South
Queensland Crushers
Sean Fagan of RL1908.com
 The
South Queensland Crushers were one of the four
expansion clubs added to the NSWRL premiership
in 1995 as it transferred control of its competition
to the ARL.
Like its three
comrade clubs (Western Reds, Nth Qld and Auckland)
the Crushers off-field struggle for survival
meant there was little hope for success on the
playing fields.
What made life even
more difficult for the Crushers was that they
also had to deal with established competitors
in the area they were to represent - the Brisbane
Broncos and the Gold Coast Seagulls.
Ultimately the Crushers
perservered for three seasons, lurching from crisis
to crisis, before their doors were closed forever.
The Crushers launched
their 1995 debut season with realistic hope of
mid-table success. This was to build a team around
experienced players (Fenech, Hohn, Gillmeister,
Shearer, Wayne Collins and John Jones) and high
profile RU converts Garrick Morgan and Anthony
Herbert.
The club finished
a credible 16th (of 20) and attracted an impressive
average home crowd at Lang Park of over 21,000.
The RU converts however were a failure with only
two appearances each in first grade. Meanwhile
young players Travis Norton and Chris McKenna
impressed through the season. Boosted by the off-season
signing of five experienced Sydney City players
alongside North Sydney's Tony Hearn, the club
had cause for optimism for the 1996 season.
Unfortunately what
eventuated almost sent the Crushers to extinction
- falling crowds, poor on-field performances and
a debilitating financial crisis hung over the
club. The Crushers were undoubtedly victims of
circumstance notwithstanding their lack-lustre
premiership results - the Super League war had
sent player payments rocketing skyward while the
game's fans began to turn their back on RL. The
Crushers average home crowd dropped to 13,000
leaving a gaping hole in the club's projected
earnings.
The club finished
the 1996 season three points adrift at the bottom
of the table with the wooden spoon. Amidst the
disappointment four young players impressed and
gave hope for building a team for the future -
Philip Lee, Travis Norton, Clinton Schifcofske
and Mark Tookey. The Under 21's side also won
the Grand Final at the Sydney Football Stadium
to secure the club's only title.
1997 produced no
new awakening for the fledgling Crushers. They
again finished with the wooden spoon and crowd
support floundered even further. Twice during
the season the Lang Park gates were thrown open
to allow free entry. Again the only highlight
was the emergence of young talent - this time
it was five-eigth/centre Aaron Moule.
Towards the end of
the season the ARL announced it would not continue
the financial support that was keeping the club
viable and effectively sounded the death-knell
for the Crushers. Late season merger talks with
the neighbouring Gold Coast Chargers faltered
and when the final round game against Wests arrived,
all knew it would be the Crusher's last ever game.
From the opening
whistle the Crushers played inspired football
and took the game 39-18 in the club's best ever
performance of its three year existence. The Crushers
had left their best to the end, all too late -
on their final day they won all three grades and
set many of the club's now permanent point scoring
records.
The Crushers themselves
may have been their biggest enemies, but the hostile
environment into which they were delivered did
not give them any breathing space for error or
any bad luck in their all-too-brief existence.
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