Australian rules football leagues in regional Queensland

There are several Australian rules football leagues in regional Queensland.

The sport of Australian rules football has a rich history in Queensland which dates back to the 1860s, however the game outside of South East Queensland was slower to take off than in Brisbane.

In 1913, a team of servicemen briefly existed on Thursday Island, but was short lived. In 1944, a league of servicemen was formed around the Atherton Tableland. Teams represented included Wongabel, Wondelca, Kairi, Mareeba and Ravenshoe. The league was a pre-cursor to the nearby Cairns, Queensland league.

In 1955, the Townsville Australian Football League began. Two years later the Cairns Australian Football League was formed. AFL was also introduced to Mount Isa.

In the early 1970s, organised leagues started appearing in Mackay, the Darling Downs and Central Queensland.

The Australian Football League has occasionally played pre-season matches in Cairns and there have been semi-regular premiership matches on the Gold Coast.

AFL Bundaberg-Wide Bay

The Bundaberg-Wide Bay Australian Football League was formed in 1987 through the merger of the Bundaberg Australian Football League and Wide Bay Australian Football Leagues. The competition features teams from around the Bundaberg and Hervey Bay region.

In 2003, the Bundaberg-Wide Bay AFL was joined by clubs from further south, operating as the Wide Bay-Hinterland division of AFL South Queensland, but has since reverted to a stand-alone league.

Representative team

Known as the TIGERS wearing guernseys simillar to those of the Richmond Tigers.

Clubs

AFL Mount Isa

Providing AFL competition in the Mount Isa area, the league began in the 1950s.

Clubs

*Buffaloes
Navy Blue, White
*Rovers
Green, Yellow
*Tigers
Black, Yellow
*Lake Nash Bats
Black, Red
*Lake Nash Bulldogs
Blue, Red, White

Former clubs

*Mary Kathleen AFC Club closed with the end of uranium mining at Mary Kathleen
*Saints AFC club closed in early nineties due to downturn in mining industry
*Hawks AFC club closed

AFL Townsville

The regional league in the Townsville region commenced in 1955, originally under the name Townsville Australian National Football League.

Representitive Team

Known as the Eagles they wear similar guernseys to the Zillmere Eagles old white and blue guernsey's.

Clubs

References

www.afl.com.au
www.aflq.com.au

External links

Leagues

* [http://bundaberg.aflq.com.au AFL Bundaberg-Wide Bay Website]
* [http://cairns.aflq.com.au AFL Cairns Website]
* [http://capricornia.aflq.com.au/ Official AFL Capricornia Site]
* [http://darlingdowns.aflq.com.au Official AFL Darling Downs Site]
* [http://mackay.aflq.com.au/ AFL Mackay Website]
* [http://mtisa.aflq.com.au/ AFL Mount Isa Website]
* [http://townsville.aflq.com.au AFL Townsville Website]

Clubs

* [http://www.brothers.aflq.com.au Brothers Roos Rockhampton Website]
* [http://www.twincitylionsafc.org.au/ Twin City Lions Townsville]
* [http://www.thuringowabulldogs.com/ Thuringowa Bulldogs AFL Club site]