| Year: | 1980 |
| Competition: | Brisbane Rugby League |
| Duration: | March 22 – September 21, 1980 |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Premiers: | Northern Suburbs |
| Minor Premiers: | Fortitude Valley |
| Matches: | 88 |
| Points: | 3116 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Mal Meninga (245) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Bruce Astill (19) |
| Player Of The Year: | Peter Lehman (Rothmans Medal) |
| Prevseason Year: | 1979 |
| Nextseason Year: | 1981 |
The 1980 Brisbane Rugby League premiership was the 73rd season of Brisbane's professional rugby league football competition. Eight teams from across Brisbane competed for the premiership, which culminated in a grand final match between the Northern Suburbs and Southern Suburbs clubs.
Teams played each other three times, with 21 rounds of competition played. It resulted in a top four of Southern Suburbs, Fortitude Valley, Northern Suburbs and Past Brothers.
| Club | Home ground | Coach | Captain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Abbott | ||||
| Ross Strudwick | ||||
| Bishop Park | Mark Murray | |||
| Corbett Park | Greg Holben | |||
| Ian Pearce | ||||
| Bruce Astill | ||||
| Norm Carr | ||||
| Des Morris |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fortitude Valley | 21 | 16 | 0 | 5 | 452 | 261 | +191 | 32 | |
| 2 | Southern Suburbs | 21 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 434 | 257 | +177 | 31 | |
| 3 | Past Brothers | 21 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 342 | 326 | +16 | 28 | |
| 4 | Northern Suburbs (P) | 21 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 380 | 314 | +66 | 26 | |
| 5 | Redcliffe | 21 | 11 | 1 | 9 | 429 | 368 | +61 | 23 | |
| 6 | Eastern Suburbs | 21 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 404 | 432 | -28 | 12 | |
| 7 | Wynnum-Manly | 21 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 328 | 523 | -195 | 9 | |
| 8 | Western Suburbs | 21 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 209 | 497 | -288 | 7 |
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=17% | Date and Time | width=17% | Venue | width=11% | Referee | width=7% | Crowd | ||
| Semi-finals | |||||||||
| align=left | Northern Suburbs | 24-17 | align=left | Past Brothers | 31 August 1980 | Lang Park | Eddie Ward | ||
| align=left | Southern Suburbs | 22-14 | align=left | Fortitude Valley | 7 September 1980 | Lang Park | Eddie Ward | ||
| Preliminary Final | |||||||||
| align=left | Northern Suburbs | 15-14 | align=left | Fortitude Valley | 14 September 1980 | Lang Park | Eddie Ward | ||
| Grand Final | |||||||||
| align=left | Northern Suburbs | 17-15 | align=left | Southern Suburbs | 21 September 1980 | Lang Park | Eddie Ward | 32,000 | |
The Grand Final, attended by over 32,000 people, was most notable for a fight which occurred in the first half of the match. Spectators cheered while a commentator was quoted as saying "that's as bad as I've seen in a Grand Final." When play resumed, a close game finished with Norths winning 17-15.
Northern Suburbs 17 (Tries: R. Henrick, B. Dunn, P. Dutton. Goals: G. Warnock 4.)
Southern Suburbs 15 (Tries: M. Meninga, G. Moroko, B. Johnstone. Goals: M. Meninga 3.)[1] [2]