The FOGS Colts Challenge is an 11-team rugby league competition run by the QRL. It is the highest level of junior rugby league in Brisbane before players move into senior rugby. FOGS in an acronym for Former Origin Greats.
The competition provides the highest standard for young players ranging 16-18 who wish to further their rugby league careers and is seen as the first step for young Queensland boys in reaching the National Rugby League. Although the competition is based in Brisbane, scouts from all the NRL clubs have a presence in Colts rugby. Players are chosen from the FOGS Cup for U17, U18, state, and national representative sides, and it is also the stepping stone to play in the Queensland Cup. It is not unusual for young stars in the FOGS Cup to have already signed contracts with an NRL side.
History The FOGS Colts Challenge, which ran from 1986 to 2017, only featured sides from south east Queensland. From 2008 to 2017, the National Rugby League (NRL) administered their own under-20 competition, the National Youth Competition, which featured the three Queensland-based NRL clubs, the Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans and North Queensland Cowboys, and a plethora of young players from the state. In 2016, the NRL announced that the National Youth Competition would be discontinued after the 2017 season, in favour of state-based under-20 competitions, administered by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL).
In 2017, while in preparation for the new competition, the QRL ran a shortened, statewide under-20 competition called the FOGS U20s Cup. The competition, which was won by the Redcliffe Dolphins, ran over nine-weeks, alongside the Mal Meninga Cup, and featured all 15 teams who would eventually participate in the Hastings Deering Colts.
Current Teams
Burleigh Bears Easts Tigers Ipswich Jets Norths Devils Redcliffe Dolphins Souths Logan Magpies Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles Tweed Heads Seagulls Toowoomba Clydesdales Wynnum-Manly Seagulls
2009 Ladder TeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts1Souths Logan Magpies2016132548350+198372Easts Tigers2014152734372+362333Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles2013342489398+91334Tweed Heads Seagulls2011182487425+50275Western Districts Panthers209292464462+2246Norths Devils2090112447495-48227Burleigh Bears2081112379488-109218Wynnum Manly Seagulls2060142422596-174169Ipswich Jets2050152349522-1731410Redcliffe Dolphins2041152390599-20913
Grand Final Results Year Winner Score Loser1998Norths Devils44 - 20Past Brothers1999Redcliffe Dolphins26 - 22Norths Devils2000Norths Devils32 - 14Wests Panthers2001Redcliffe Dolphins24 - 22Norths Devils2002Wests Panthers30 - 20Redcliffe Dolphins2003Redcliffe Dolphins24 - 20Norths Devils2004Norths Devils48 - 6Easts Tigers2005Norths Devils28 - 18Wests Panthers2006Norths Devils28 - 22Wynnum-Manly Seagulls2007Tweed Heads Seagulls18 - 14Norths Devils2008Western Districts Panthers30 - 16Aspley Devils2009Easts Tigers30 - 28Souths Logan Magpies2010Easts Tigers20 - 18Wynnum-Manly Seagulls2015Burleigh Bears22 - 12Wynnum-Manly Seagulls2016Easts Tigers21 - 20Redcliffe Dolphins2017Redcliffe Dolphins56 - 18Norths Devils
See also
Rugby League Competitions in Australia
References
External links
FOGS Colts U18s Home Page