Queensland Cup

Queensland Cup
Current season or competition:
2015 Queensland Cup season
Queensland Cup logo
Sport Rugby league football
Instituted 1996
Inaugural season 1996
Number of teams 14
Countries  Australia (13 teams)
 Papua New Guinea (1 team)
Premiers Ipswich Jets (1st title) (2015)
Most titles Redcliffe Dolphins (5 titles)
Website www.qrl.com
Broadcast partner ABC (1996-2012)
Nine Network (2013-2015)
9Gem (2016-present)
Fox Sports (Replays)
Related competition Brisbane Rugby League premiership, New South Wales Cup, NRL State Championship

The Queensland Cup is the top level of rugby league football in Queensland, Australia. The competition, called the Intrust Super Cup (due to sponsorship from Intrust Super) is contested by fourteen teams, twelve of which are located in Queensland, one in New South Wales and one in Papua New Guinea.

The Queensland Cup is the present-day embodiment of Queensland's top-level club competition. This replaced the Winfield State League in 1996 and accompanied the Brisbane Rugby League (BRL), before becoming the premier competition in 1998 following the disbanding of the BRL.

History of the Queensland Cup

The logo for the Channel Nine Cup
The logo for the Bundy Gold Cup

The Brisbane Rugby League

From the early 1920s to the 1970s, the Brisbane Rugby League premiership was the premier competition in the state, and was a thriving success boasting big crowds and large, loyal supporter bases with the respective clubs. Like its NSW counterpart, the clubs were constant, with new teams rarely entering the competition. Traditionally, the clubs were Valleys, Brothers, Norths, Souths, Wests, Easts, Redcliffe and Wynnum-Manly. However, when poker machines were introduced in New South Wales, but not in the Bjelke-Peterson Queensland, the NSWRL's clubs were able to entice Queensland players south of the Tweed with the lure of more money.

This, combined with the admission of non-Sydney teams like the Canberra Raiders and Illawarra Steelers, saw the NSWRL competition during the 1980s begin to supersede the Brisbane competition in popularity and media coverage. Also, other sports were establishing national competitions, and by 1986 the admission of a Brisbane team into the NSWRL had become inevitable. Finally in 1988 both the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Giants gained entry.

Effect of the Brisbane Broncos on Rugby League in Queensland

Although the Broncos' signings of many great BRL players like Wally Lewis and Gene Miles got many Brisbanites behind the new team, there were severe ramifications on the local club scene. In the space of one season, the amount of coverage given to the competition in the three media forms dropped significantly, as did attendances at matches.

This had a severe flow on effect to the finances of many clubs, especially those in the inner-city whose demographics had changed significantly since the heyday of the BRL. Between 1988 and 1995 Valleys moved home 3 times, from Albion to the Tweed, back to Albion and finally to Caboolture, before eventually folding at the end of 1995. Other teams that suffered financial trouble and no longer play in the Queensland Cup include Valleys and Wests, while Souths and Logan merged in 2002 to form Souths-Logan.

The Beginning of the Queensland Cup

In 1996 the Queensland Cup began, replacing the Winfield State League, as new Federal Government Laws banned Cigarette companies from sponsoring sport. The Cup was initially branded the Channel Nine Cup, and to date, season 1996 was the most statewide competition in the Cup's history, with teams based in Cairns, Mackay, Bundaberg, Toowoomba, Ipswich and Sunshine Coast. In 1998 Channel Nine did not continue their sponsorship, and the competition became known as the Queensland Cup. In 2000, Bundaberg Rum began a two-year sponsorship of the competition and it was known as the Bundy Gold Cup.

2005 saw the announcement of Wizard Home Loans becoming naming-rights sponsor for the competition. It was known as the Queensland Wizard Cup until 2008. In 2010, Intrust Super were announced as the new major sponsor.

2007 – Loss of the Clydesdales

Although the Queensland Rugby League had anticipated that the same teams from 2006 would participate in the 2007 Wizard Cup, it was announced on 5 December 2006 that the Toowoomba Clydesdales would be withdrawing from the competition for financial reasons. Brisbane Broncos chairman Bruno Cullen said that "It didn't make sense to have this club up there running at what was looking like a $250,000 loss for the year."[1] The following day it was announced that the Aspley Broncos would be replacing the Clydesdales, and acting as the Brisbane Broncos feeder club.[2] There is a possibility that an NRL team (possibly the Storm) may be based out of the Darling Downs (most likely Toowoomba) in the future but this has not been confirmed at this stage.

2008 – Northern Expansion

Logo of the Queensland Wizard Cup

2008 saw the Queensland Cup once again have teams based in the northern cities of Cairns and Mackay after absences of seven and twelve years, respectively. These new teams replaced the Aspley Broncos and North Queensland Young Guns as part of the rationalisation of rugby league below the NRL level caused by the introduction of the NRL under 20's competition.

2009 - Sunshine Coast enter the fray

Shortly after signing a partnership with National Rugby League team the Manly Sea Eagles to develop rugby league on the Sunshine Coast,[3] the Sunshine Coast Falcons received approval for entry into the 2009 Queensland Cup from the Queensland Rugby League,[4] ultimately winning the premiership as the Sea Eagles in their first year. After Manly cut ties with the Sunshine Coast they reverted to the Falcon colours and logo and signed an agreement with the Melbourne Storm in 2014. In 2016 this relationship will include a Rugby League academy on the Sunshine Coast.

2014/2015 - PNG Hunters and Townsville Blackhawks enter the competition

In 2014, the PNG Hunters entered the competition, mixing an exciting combination of ball movement with raw power to finishing sixth in their inaugural season based out of the East New Britain town of Kokopo. Following the success of the Hunters, the Townsville Blackhawks were given entry in 2015, winning the minor premiership in their first year.

The Competition

The Draw

The twelve teams play each other twice in a rotating roster running typically from the middle of March to the middle of August. This is known as the regular season. Unlike the National Rugby League, the Queensland Cup regular season is a true home-and-away format, in that each team plays every other team twice, once at home and once away.

The Rounds

Normally, there is a round each weekend, which involves seven games. However, there are two split rounds in the season, where the round takes place over two weekends. This allows for representative games such as the City vs. Country fixture, as well as allowing more games to be shown on free-to-air television, The match of the round is televised live on Nine Network at 1:30pm (AEST) Sundays. Previously, the match of the round had been broadcast on ABC Television each Saturday at 2 pm.

Points and Ladder

The winner of each game per round is awarded two points on the League Ladder. If a game is drawn between the two teams, each team is awarded one point.

At the end of the regular season, the five teams with the highest point totals on the ladder qualify for the finals. In the event of two or more teams sharing the same competition points, the finishing order is decided by points differential i.e. points scored minus points conceded.

Finals Series

In 2009 the Queensland Cup introduced a six-team finals series (compared to five in previous years). Prior to the 2012 season the format was changed back to a 5-team finals series, using the McIntyre System. The Grand Final is typically played in mid-September at its traditional home, Suncorp Stadium. Since 2007 the man-of-the-match in the grand final has received the Duncan Hall Medal.[5]

Teams

An Easts Tigers player tackled by the Redcliffe Dolphins at Langlands Park

The Queensland Cup consists of 14 teams, eight in South East Queensland, three from North Queensland, and one each from Central Queensland, Tweed Heads and Papua New Guinea. The league operates on a single group system, with no divisions or conferences and no relegation and promotion from other leagues.

The level of club rugby league in Queensland is of such a high standard that almost every club in the Queensland Cup has an affiliation with a team in the Australian national competition, the National Rugby League. This gives many young Queensland players the opportunity to be signed into the NRL.

Queensland Cup
Club City State Stadium Established Cup Premierships NRL affiliate Coach/es Captain (Junior Club)
Burleigh Bears Gold Coast  Queensland Pizzey Park 1934 2 Gold Coast Titans Jim Lenihan Darren Griffiths (Charters Towers)
Central Queensland Capras
(Central Comets: 2000-2011)
Rockhampton  Queensland Browne Park 1996 Nil Brisbane Broncos Kim Williams Grant Hiscox (Yeppoon)
Eastern Suburbs Tigers Brisbane  Queensland Tapout Energy Stadium 1917 Nil Melbourne Storm Scott Sipple Dane Hogan (Bribie Island)
Ipswich Jets Ipswich  Queensland North Ipswich Reserve 1982 1 Brisbane Broncos Chris Walker
Mackay Cutters Mackay  Queensland Virgin Australia Stadium 2007 1 North Queensland Cowboys
Northern Pride Cairns  Queensland Barlow Park 2007 2 North Queensland Cowboys
Northern Suburbs Devils Brisbane  Queensland Albert Bishop Park 1933 1 Brisbane Broncos
PNG Hunters Kokopo  Papua New Guinea Kalabond Oval 2014 Nil None
Redcliffe Dolphins Caboolture  Queensland Dolphin Oval 1947 5 Brisbane Broncos
Souths Logan Magpies Brisbane  Queensland Davies Park 2003 1 Brisbane Broncos
Sunshine Coast Falcons
(Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles: 2009-2013)
Sunshine Coast  Queensland Sunshine Coast Stadium 2009 1 Melbourne Storm
Townsville Blackhawks Townsville  Queensland Jack Manski Oval 2015 Nil North Queensland Cowboys
Tweed Heads Seagulls Tweed Heads  New South Wales Piggabeen Sports 1909 1 Gold Coast Titans
Wynnum Manly Seagulls Brisbane  Queensland BMD Kougari Oval 1951 2 Brisbane Broncos

Previous teams

As the Queensland Cup initially began as a representative competition that took over the old Winfield State League before becoming a proper club competition, many of the following clubs are "representative" sides that either withdrew (in the case of the Central Capras, Mackay, Bundaberg, Gold Coast Vikings, etc.) or folded (Cairns Cyclones, Port Moresby Vipers, etc.).

Queensland Cup
Club City State Stadium Established Premierships Seasons
Aspley Broncos Brisbane  Queensland Bishop Park 1967 Nil 2007
Brothers-Valleys Brisbane  Queensland O'Callaghan Park 2002 Nil 2004
Bundaberg Grizzlies Bundaberg  Queensland Salter Oval 1996 Nil 1996-1998
Cairns Cyclones Cairns  Queensland Barlow Park 1996 Nil 1996-2000
Central Capras Rockhampton  Queensland Browne Park 1996 Nil 1996-1997
Gold Coast Vikings Gold Coast  Queensland Owen Park
& Carrara Stadium
1982 Nil 1998
Logan Scorpions
(Souths Logan Magpies: 2003-)
Logan City  Queensland Meakin Park 1987 Nil 1996-2002
Mackay Sea Eagles Mackay, Queensland  Queensland Mackay Junior Rugby League Ground 1996 Nil 1996
North Queensland Young Guns Townsville  Queensland Dairy Farmers Stadium 1998 1 2002-2007
Past Brothers Caboolture  Queensland Cosby Park
& QSAC Stadium
1929 Nil 1996-1998
Port Moresby Vipers Port Moresby  Papua New Guinea Lloyd Robson Oval 1986 Nil 1996-1997
Souths Magpies
(Souths Logan Magpies: 2003-)
Brisbane  Queensland Davies Park 1918 Nil 1996-2002
Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles
(Sunshine Coast Falcons: 2014-)
Sunshine Coast  Queensland Sunshine Coast Stadium 1996 Nil 1996 (as Sunshine Coast Falcons), 2009-2013 (as Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles)
Townsville Stingers Townsville  Queensland Dairy Farmers Stadium
& Townsville Sports Reserve
1998 Nil 1998
Toowoomba Clydesdales Toowoomba  Queensland Clive Berghofer Stadium 1996 2 1996-2006
Wests Panthers Brisbane  Queensland Purtell Park 1915 Nil 1996-2003

Participating clubs by season

Queensland Cup
1996 Central Capras Easts Tigers Ipswich Jets Norths Devils Redcliffe Dolphins Wynnum Manly Seagulls South Magpies Logan City Scorpions Cairns Cyclones Mackay Sea Eagles Pine Rivers Brothers Bundaberg Grizzlies Sunshine Coast Falcons Toowoomba Clydesdales Wests Panthers Port Moresby Vipers
1997 Gold Coast Burleigh Bears
1998 Burleigh Bears Townville Stingers Brothers Bundaberg Grizzlies Gold Coast Vikings
1999
2000 Central Comets
2001
2002 East Coast Tigers North Queensland Young Guns
2003 Easts Tigers South-Logan Magpies Tweed Head Seagulls
2004 Brothers-Valleys
2005
2006
2007 Aspley Broncos
2008 Northern Pride Mackay Cutters
2009 Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles
2010
2011
2012 CQ Capras
2013

Queensland Cup season honours

Season Grand Final Information Duncan Hall Medalist Minor Premiers Player of the year
Premiers Score Runners-Up Venue Crowd Player Club Player Club
1996 Toowoomba Clydesdales 8-6 Redcliffe Dolphins Lang Park 6,500 Toowoomba Clydesdales Robbie Schmidt Cairns Cyclones
1997 Redcliffe Dolphins 18-16 Easts Tigers Lang Park ? Wynnum Manly Seagulls Alan Wieland Wests Panthers
1998 Norths Devils 35-16 Wests Panthers Lang Park 4,283 Norths Devils Shane Perry Logan Scorpions
1999 Burleigh Bears 12-10 Redcliffe Dolphins Lang Park ? Redcliffe Dolphins Michael Roberts Redcliffe Dolphins
2000 Redcliffe Dolphins 14-6 Toowoomba Clydesdales Lang Park 7,280 Redcliffe Dolphins Chris Lawler Ipswich Jets
2001 Toowoomba Clydesdales 28-26 Redcliffe Dolphins Dolphin Oval 7,000 Toowoomba Clydesdales Michael Roberts Redcliffe Dolphins
2002 Redcliffe Dolphins 34-10 Ipswich Jets Dolphin Oval 10,000 Redcliffe Dolphins Scott Thorburn Easts Tigers
2003 Redcliffe Dolphins 31-18 Burleigh Bears Dolphin Oval 8,000 Burleigh Bears Denny Lambert Wynnum-Manly Seagulls
2004 Burleigh Bears 22-18
A.E.T.
Easts Tigers Lang Park 9,398 Burleigh Bears Jace Van Dijk Souths Logan Magpies
2005 North Queensland Young Guns 36-6 Burleigh Bears Lang Park 6,893 North Queensland Young Guns Ricky Bird Ipswich Jets
2006 Redcliffe Dolphins 27-6 Toowoomba Clydesdales Lang Park 5,538 Toowoomba Clydesdales Brandon Costin Souths Logan Magpies
2007 Tweed Heads Seagulls 28-18 Redcliffe Dolphins Lang Park 7,000 Brad Davis Tweed Heads Seagulls North Queensland Young Guns Shannon Walker Tweed Heads Seagulls
2008 Souths Logan Magpies 24-18 Ipswich Jets North Ipswich Reserve 6,706 Alby Talipeau Souths Logan Magpies Ipswich Jets Nat Bowman Central Comets
2009 Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles 32-18 Northern Pride Sunshine Coast Stadium 2,500
Estimate
Tony Williams Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles Souths Logan Magpies Ian Lacey Ipswich Jets
2010 Northern Pride 30-20 Norths Devils Lang Park 6,300 Chris Sheppard Northern Pride Souths Logan Magpies Ryan Cullen Redcliffe Dolphins
2011 Wynnum Manly Seagulls 16-10 Tweed Heads Seagulls Lang Park 6,182 Jake Granville Wynnum Manly Seagulls Tweed Heads Seagulls Javarn White Norths Devils
2012 Wynnum Manly Seagulls 20-10 Redcliffe Dolphins Lang Park 9,682 Luke Daziel-Donn Wynnum Manly Seagulls Redcliffe Dolphins Luke Capewell Redcliffe Dolphins
2013 Mackay Cutters 27-20 Easts Tigers North Ipswich Reserve 6,706 Anthony Mitchell Mackay Cutters Northern Pride Cody Walker Easts Tigers
2014 Northern Pride 36-4 Easts Tigers Lang Park 7, 135 Shaun Nona Northern Pride Northern Pride Luke Page Souths Logan Magpies
2015 Ipswich Jets 32-20 Townsville Blackhawks Lang Park 8, 082 Billy McConnachie Ipswich Jets Townsville Blackhawks Pat Templeman Wynnum Manly Seagulls


The Courier Mail Best & Fairest award, is awarded to the Queensland Cup player voted for as the best and fairest over the entire season. After each game, the referees vote to award three votes to the best player, two votes to the second-best player, and one vote to the third-best player.[6]

Since the 2007 Queensland Cup Grand Final the man-of-the-match has been awarded the Duncan Hall Medal. The medal is named in honor of Duncan Hall, who played 24 games for Queensland and 22 games for Australia.

NRL State Championship Match

From 2014 New South Wales Cup Premiers will play against the Queensland Cup Premiers as a Curtain-raiser match on NRL Grand Final day, with the winner to be crowned the NRL State Champions. The match is played after the NRL National Youth Competition Grand Final and before the NRL Grand Final.[7][8]

Season Grand Final Information Man-of-the-Match Medalist
Premiers Score Runners-Up Venue Crowd Player Club
2014[9] Northern Pride
2014 QLD Cup Premiers
32-28 Penrith Panthers
2014 NSW Cup Premiers
Stadium Australia 83,833 (C-R) Javid Bowen Northern Pride
2015[10] Ipswich Jets
2015 QLD Cup Premiers
26-12 Newcastle Knights
2015 NSW Cup Premiers
Stadium Australia 82,758 (C-R) Matt Parcell Ipswich Jets

Champions

New South Wales Cup

Queensland Cup

Queensland Cup records

The following records are taken from Queensland Rugby League's official website and are correct as of the end of the 2013 season.[11]

Most games

Most games for one club

Most points

Most tries

Most goals

Most field goals

Games coached

Most consecutive wins

Most games without defeat

Most consecutive losses

Highest scoring match

Lowest scoring match

Most points by a player in a season

Most tries by a player in a season

Most points by a player in a match

Most tries by a player in a match

Most goals by a player in a match

Media coverage & Sponsorship

Although the Queensland Cup has never had the same amount of media coverage that the pre-Brisbane Broncos Brisbane Rugby League did, in recent years it has experienced a resurgence in interest from both the Queensland media and from casual fans alike.

Television

The match of the round is televised live on Nine Network at 2 pm (AEST) Sundays. Previously, the match of the round had been broadcast on ABC Television each Saturday at 2 pm.
The non broadcast games are recorded for judiciary and coaching purposes. They are available from Red Corner Promotions www.redcorner.com.au

Radio

In 2006, community broadcaster Bay FM began broadcasting Wynnum-Manly matches, and Wynnum won radio station Nova 106.9's "Club that Brisbane really really loves" award .

In 2015, a group of community broadcasters including Switch 1197, Valley FM Esk and Phoenix Radio Ipswich began broadcasting matches featuring Ipswich Jets.

Sponsorship

The competition has previously been named the Channel Nine Cup, Bundy Gold Cup and Queensland Wizard Cup, and is now known as the Intrust Super Cup.

See also

References

External links

Queensland Cup News

Queensland Rugby League forums

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, March 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.