About Mudgeeraba Redbacks JRLC

Mudgeeraba Redbacks Junior Rugby League Club is "your" local Junior Rugby League Club.

From humble beginnings in 1992 we are now one of the fastest growing Junior Rugby League Clubs within South East Queensland.

Our juniors have gone on to play not only First Grade in the NRL, but also representative Rugby League at both State of Origin and National level.

Our home ground is Firth Park Mudgeeraba (cnr Springbrook Rd and Somerset Drive) and in 2010 we are to fielding 30 teams covering every age group from Under 6 to Under 17.

We have our own internal Coaching and Player development program and many of our Coaches are scheduled to participate in external training programmes and seminars under the direction of both the Gold Coast Titans and the Queensland Rugby League.

Our distinctive red and black jerseys are well recognisable throughout the District and they are even more recognisable since 2009.

So come along to the Redbacks, the Mighty Mudgee Redbacks, where we seek results whilst having HEAPS of fun.

Club History

In 1991, Tony Rohl instigated the idea of developing a Junior Rugby League Club in the area because of the population growth and the need to give youngsters the opportunity to play sport.

Along with Jeff Rainer, Sooty Rice, Leo Coyne, Mark Mispelhorn and Bill Ross, an investigation of the procedures required in starting a Club and also field availabilty within the area.

In 1992, the Redbacks Junior Rugby League Club crawled from its web and became part of the Gold Coast District competition fielding teams in age groups from Under 7's to Under 12's.

Our club colours of red and black are traditional colours of Mudgeeraba and the spider is common in most households in the area. Our first President was Leo Coyne, the Secretary was Mandy Stanley and the treasurer was Vicky Boss. Coaches came from the local area and like most volunteer Clubs consisted mainly of parents and/or players.

Due to limited finances, our first jersey was a simple red background with black colours and numbers which, to this day, are prized possessions of many of those who played with the club in the first year of competition.

During our early years, we played on the western field as it was close to the makeshift bar and canteen.

In 1994, Stan Anderson took the reins. As the Club was growing, discussions of a new playing strip and training infrastructure were top of the agenda.

The 1995 season saw the introduction of a red with black striped jersey similar to Parramatta's of the same time.  Unfortunately the field lights were still a bit of a dream. Local Councilor, Merna Franklin, came to the the rescue and provided lighting with the lux that we could play night games.

With the lighting situated on the eastern field, we moved camp and in doing so handed the Bar and Canteen to the MDSA.  To this day we remain one of very few Junior Rugby League Clubs throughout not only South East Queensland but all of Australia who does not have Bar funds as an income stream.  It is a testament to those Committee members and volunteers over the years who have worked tirelessly to get our Club to where it is today.

1996 was a great year for all associated with the Club - not only did we establish ourselves as worthy opponents, but took on the Grand Final in both 12B's land 13B's and Luke SHARP was named in the Queensland Merit Team.

It was decided in 1999 to redesign our strip and give the Club its individuality. The chosen design incorporated the Clubs Redback Spider emblem and radiating lightning bolts. The bolts were for power and strength to compete at all levels and also represented a web. The emblem represented the player in the center of something bigger with the support of the entire team.  We have continued to incorporate this design in our latest strip which was updated in 2009.   The jerseys have been modernized to have us stand as one of, if not the best playing strips within the District.

In 2001, we unfortunately, lost our lighting capacity through a Council blunder which restricted us to training at night only with not being permitted to play night games.  This disrupted our ability to retain players in the older age divisions and affected our growth. Luckily, Council kept its promise and our lights were up and running during the 2004 football season.

In 2010 our Under 15 Premier team took out their Grand Final and they have set the standard for future Redbacks to follow.

The Club continues to grow and in 2010 we had 29 Junior Teams, from Under 6 to Under 17 and we anticipate 30 or more teams in 2011.

The Club has developed many talented players over the years, not all of whom may have gone on to representative duties but our goal as a Club is to produce good sportsmen who will remember their days at the REDBACKS with pride.  Some who have made it to the big league are current NRL players Darius Boyd (St George, QLD, Aus), Ben Hannant (Broncos, QLD), and Steve Michaels (Titans).