Club Focus: The Dirty Reds
October 22nd 2009 09:42
Glebe 1911
Club Focus: The Dirty Reds
In 1908 the first Australian rugby league competition was established with the formation of the NSWRL, and with it saw the creation of the Glebe ‘Dirty Reds’. In fact, out of the nine teams that made the NSWRL’s foundation year, Glebe were the first to be formed, and thus hold the title of being Australia’s first rugby league club.
Disputing this however, Newtown claims to have formed one day prior to Glebe, using a mysterious minute book from their inaugural meeting as supposed proof. Despite the Bluebags’ claim, most rugby league historians believe that Glebe was actually formed first, with every Sydney newspaper from the time supporting the claim and the dates, which were faithfully recorded after each club meeting.
Regardless of this dispute, Glebe competed in the NSWRL Premiership from 1908 to 1929, achieving great success for the majority of the time that they were in the competition. In the first two decades of the new Sydney premiership it is safe to say that Glebe was certainly one of the strongest teams. Even to this day, Glebe holds the fifth highest winning percentage of all NRL, ARL and NSWRL clubs, with only the Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm, St. George Dragons and Manly Warringah Sea Eagles having higher percentages. Of the 297 games the club played, they won 163, lost 128 and drew six, with a winning percentage of 55.89%.
Despite their impressive statistics, Glebe never won a premiership, albeit they did come awfully close. If their total winning percentage is something to boast about, then their finals percentage is utterly awful, with the club never managing to win in a finals appearance. Worst still, is the fact that out of all finals that Glebe played in, they scored a combined total of 26 points, which is a dismal effort compared with the 113 points that they conceded. Glebe may have been successful, but when the pressure was placed upon them, it is without doubt that the club were the biggest ‘chokers’ in premiership history.
Known as the ‘Dirty Reds’ because of their maroon jerseys, they were minor premiers in 1911, but their premiership charge was halted by an Eastern Suburbs team that boasted Dally Messenger in their ranks. Back in the day, an end of season final was played between to two top sides, with the minor premier receiving a ‘right of reply’ if they lost the first final. Glebe did, and therefore a premiership decider akin to today’s modern day Grand Final was scheduled, with Easts once again taking the victory in the dying moments of the game.
In the season that followed, the NSWRL decided that a ‘first past the post’ system would suffice in declaring all future premierships, with a separate competition, the City Cup, being introduced to satisfy the public’s demand for knock-out football. This of course was no help to Glebe, as they finished in the top 3 consistently throughout the rest of the 1910’s and early 1920’s. Nevertheless they were never able to assert a premiership challenge, as no final system was in place and the Premiership was automatically awarded to the minor premier.
To add to their frustration, the Dirty Reds finished runners up in the City Cup six times in the 14 years that it was held between 1912 and 1925, further adding to the claim that the club couldn’t compete in high pressure situations and were indeed the NSWRL’s compulsive ‘chokers’. A brief moment of success did come in 1913 however, as the Reds won the City Cup against North Sydney. It would ultimately prove to be the club’s only first grade trophy, although the relevance of the City Cup is all but non-existent in modern day rugby league, despite the prestige that it held at the time.
It was also around that time that the Dirty Reds were earning a most unsavoury reputation with the games’ administrators. To go along with their Dirty Reds moniker, the club was actually referred to as the ‘Rebels’ due to the many disputes with the NSWRL. The most prevalent occurred in 1917, when the Dirty Reds brought Dan Davis to Sydney from the Newcastle Wests club. However, with the district system being in place at the time, Glebe for some incomprehensible reason, allowed Davis to move in with his relatives whom lived in the Annandale district.
When the two teams clashed later in the season, Davis was an integral part of the Dirty Reds’ win, and thus Annandale issued a complaint to the NSWRL. The game’s administrators responded harshly and Davis was banned from playing for life and Glebe lost their two premiership points. In the weeks that followed three Glebe players were sent off and suspended for the season, while players from other clubs received suspensions far less severe for very similar offences. Then, the NSWRL decided to overlook the much anticipated clash between Glebe and Balmain as the match-of-the-day at the SCG, which saw the Reds players missing out on the bonus pay for the match.
In response, the Glebe players refused to play in the rescheduled game at Birchgrove Oval due to what they perceived as ‘a set against it by the League committee.’ Instead, Glebe threw together a scratch second-grade side to face Balmain, and lost 40-9. The NSWRL’s response was to suspend 14 of Glebe’s top players until the commencement of the 1919 season, although this ban was eventually lifted in early 1918.
With the ‘first past the post’ system still in place, Glebe went as close to winning the minor premiership as they had since 1911 when they finished the 1922 season equal first with Norths. As a result, a final was scheduled, but once again the Dirty Reds failed at the last hurdle as Norths swept them aside 35-3 to take the premiership.
Then in 1926, with the semi-final’s system restored, Glebe finished the regular season in second place behind Souths. Their opponents in the semi-final were Sydney University, who Glebe had beaten two weeks before and Souths had smashed the week after. However, Glebe once again fell short of the line as the Students went on to win 29-3. The loss would prove to be catastrophic in the overall history of the Glebe club.
In the seasons that followed, Glebe’s dominance over the NSWRL shrank as did the population of the area it represented. In their final three seasons the club finished at the bottom of the ladder and narrowly avoided the wooden spoon in each season. By the end of 1929, the NSWRL General Committee voted 13-12 to axe Glebe from the Premiership, stating their on-field performances over the previous three seasons, and the decline of residential area in their district was enough to suggest that they could not support a competitive side in future seasons.
Indeed, Glebe’s performances between 1927-1929 had been dismal, and the area itself had been engulfed with a wave of industrial estates which vastly reduced their talent base, much in the same way with Annandale’s district and in later years Newtown’s. However, Sydney University’s performances had been far worse than Glebe’s and many other clubs had seen their performances wane for a number of seasons, before once again rising to form.
The thought that the league was so willing to expel one of the most successful sides in its history based on such a frivolous reason evoked much controversy and conspiracy amongst rugby league fans. One theory was that the surrounding districts of South Sydney and Balmain, who had a fair share of representatives within the NSWRL, were looking to exile Glebe so that they could claim a share of the district to be left void by the Reds’ absence.
Whether that theory is sound or not, questions still remain as to why the NSWRL and other clubs were so quick to bring about Glebe’s demise. In the weeks that followed, the club issued an appeal, but it was overturned, while the Glebe community and local politicians protested and petitioned against the league’s decision to no avail. This in turn, led many fans to be dismayed with what had transpired and many turned away from the game, with some refusing to be involved in rugby league altogether.
In the end, Glebe walked away from two decades of dominance with only one City Cup and a handful of reserve grade and third grade titles. Their lasting contribution to the game was Frank Burge, who was by far their most talented and consistent player, and who was included in the Centenary of Rugby League, Team of the Century. While among the list of Top 100 players in the last century, Glebe is represented strongly, quite an achievement for a club with such a short history.
In retrospect, the history of the Glebe club is often overlooked by many rugby league followers. And yet, the question remains; what would have become of the Dirty Reds if they had been allowed to remain in the NSWRL? What would have happened if Glebe were given a chance to reassert their dominance? Would they have remained in the NSWRL long-term, with many modern-day fans holding them in the same breath as Newtown or Balmain? Or was Glebe’s demise unavoidable and would have been brought about naturally in the course of time?
Of course those questions can never be answered. What is known though, is the story of ‘poor old Glebe’.
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