Brisbane Cricket Ground
Brisbane (Woolloongabba), Queensland, Australia
Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane (Woolloongabba), Australia — opened 1895, 872 rugby league games hosted, home of None — primarily a cricket and Australian rules football venue; rugby league was played there only occasionally, mainly 1909-1957.
Sourcing caveat: Wikipedia's own summary is internally inconsistent about the date of the ground's first rugby league Test, citing both '26 June 1909' and, in its results table, '14 August 1909' for what appears to be the same Australia v New Zealand Maori fixture. This write-up uses 14 August 1909, since it matches an individually dated Rugby League Project match record for that exact fixture (Australia 16-13 New Zealand Maori) rather than the unsupported 26 June date. The full list of 11 Tests said to have been played 1912-1956 could not be individually itemised from sources found; only the two independently corroborated fixtures above are listed rather than guessing at the rest.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1895 (This entry covers the venue's rugby league history specifically, which began later than the ground itself (primarily a cricket ground since the 1890s). The first rugby league match recorded there was on 8 May 1909.) |
| Home club | None — primarily a cricket and Australian rules football venue; rugby league was played there only occasionally, mainly 1909-1957 |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 872 |
| Top recorded crowd | 46,355 |
| Test matches hosted | 2 |
| First rugby league match | 8 May 1909 — Norths v Souths, an early Brisbane Rugby League premiership fixture, before a small crowd (the first rugby league match played in Brisbane) |
| Last rugby league match | Rugby league fixtures continued only occasionally at the Gabba until 1957, when Lang Park (later Suncorp Stadium) became the sport's home ground in Brisbane |
| Years used | 1909–2023 |
| Location | Brisbane (Woolloongabba), Queensland |
Name history
- Brisbane Cricket Ground — since the 1890s (base/official name, still used generically)
- The Gabba — informal name in wide use, derived from the Woolloongabba suburb
Rugby league history
Rugby league's first-ever match in Brisbane was played at the Gabba on 8 May 1909, only months after the code split from rugby union in Queensland, and the ground went on to host Brisbane premiership fixtures and Ashes/international Test matches through the first half of the 20th century — Rugby League Project records 872 rugby league matches at the venue overall, spanning 1909 through recent NRL/NRLW trial and pre-season fixtures. Sources indicate roughly 11 rugby league Test matches were staged there between 1912 and 1956, including Ashes and New Zealand touring-side Tests, before Lang Park took over as Brisbane's dedicated rugby league home from 1957 onward. The Gabba has continued to host occasional modern rugby league fixtures (trial and pre-season matches) alongside its primary role as Queensland's Test cricket and AFL (Brisbane Lions) venue.
Primarily and today almost exclusively a Test cricket ground (Queensland Cricket/Cricket Australia) and AFL venue (Brisbane Lions); rugby league is a genuine but secondary and largely historical part of its sporting history.
Historic Test matches, Cup & Grand Finals hosted
- 14 August 1909 — Australia 16-13 New Zealand Maori, attendance approximately 8,000 (part of the 1909 New Zealand Maori rugby league tour)
- 6 July 1912 — Australia 13-10 Great Britain, attendance approximately 8,000
Pre-dates the site's structured match-by-match records for these competitions, so listed here as sourced facts rather than linked match pages.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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