Club information | |
---|---|
Full name | Northern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club |
Nickname(s) | The Devils, Norths |
Website | northsdevils.com |
Colours | Sky Blue, Navy Blue, Gold |
Founded | Past Grammar (1891), Northern Suburbs District (1933) |
Current details | |
Ground(s) | |
CEO | Mark Murray |
Coach | Craig Hodges (2014) |
Captain | Matty Smith |
Competition | Queensland Cup, Brisbane Rugby League |
2014 | 3rd |
Current season | |
Records | |
Premierships | 13 (1934, 1938, 1940, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1980, 1998) |
Runners-up | 10 (1931, 1932, 1939, 1941, 1944, 1945, 1967, 1970, 1990, 2010) |
The Northern Suburbs Devils, Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They play in the Queensland Wizard Cup, and, through their predecessors, are one of the oldest clubs in Australia. Norths have won 13 A Grade, 17 Reserve Grade and 14 Colts/Third Grade Premierships. They hold the record for most consecutive A Grade Brisbane Rugby League premierships, winning six in a row between 1959 and 1964.
The first incarnation of Northern Suburbs was the Past Grammars Rugby Union club, which was formed in 1891 as a separate Old Boys football club for Brisbane Grammar School.It shouldn't be confused with the school team known as Past & Present Grammar (made up of students, teachers & past students) which competed from 1888–90. The club was quite successful in its early years, winning premierships in 1892, 1898 and 1899, as well as 1914. Wallaby captain Bob McCowan was a Past Grammar played when he led the national side in 1899.
Following the disbandment of club rugby union in Brisbane towards the end of the First World War, Past Grammars, along with Christian Brothers and University, joined the Rugby Football League in 1920
Past Grammars, also known as Grammar Norths, won their first premiership in 1927, before becoming Northern Suburbs, following the introduction of District Football by the Brisbane Rugby League in 1933.
In 1959 Clive Churchill (the little master) captain-coached Brisbane Rugby League club Norths to a premiership, his training methods were carried on by Bob Bax who coached Northern Suburbs RLFC to become the first club in BRL history to win three consecutive first grade premierships when they defeated Fortitude Valley 29–5 in the 1961 grand final in front of a record club crowd of 19,824 at Lang Park. Norths continued to dominate the decade with 7 grand final wins in 8 appearances. It would be another 11 years before they tasted success again.