The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1997, where they won eight premierships.
Formed as Coorparoo in 1917, the club became the Eastern Suburbs Tigers in 1933, commonly referred to as Easts Tigers or Easts. In 2020, the club re-branded as the Brisbane Tigers, keeping their traditional colours of gold and black.
Contents
History
Easts had competed as Coorparoo in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership from 1917. A highlight of the 1920s was the signing of South Sydney star, Harold Horder as their captain-coach in 1924 and 1925. With the move to district football in 1933 a new club, the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League club, was formed.
The club struggled on the field during the 1930s and 1940s and was in severe financial trouble. Between 1937 and 1945 the Easts Tigers won just nine of ninety matches, and suffered three winless seasons in 1940, 1944 and 1945. However, in 1946, the club was successfully revived after suffering many defeats during the war years with the re-election of A.G. (Taffy) Welch as club president and the implementation of a completely new management committee. In 1946 no less than twelve teams were registered with the Brisbane Rugby League. Of these teams, ten were semi finalists and seven made the grand finals. The main object was to present to the public a really strong first grade team. The next year, 1947, saw what would probably be the greatest side fielded by the club. Every trophy competed for in the BRL competition and Premiership were won and had no fewer than eleven players selected for Brisbane's Bulimba Cup team.
The Easts Tigers won their next premiership in 1950, and in 1951 the Easts Tigers contested the Grand Final being beaten by Southern Suburbs, This meant that, since the revival of the club in 1946, they had played six grand finals in succession. They reached the semis in 1952 and the grand final in 1953 where they were again beaten by Souths. In 1954, they failed to make the top four so, for the first time in eight years they failed to compete in the semi-finals. The club was to win the Peter Scott Memorial Trophy in the 1960 season but did not have success again until they won the pre-season competition in 1969.
The 15-year premiership drought forced club officials to search for a top coach and in 1965 former international, Clive Churchill was engaged to try to mould the team into a premiership 13. The effect was the club's appearance in the 1968 Grand Final against Past Brothers. Although they lost the Grand Final it sparked a resurgence in the Easts Tigers' performance for years to come and the Easts Tigers won the Woolworths pre-season competition in 1969.
The coach, Ted Verrenkamp, and his successor, captain-coach Des Morris, brought success to the club providing the Easts Tigers with numerous finals appearances and Grand Final victories throughout the 1970s. This was through the help of the Queensland Five-eighth and centre before King Wally, Wayne Lindenberg and Steve Farquhar plus the local junior talent highlighted by John Lang, who coached the Penrith Panthers to a grand final in 2003.
NRL affiliation
The Easts Tigers were the last team in the Queensland Cup to follow the trend of becoming affiliated with a team from the National Rugby League. After relationships with Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Penrith Panthers, at the end of the 2006 NRL season the New South Wales club South Sydney Rabbitohs announced an alliance with the Easts Tigers as a feeder club for the National Rugby League (NRL) side.
At the end of the 2007 season it was announced that the Rabbitohs and the Easts Tigers would no longer be affiliated due to various conflicting issues, the Easts Tigers instead looked closer to home and struck an affiliate deal with the Brisbane Broncos.
At the end of the 2010 NRL season the Victorian club Melbourne Storm announced an alliance with the Easts Tigers as a feeder club for their NRL side. The partnership with the Easts Tigers allowed the Melbourne Storm to tap into the Easts Tigers' recruitment and development systems in Queensland, as well as providing a club for young Queenslanders recruited by the Melbourne Storm to play at and develop without having to relocate to Melbourne. The affiliation with Melbourne has been extended a number of times, with the latest extension being until the end of the 2024 season.
In September 2025, the Tigers struck a feeder-club agreement with the Perth Bears in the Queensland Cup, ahead of the Bears entry to the NRL in 2027.
NRL bid
In March 2020, the Tigers entered the bidding race to win a potential license to join the NRL. In early June, the club filed a trademark for the name "Brisbane Firehawks", which would avoid a naming clash with existing NRL side Wests Tigers.
In May 2023, they club relaunched their bid for inclusion in the NRL as the 18th franchise, aiming to represent the southern side of Brisbane. They also abandoned the Firehawks name, instead announcing plans to find a new emblem further in the expansion process.
Notable players
75-Year Dream Team
In 2008, the Easts Tigers named their 75 Year "Dream Team", which included players from 1933 to 2007. The team consists of 13 players who have played more than 50 games for the club, chosen by a panel of experts.
Results
Queensland Cup
Since the inception of the Queensland Cup in 1996, the Tigers have played in 16 finals series, making the Grand Final five times.
1996 – 4th
1997 – Runners Up – Finished 3rd on ladder
1998 – 9th
1999 – 5th
2000 – 3rd
2001 – 4th
2002 – 4th
2003 – 9th
2004 – Runners Up – Finished 3rd on ladder
2005 – 8th
2006 – 3rd
2007 – 5th
2008 – 7th
2009 – 9th
2010 – 11th
2011 – 8th
2012 – 6th
2013 – Runners Up – Finished 3rd on ladder
2014 – Runners Up – Finished 3rd on ladder
2015 – 4th
2016 – 6th
2017 – 4th
2018 – Runners Up – Finished 5th on ladder
2019 – 8th
2020 – Season cancelled
2021 – 11th
Brisbane A Grade / FOGS Cup Results
The FOGS Cup is an 6-team competition local Brisbane A Grade competition. It was previously known as the FOGS Cup and was a level below the QRL's Intrust Super Cup. The Easts Tigers have had a team in the Cup since its inception in 2001 and have been the most successful club to date, winning the premiership 8 from 19 seasons.
2001 – Premiers
2002 – Premiers
2003 – Runners-up – 2nd
2004 – Premiers
2005 – Premiers
2006 – 4th
2008 – Premiers
2009 –
2010 –
2011 –
2012 – Premiers
2013 – Premiers
2014 – Premiers
2015 – 3rd
2016 – 6th
2017 – 5th
2018 – 4th
2019 – 4th
2020 – Withdrew from the competition
Honours
Queensland Cup
Premierships: 2023
Runners Up: : 1997, 2004, 2013, 2014, 2018
Records
Most Games for Club
Most Points for Club
Most Tries for Club