Glebe "Dirty Reds" RLFC

Sean Fagan of RL1908.com

Glebe was the first Rugby League club formed in Australia, having their inaugural meeting on January 9, 1908.

It should not be surprising that Glebe was one of the leaders in joining the new game. Glebe was the centre of Sydney's rugby strength in the opening years of 1900s, and the local community was not afraid to stand up for itself.

However, by 1929 the Glebe club seems to have made enough enemies within the game to bring about its exclusion from the competition. While Glebe was undoubtedly one of the games stronger clubs in the 1910s and '20s, it failed to win a premiership.

It wasn't through lack of endeavour, it just seems while the NSWRL was searching for the best system to decide the premiership winner, Glebe was getting the worst of it. The only time Glebe finished as minor premiers (1911), a semi-finals system was in place and they lost. Then, when the 'Dirty Reds' secured second place in 1912 and 1915, the premiership was awarded automatically to the first placed team.

To be fair though Glebe twice had golden opportunities to win the competition in 1922 and 1926, but managed to deliver very disappointing performances. A premiership win in the latter season may have even ensured the club's longevity.

Glebe was a working class suburb, to the west of the city-centre that rapidly grew in the second half of the nineteenth century. The rugby game was particularly popular with the locals through the 1890s when a Glebe club was playing in Sydney second grade competition. When a district system was introduced in 1900 one of the new First Grade clubs was Glebe. They adopted the maroon colour synonymous with all sporting teams from the Glebe estate.

The club was an immediate powerhouse in the Sydney competitions winning all three grades in 1900. After taking the title again in 1901, Glebe won further premierships in 1906 and 1907 as the movement to form Rugby League reached its climax. Known as the 'Dirty Reds' after the hue of their maroon jerseys, the commitment of the Glebe players and supporters to Rugby League was a very significant prize for the NSWRL.

Much of the credit for this achievement lies with Glebe player Peter Moir. He was instrumental in helping to found both the Glebe club and the game itself. The first man to sign the club's membership roll was former star rugby player and professional boxer John Conlon. The first club patron was future Australian Prime Minister, Billy Hughes.

Glebe fared reasonably in the opening season of the NSWRL premiership, finishing third. They played every game at their home ground of Wentworth Park, apart from two visits to Birchgrove Oval to play Balmain. The club provided six members of the 1908 Kangaroos - Pony Halloway, Alec Burdon, Peter Moir, Tom McCabe, Albert Conlon and Charlie Hedley. A measure of just how well off for talented footballers the suburb was came from the continued success of the Glebe rugby union club. Despite the annual loss of top players and juniors to the rival code, the Glebe rugby union side still managed to win another three premierships before the club disbanded at the outbreak of World War One.

By 1911 the Glebe club was finally finding its feet in Rugby League. Despite losing Chris McKivat (former Wallaby captain) and Peter Burge to the Kangaroo tour mid-season, the Reds grabbed the minor premiership two points ahead of Souths and Easts.

Much of the credit for the team's impressive form was down to two remaining Burge brothers, Albert and Frank. The most remarkable feature being that Frank Burge was only sixteen years old at the time. His tender age, and not form, had seen him miss out on the Kangaroo tour. Unfortunately for Glebe, the Kangaroos also left without Dally Messenger who had declined to tour. 'Dally M' was to prove to be Glebe's nemesis.

Easts had to defeat Glebe in both the Final and the Grand Final to take the premiership trophy. The Dirty Reds were completely out of sorts in the Final, losing easily by 22-9. A crowd of over 20,000 settled into the Sydney Showground on a windy afternoon on September 16, 1911 to watch the first ever Grand Final. With the wind behind them in the first half, Glebe scored a converted try inside the first minutes of the game to take a 5-0 lead. Messenger goaled in the difficult conditions to cut the lead to 5-2, where it remained until half-time.

Glebe were unable to make better use of the wind advantage. The Dirty Reds soon scored a sensational length of the field try and were in front by 8-4 well into the final quarter. Inside the last minutes Easts put up a high kick to the Glebe fullback Algie who had been concussed in an earlier collision. Unfortunately Algie misjudged the take and Easts picked up the loose ball to score a try. Messenger converted, and then quickly followed it up with a field goal to secure an 11-8 win for Eastern Suburbs. While Messenger was being chaired off the field by his team, the Glebe supporters were wishing he had gone to England.

It was no help to the 1911 Glebe side, but soon after the Grand Final the NSWRL decided that all future premierships would be awarded on a first-past-the-post basis.

For the most part of 1912 Easts and Glebe were again the standout clubs. With four matches of the season remaining both were at the head of the premiership race when they met in a match at the Sydney Sports Ground. A win to Easts would virtually secure them the title, while a Glebe success would see both teams level going into the final three rounds.

A crowd of over 25,000 endured heavy rain as the game was slogged out on a muddy pitch. Both teams traded goals in a tryless affair - the scores were locked at 4-all until very late in the match. From an Easts scrum win, wide out near the sideline, Dally Messenger called for the ball and kicked a mighty field goal to secure a win for the Tricolours by 6-4. Easts then duly won their remaining games to take the title leaving Glebe as runners-up.

Glebe had their only moment of glory in the City Cup competition of 1913 with a win in the Final over Norths 8-6 before 17,000 spectators. It was the only trophy they ever won, and is generally overlooked in deference to performances in the premiership despite the prestige it held at the time.

Halfway through the 1915 season Balmain, Glebe and Souths were the frontrunners. The Rabbitohs fell away soon after and with four matches remaining Balmain and Glebe faced each other with the winner was almost assured of the premiership. Played before 20,000 fans at the Sydney Sports Ground the match was a tough struggle on a cold and damp day. Balmain converted a handy 5-2 lead into a comfortable 12-2 win over the luckless Glebe side to kick two points clear on the Table and remained there until the end of the season to take the title.

The 1917 season was a dramatic one for the Glebe club. For officials of the NSWRL and rival clubs, the events of this season may have ultimately contributed to the exclusion of Glebe at the end of the next decade.

With the residential qualification strictly enforced at the time, Glebe brought down Dan 'Laddo' Davies from the Newcastle Wests club. For some inexplicable reason Glebe allowed Davies to move in with his relatives even though they lived outside the district in nearby Annandale. After Davies starred in a 26-5 win by Glebe over the 'Dales, the losers fired in a complaint to the NSWRL. The result was Glebe lost their two competition points for the win, while Davies was banned for life.

Soon afterwards three Glebe players were sent off and were outed for the rest of the season. Players from other clubs had received suspensions nowhere near as severe for similar offences. Then the NSWRL overlooked a top shelf clash between Glebe and Balmain for match-of-the-day status at the SCG, consigning the game to a smaller crowd (and therefore gate) at Birchgrove Oval. The loss of the expected bonus pay for the Glebe players was enough to send them over the edge. They decided not to front for the match because there was "a set against it by the League committee".

The NSWRL's response was to suspend fourteen of Glebe's top players until the start of the 1919 season. Three of the Burge brothers were amongst the suspensions. In April 1918 the League lifted most of the bans, however Albert and Frank Burge remained on the outer for a further month.

Glebe maintained a steady third placed position from 1918 to 1921, while the fortunes of other clubs saw them go up and down around the consistent Reds. For the first half of the 1920s Glebe were forced to switch home games to the Sports Ground when the NSWRL failed to secure rental of Wentworth Park.

In 1922 Glebe finished the season at the top of the ladder. Unfortunately they shared the position with defending premiers North Sydney and a Final was required to decide the winner. With Frank and Laidley Burge directing a team of now relatively unknown names, Glebe met the North Sydney 'Shoremen' at the SCG.

The Norths' side had a great backline that included Duncan Thompson and Harold Horder, along with former Glebe player Chris McKivat as their coach. The Glebe side had no answer to the Norths' backline play that absolutely clicked that day, winning 35-3. The Dirty Reds had missed out again.

The semi-final system was reintroduced in 1926 and, perhaps sensing they had to seize the opportunity, Glebe returned to top form clinching second place behind South Sydney and ahead of Easts and University. Glebe faced University in the first semi-final, a team they had defeated two weeks earlier and who were thrashed by Souths in the final club round.

However, the Dirty Reds were a major disappointment to all as they put in an inept display against Uni to lose 29-3 and miss a place in the Final. As events were to transpire over the next two seasons, the missed opportunity proved to be cataclysmic.

In 1928 Glebe sank dramatically and avoided the wooden spoon by just one win. It was their worst ever performance in the Sydney competition. They repeated it in 1929 and the word was soon out that the club was going to be excluded at the end of the season. Their final home game at Wentworth Park was a 13-5 loss to University.

The NSWRL General Committee voted 13-12 to omit Glebe from the premiership. The club fought the decision by collecting petitions, while many local politicians led the charge for the League to reverse their decision. An appeal was heard but the decision was not overturned.

The loss of Glebe saw many of their fans turn away from the game. They could not support another club and were dismayed at the events that had transpired.

Why Glebe was not given the respite needed to rebuild into a competitive team is unknown. The overall on field performances were certainly not as bad as the perennial wooden spooners University, which continued its abysmal existence until 1937.

In 1908 Glebe was at the forefront of the new game. It was a club built around a very strong and localised support. That was its advantage over the other clubs (aside perhaps from Newtown) which were based on larger areas. In the end, with its residential fringes being eaten away by converging industrial estates it was probably doomed anyway.

Questions remain though over why the League and other clubs were so quick to bring Glebe to an end.