We celebrate the 1996 Queensland Cup winning Clydesdales
Some of Toowoomba rugby league’s most famous sons came home at the weekend, with members of the 1996 QLD Cup-winning Clydesdales in town. Here’s our look at the history-making stars, including more than 40 photos from their cup grand final.
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As the Western Clydesdales created history on the field – the same was being celebrated in the Clive Berghofer Stadium stands on Saturday
In the stands Toowoomba Clydesdales Old Boys celebrated winning the inaugural Queensland Cup in 1996.
“We’ve come to support the current Clydesdales and show some support,” Don Saunders, who captained the 1996 team, said.
“The club put a bit of an old boys day together, so we got together as many as we could from all over the state and country and a good number turned up.
“We try and get together as often as we can, we were here two years ago, so it’s nice to get to catch up again.
“We had a terrific group of blokes in that side who worked really hard.
“Just sharing that feeling of winning was great and we knew what it meant for Toowoomba.
“There were bus loads of people who came to watch the game and we understood that we were not just representing each other, but we were representing a great region.”
Preparing for the first Queensland Cup season, team co-manager Rex Zeeman said the Clydesdales had no idea what to expect.
Like their opposition the Clydesdales squad was comprised of almost entirely of local players with 15 of the 17 players who lined up in the cup final from the Toowoomba area.
“No one from the club went into it thinking we are going to win this,” Zeeman said.
“We really didn’t know what to expect from the other sides.
“Our focus was pretty simple.
“We wanted to be competitive and we wanted to represent Toowoomba and the region the way it deserved to be represented.”
The Clydesdales were competitive – finishing the season as minor premiers with 11 wins and a draw from 15 games.
In the week one qualifying final they beat Redcliffe Dolphins 12-10 before losing 6-0 to the same opposition two weeks later in the semi-final.
The Clydesdales bounced back with a 19-8 win over Wests Panthers in the preliminary final to book their grand final spot.
Leading 2-0 at halftime a Shaun Lawson try ultimately proved decisive with the Clydesdales holding on for an 8-6 win – the lowest score in a Queensland Cup final.
Redcliffe were denied twice in the final minutes of the decider with Toowoomba fullback Kyle Warren knocking himself unconscious in a try-saving tackle.
Zeeman attributed the team’s success to two things – fitness and Don Saunders.
“We had a great, tight-knit group of players in that squad and it made a hell of a difference,” Zeeman said.
“Don was a natural leader.
“He never asked any of the players to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself and the boys really responded to that. He was tough but fair.
“We were very fit as well.
“Lester Eiser was our fitness trainer – a real guru.
“He’d work them (the players) through some gruelling sessions every week.
“We were fit, I’d say one of the fittest teams in the competition, strong and we never gave up.”
Cold Saturday nights in a front of a vocal Athletic Oval crowd also helped a lot according to Zeeman.
Despite being sidelined for more than a decade the Clydesdales are the fourth most successful club in what is now known as the Hostplus Cup.
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