The Premierships

1976 A Grade

Success in Grand Finals was not long in coming. A loss in 1975 was followed, in the second year of its existence, by Teachers West Rugby Union Football Club winning the A Grade Premiership.
Players named on the official Brolga Bulletin Program were 1. G Waters, 2. W Hansen, 3. B Buchbach, 4. P (Jock) McLaughlin, 5. R McLean, 6. R Butler, 7. M McMahon, 8. J Arvier, 9. J Corlis, 10. V Steele, 11. T Coward, 12. G Svendsen, 13. P Grigg, 14. M Carey, 15. J Roots. The Coach was Tractor Tracey

1979 A Grade

Three years later A Grade were again the Premiers.
The Brolga Bulletin for the 1979 Grand Final program listed the team; 1 G Bennett, 2 J Paterson, 3 T Shiells, 4 M Webb, 5 N Hart, 6 W Hansen, 7 S Perkins (Captain), 8 G Casey, 9 I Randall, 10 J Roots, 11 K Emery, 12 P Grigg, 13 P Ward, 14 M Carey, 15 P Leet, 16 R Brennan, 17 B Schmidt, 18 C Mead, 19 G Svendsen. The Coach was Terry Bowden.

1987 A Grade

There was then a considerable gap in premiership successes. The next A Grade Grand Final win was in 1987. The paper listed the First XV as;
Bill O’Brien, Andrew Short, Terry Shiells, Petrie Peltonen, Norm Hart, Simon Mellor, Shane Horwood, Peter Kililea, Darren Grewcock, Rob McPherson, John Corlis, Glen Harris, Lance Wilcoxson, John Faithful and Sean Williams. The Coach was Geoff Cooke.

1990 A Grade and Under 19

It was another three years before A Grade again took out the Premiership in 1990. This time they were joined on the winner’s podium by the Under 19 team. The A Grade team for the Grand Final was Andrew Kelly, John Searle, Terry Shiells, Darryl Chambers, David Kelly, Steve Ericksen, Shaun Freeman, Michael Searle, Andrew Ford, Tim Edmonds, Rod Pelling, Glen Harris, John Faithful, Charles Hammond and Adrian Doyle. The coach was John Searle.

Sadly, the names of the Under 19 heroes are not on the public record.

1991 Under 19

However, under the astute coaching of Tony Weightman in his second year, the next Under 19 Team repeated the performance. This magnificent group of rugby players finished the entire season undefeated by winning the Grand Final with a thrashing of University 34 – 0. Again, no names are recorded.

1992 Under 19

The following year provided a hat trick of Premierships to the Under 19s. The team was, Patrick Wallace, Patrick Poole (Captain), Tony Walker, Zane Aiken, Cain Barry, Gavin Jones, Allan Simpson, Brian Castle, Mal McPhee, Shane May, Michael Moore, Mark Pearce, Andrew Dupre-Chamier, Chris Landsdowne, and Darren Hyde. Reserves Justen Hughes, Stewart Jensen, Troy Hegarty and Shaun Small. The Coach was Ian Gorman.

1993 A Grade

The three-year pattern of A Grade victories was again apparent in 1993. The team was Adrian Doyle, Blake Pelling, Gavin Boyd, Glen Harris, Rod Pelling, Tim Edmonds, Brett Woosnam, Fraser Millar, Sean Freeman, Michael Searle, Brian Castle, Zane Aitken, David Kelly, Pat Poole and Andrew Kelly. They won in grand style scoring four tries to two against Brothers. The Coach was Terry Shiells.

1996 A Grade

A Grade were set a rematch of the Qualifying Final with Burdekin in the Grand Final. Most pundits had them as favourites. A dangerous situation historically. Coach Kim Emery was upbeat. He said the Grand Final was the next step in players achieving the personal goals they had set themselves earlier in the season.

The Bulldog’s victory was a typical blue collar performance. They won 24 – 19. No team sheet is available.

1997 Reserve Grade

This was an historic year for Teachers West. For the first time in the history of the club Reserve Grade won the Grand Final. They defeated Brothers 23 – 6. (Darren Hegarty, Andrew Bourke, J Cafarey tries. Gavin Jones two penalty goals and a conversion). No team sheet is available.

1999 A Grade and Reserve Grade

Another Teachers West history making afternoon occurred on Grand Final Day in 1999. Both A Grade and Reserve Grade won their Grand Finals.

The players named in the A Grade Team were; 15 Adrian Doyle, 14 Wayne Vonhoff, 13 Chris Bruschi, 12 Matthew Barrett, 11 Shaun Butcher, 10 Jason Fitzgerald, 9 Dean Flannery, 8 Adam Johnson, 7 Grant Barrie (c), 6 Gavin Jones, 5 Andrew Guerrato, 4 Todd Donaldson, 3 David Kelly, 2 Murray Reiha, 1 Petri Peltonen, Reserves Jason Slattlery, Peter Scott, Russell King and Brett Woosnam. The Coach was John Searle.

There is no record of the Reserve Grade Team. We do know they won 17 -16 against Brothers. (Russell King, Edward Pearce and Andrew Ford tries, Andrew Ford one conversion).

2000 Reserve Grade

Reserve Grade won through the Elimination Final to the Grand Final against Brothers. There was one other Bulldog on the paddock that afternoon. Andrew Burke refereed the main game between Brothers and Burdekin. The Reserve Grade Grand Final was taken out by Teachers West in a nail biter, 5 – 3 over Brothers.

2003 A Grade

It was four years before Teachers West took out their next A Grade Premiership. The Grand Final in 2003 was a dour affair which hung in the balance until the final whistle. Brothers missed a penalty in the last minute to lose 12 – 10. The team was; 1. David Kelly, 2. Marty Hampton, 3. Gil Griffiths, 4. Dan Staley, 5. David Scott, 6. Andrew Hiatt, 7. Grant Barrie (c), 8. Che Solomona, 9. Matthew Chang, 10. David Boyd, 11. Shaun Butcher, 12. Luke Halls, 13. Matthew Barrett, 14. Adrian Doyle, 15. Robert Brehaut, Reserves Dean Stallard, Barry Dermody, Jason Ryan, Jake Byrt, Kelvin Muller, Marty McCullough and Robbie Newman. The Coach was Mick Smith.

2005 A Grade and Under 19

The Teachers West A Grade Grand Final team this year was; 1 Dean Stallard, 2 Marty Hampton, 3 Gil Griffith, 4 Chris Barlow, 5 Dan Staley, 6 Andrew Hiatt, 7 Jake Byrt, 8 Che Solomona, 9 Matthew Chang, 10 Aka Tuala, 11 Robert Newman, 12 Luke Halls, 13 Matt Barrett, 14 Brendan Hammond, 15 Brendan Bowring, 16 Bill Halls, 17 Brendan Hume, 18 Andrew Donkin, 19 Grant Stallard, 20 Neil Campbell, 21 Grant Galvin, 22 Tristan Browning. The Coach was Mick Smith.

Certainly a strong line-up under any set of criteria.
The Under 19 team vanquished Brothers 17 – 6. This Norm Hart coached side contained players of the calibre of Joel Shiells and Leo Pakome who would serve the Club for many years into the future.

The Bulldogs had won the fight in two senior grades. The third time the they had achieved this feat.

2006 Reserve Grade

Teachers West did have some cause for celebration, after losing the A Grade Grand Final this year. The Reserve Grade upset the minor premiers, Ross River Redskins, 27 – 3 to take out their first premiership since 2000.

N Carmello, S Marlborough, S Burns and Brendan Bowring all scored tries and Brendan Bowring also kicked two conversions and a penalty.

In a cracker of a Grand Final, the Under 18 team beat Brothers 32 – 31. No details are available.

2008 A Grade

The 2008 Grand Final team was: 1 Chris Barlow 2 Marty Hampton 3 Andrew Pearce 4 Andrew Donkin 5 Brendan Hume 6 Andrew Turner 7 Joel Shiells 8 Leo Pakome 9 Shaun Butcher 10 Akarana Tuala 11 Tovio Perez 12 Blair Campbell 13 Shaun Barclay 14 Robert Newman 15 Brendan Bowring 16 Frank Milburn 17 Henty Tofoa 18 Michael Turner 19 Sakiao Pakome 20 Nathan Huppatz 21 Nathan Shepherd 22 Benjamin Garcia.
This was arguably the most exciting win of any Teachers West Grand Final to date. Down 21 – 0 after seventeen minutes and 28 – 7 at halftime, every Bulldog fan at Hugh Street had written off the game as another one that got away.
Not the players though. They came out in the second half and fought back to 28 – 26 down with two miinutes to go. A successful Brendan Bowring, long range penalty kick gave the Bulldogs a heart thumping 29 – 28 victory. One that will never be forgotten by anyone fortunate enough to have witnessed it.

2009 Under 19

There was no mention of this Grand Final in the Townsville Daily Bulletin. There were no Teachers West Under 19 players mentioned in any article during the year. It can be reported that the team progressed directly to the Grand Final and was able to handle opposed training runs against the A Grade team in the lead-up to the final series.

2010 Under 19

The record shows the second consecutive Grand Final victory for this fine team was over Burdekin. Absolutely no other details are available.

2011 Second Grade

In a time of very limited coverage of rugby union in the Townsville press, it will come as no surprise that there are no details about this wonderful premiership accept that it came at the expense of Brothers. Cause for a double celebration for many with maroon and teal blood in their viens.

2014 Under 19

This was a period of minimalist reporting of ruby union in Townsville. It is known that many Under 19 players stepped up to A Grade during a season where the absence of numerous stars from previous years was sorely felt. Among these were Josh Fletcher, Jack Payne and Daniel Carmen.

Clearly, the experience served them in good stead.

2015 A Grade

After a break of biblical proportions, seven lean years, the silverware was again in Bulldogs’ possession. The premiership could not have come in a better year – the official fortieth anniversary of the Club’s existence.

On Grand Final day the Second Grade side came within a whisker of winning their game, building the anticipation for an epic A Grade match.

The match was a classic. The final result 16 – 15 in favour of Teachers West came in the final seconds. This team displayed an esprit de corp at least as strong as that of the 1979 team.

It is an enormous pity that the full team cannot be recorded in this history. They played the most historic, some would say best, match ever by a Teachers West team.

It is a great pity that the players who made these grand final successes possible cannot all find a place on the Player of the Year Honour Board. Those who do make a veritable who’s who of Teachers West.