil|last=Gould|url=http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/phil-gould/2008/03/08/1204780126220.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2|title=The Rivalry That Will Never Die|publisher=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=2008-03-09|accessdate=2008-03-09}}</ref> However, others suggest that the local area was changing in such a way that the club was probably on a road to its demise anyway.<ref name="rl1908"/>
==Statistics and records==
As an individual, [[Frank Burge]] holds all of Glebe's records. His 8 try tally in a match against [[University (rugby league team)|University]] on [[19 June]] [[1920]] is not only a club record, but also the standing Australian premiership record for most tries in a game.<ref name="vault">{{cite web|url=http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~maajjs/aus/clb/defunct.htm#Glebe|title=Sydney Clubs -- Defunct Clubs|publisher=The Vault|accessdate=2008-03-08}}</ref> It was in that same game that he managed to claim the club record for most points in a game, kicking four goals in addition to his 8 tries for a total of 32 points.<ref name="vault"/> A month earlier he scored 8 goals in a match against [[Annandale (rugby league team)|Annandale]], a club record later equalled by [[Jack Hickey]] in 1927.<ref name="vault"/>
In 1918, Frank Burge scored a club-record 24 tries in a season<ref name="vault"/> and in 1920, broke the club record for most points in a season with 110.<ref name="vault"/> Overall he scored 137 tries and 49 goals for the club in a career spanning 16 seasons and 138 games,<ref name="vault"/> which were also club records. As a forward, his record tally of 146 tries (including 9 later scored with [[St. George Dragons|St. George]] in 1927) remained unbroken until [[Steve Menzies]] managed to do so in 2004, almost 80 seasons after Burge had retired.
The team's biggest victory was a 59–3 victory over [[North Sydney Bears|North Sydney]] at [[Wentworth Park|Wentworth Oval]] on [[17 July]] [[1915]]. Its biggest ever loss was against [[Sydney Roosters|Eastern Suburbs]] when they went down 36–0. Overall, Glebe are also statistically one of the most successful clubs to have played in the premiership. Out of the 33 teams who have made an appearance over the years, Glebe has the fifth-best winning percentage.<ref name="statsallteams">{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/all/overall_wl.html|title=Rugby League Tables / Win-Loss Records / All Teams|publisher=Rugby League Tables & Statistics|accessdate=2008-03-11}}</ref> From 297 games played, 163 were won, 6 drawn and 128 lost for a winning percentage of 55.89%.<ref name="statsallteams"/>
==Notable players==
During their 22-year presence in the [[New South Wales Rugby League premiership|New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership]], the club managed to produce 12 internationals. These players include [[Alex Burdon]], [[Burge Family#Frank Burge|Frank Burge]], [[Burge Family#Peter Burge|Peter Burge]], [[Albert Conlon]], [[Bert Grey]], [[Arthur Halloway]], [[Charlie Hedley]], [[Jack Hickey]], [[Tom McCabe (rugby league)|Tom McCabe]], [[Chris McKivat]], [[Peter Moir]] and [[Les Cubitt]]. A third Burge brother, former Wallaby tourist [[Burge Family|Albert Burge]] was also a Dirty Red. Alex Burdon and Chris McKivat had the honour of captaining their country, from 1908-09 and 1911-12 respectively and Les Cubitt captained an Australasian side in 1921. <ref name="vault"/>
In 2008 to celebrate the Centenary of Rugby League in Australia, a panel commissed by the [[Australian Rugby League]] and [[National Rugby League]] voted four Glebe players into a group of "Rugby League's 100 Greatest Players". These players were [[Burge Family#Frank Burge|Frank Burge]], [[Les Cubitt]], [[Arthur Halloway]] and [[Chris McKivat]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Steve|last=Jancetic|url=http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=383409|title=Rugby league names greatest 100 players|publisher=[[Nine's Wide World of Sport|Wide World of Sports]]|date=2008-02-22|accessdate=2008-03-09}}</ref>
The side that played in the [[New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1911|1911 New South Wales Rugby Football League Grand Final]] is shown below.
{{Rugby league squad start}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=1 | nat=Australia | pos=FB | name=Roy Algie}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=2 | nat=Australia | pos=WG | name=Mick Muggivan}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=3 | nat=Australia | pos=CE | name=Dave Garlick}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=4 | nat=Australia | pos=CE | name=Tom Gleeson}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=5 | nat=Australia | pos=WG | name=Charlie Cubitt}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=6 | nat=Australia | pos=FE | name=[[Les Cubitt]]}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=7 | nat=Australia | pos=HB | name=Fritz Thiering}}
{{Rugby league squad mid}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=8 | nat=Australia | pos=PR | name=Sid Pert}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=9 | nat=Australia | pos=HK | name=Jack Redmond}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=10 | nat=Australia | pos=PR | name=Sam Griffith}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=11 | nat=Australia | pos=SR | name=[[Burge Family#Albert Burge|Albert Burge]] | other=c}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=12 | nat=Australia | pos=SR | name=[[Frank Burge]]}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=13 | nat=Australia | pos=LK | name=Harry Brighton}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=14 | nat=Australia | pos=RE | name=J Farrelly}}
{{Rugby league squad end}}
The side that played in the [[New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1922|1922 New South Wales Rugby Football League Grand Final]] is shown below.
{{Rugby league squad start}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=1 | nat=Australia | pos=FB | name=R Stapleton}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=2 | nat=Australia | pos=WG | name=Charlie Ogle}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=3 | nat=Australia | pos=CE | name=Ed Summers}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=4 | nat=Australia | pos=CE | name=Tommy James}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=5 | nat=Australia | pos=WG | name=Jack Toohey}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=6 | nat=Australia | pos=FE | name=W Stirton}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=7 | nat=Australia | pos=HB | name=Bill Benson}}
{{Rugby league squad mid}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=8 | nat=Australia | pos=PR | name=[[Frank Burge]] | other=c}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=9 | nat=Australia | pos=HK | name=A "Bert" Gray}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=10 | nat=Australia | pos=PR | name=[[Burge Family#Laidley Burge|Laidley Burge]]}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=11 | nat=Australia | pos=SR | name=Jack Redmond}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=12 | nat=Australia | pos=SR | name=Walter Haddock}}
{{Rugby league squad player | no=13 | nat=Australia | pos=LK | name=Tom McGrath}}
{{Rugby league squad end}}
==Honours==
*{{sport honours|[[New South Wales Rugby League premiership|New South Wales Rugby Football League]] First Grade runners-up|4|1911, 1912, 1915, 1922}}
*{{sport honours|New South Wales Rugby Football League minor premierships|1|1911}}
*{{sport honours|[[City Cup]]|1|1913}}
*{{sport honours|City Cup runners-up|6|1912, 1915, 1916, 1919, 1923, 1925}}
*{{sport honours|Reserve Grade<ref>Up until 2002, the second division of [[rugby league]] in [[New South Wales]] was Reserve Grade/Presidents Cup/First Division Premiers; since then, it has been the [[NSWRL Premier League|Premier League]].</ref>|5|1912, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921}}
*{{sport honours|Third Grade|1|1927}}
==Footnotes==
<!--This article uses the Cite.php citation mechanism. If you would like more information on how to add references to this article, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cite/Cite.php -->
{{reflist|1}}
==External links==
*[http://rl1908.com/Clubs/Glebe-Rugby-League.htm Rugby League History - RL1908.com - Glebe RLFC]
{{National Rugby League}}
[[Category:Australian rugby league teams]]
[[Category:Sports clubs established in 1908]]