It was fitting that in the week before Queensland’s annual State game, some history dating back to the Maroons’ first national carnival was uncovered.
Friday 11 June 2010
It was fitting that in the week before Queensland’s annual State game, some history dating back to the Maroons’ first national carnival was uncovered.
Ironically, Queensland’s participation in the Jubilee Australasian Championships in Melbourne in 1908 coincided with their first ever clash against Tasmania – the Marooons’ opponents at Southport tomorrow.
The captain of that Queensland team was Ralph McKellar, a fact uncovered only recently when his grandson approached QAFL historian Greg Parker seeking to pass on information.
“We knew our grandfather played for Queensland in 1908 and we had a State team photo laying around in the family for years with no names on it,” David McKellar explained.
“With the 150th birthday celebrations of Australian football (a few years ago), we as a family wanted some certainty about our grandfather’s place in history. We had no idea he would be the captain.”
On a trip to the MCG last year with his brother, McKellar sought out Melbourne Cricket Club librarian Trevor Ruddell, who was able to source the information.
In fact, McKellar was provided with a full list of names to go with the 100-year-old photo.
He was also able to give Parker some facts about the early Queensland captain, including his employment as a federal police officer. At one stage he was posted to the Nerang District, which took in the Fankhauser Reserve area where tomorrow’s State game will be played.
His grandfather died following a botched operation at the age of 37 when his father was still an infant, denying any word-of-mouth history to be passed on.
While David McKellar’s father was more of a rugby and league player, he himself took up Australian Football after being influenced at the Sherwood school by the likes of teacher – and now famous journalist – George Negus.
He won the O’Callaghan Medal in 1962 for the best junior in Brisbane, an honour that is still awarded today.
McKellar also has vivid memories of watching the 1961 All-Australian carnival in Brisbane, the same four-yearly event that his grandfather had contested 53 years earlier.
The family association with football continues today, with McKellar’s son a promising teenager rep player and the man himself keen to assist with junior development on the northside of Brisbane.
In fact, there are plans to strike a Ralph McKellar Medal as part of encouraging growth in some of the smaller junior clubs in the inner northern suburbs.
