The Foley Shield


Prior to 1948 an inter-town competition known as the Carlton Cup was contested in North Queensland. This was revamped, and renamed in honour of Arch Foley, a member of the 1918 Townsville representative team that travelled north to Cairns, and south throughout Central Queensland. He was a founding member of the Townsville Souths rugby league club, and with later Australian Prime Minister Arthur Fadden formed the North Queensland Rugby League in 1919.

In 1948 the competition was structured into a Northern Zone (Cairns, Babinda, Tully and Eacham) and a Southern Zone (Mackay, Ayr and Townsville). The following year, a Central Zone (Herbert River, Charters Towers and Home Hill) was added. The grand final was played in Townsville, and was a highlight of the rugby league calendar.

All finals were played in Townsville at the Sports Reserve until 1993. In 1994 and 1995 the showpiece of North Queensland Rugby League, the Foley Shield final, was played in Mackay.

The Foley Shield continued to be held annually until the introduction of the state-wide Queensland Cup competition in 1996. In 2000 the competition was reinstated, and it is currently contested by Cairns, Mackay and Townsville. In previous years it has also been contested by Ayr, Babinda, Burdekin, Eacham, Herbert River, Innisfail, Mount Isa, Tully and Whitsunday.

In 2009 it was decided to run the shield over the Easter long weekend

Results of the Foley Shield finals from 1948-2004 that Mackay has played in.

1959 Mackay 29 defeated Cairns 18

1961 Eacham 35 defeated Mackay 10

1968 Innisfail 22 defeated Mackay 12

1978 Mt Isa 15 defeated Mackay 2

1984 Mackay 21 defeated Mt Isa 4

1988 Mt Isa 22 defeated Mackay 18

1989 Innisfail-Eacham 40 defeated Mackay 12

1991 Mackay 30 defeated Cairns 22

1992 Mackay 31 defeated Mt Isa 12

1993 Cairns 30 defeated Mackay 24

1994 Mackay 22 defeated Cairns 6

1995 Cairns 34 defeated Mackay 24

2000 Townsville 40 defeated Mackay 16

2004 Mackay 44 defeated Cairns 28

2005 Cairns 36 defeated Mackay 32

Sources:

http://www.fullbottle.com/foleyshield/finals.htm  retrieved 17 April 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foley_Shield  retrieved 17 April 2008

 


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Glen Hall

 

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13 April 2008.
last updated 19 July 2017 .
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