Queensland Cup

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Queensland Cup
Queensland Cup
Sport Rugby League
Founded 1996
No. of teams 11
Country(ies) Flag of Australia Australia
Most recent
champion(s)		 Tweed Heads Seagulls
Official website Queensland Cup

The Queensland Cup is the premier rugby league football competition in the state of Queensland. It, along with the New South Wales Cup, acts as a feeder competition to the National Rugby League.

It is the biggest state competition of any sport in Queensland, with teams mostly coming from South East Queensland but with key regional cities in north and central Queensland (such as Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton) also represented.

The competition began in 1996 as a replacement for the Winfield State League, and as an accompaniment for the Brisbane Rugby League competition. The Queensland Cup become the premier competition in Queensland in 1998, when the BRL was disbanded.

Contents

[edit] Club Information

Team Home Ground City Joined
Burleigh Bears Pizzey Park Gold Coast 1997
Central Comets Browne Park Rockhampton 1996
Easts Tigers Langlands Park Brisbane 1996
Ipswich Jets North Ipswich Reserve Ipswich 1996
Mackay Cutters Mackay DJRL grounds Mackay 2007
Northern Pride RLFC Barlow Park Cairns 2007
Norths Devils Bishop Park Brisbane 1996
Redcliffe Dolphins Dolphin Oval Redcliffe 1996
Souths Logan Magpies Brandon Park
Davies Park		 Brisbane
Logan		 1996
Tweed Heads Seagulls Piggabeen Sports Complex Gold Coast 2003
Wynnum Manly Seagulls Kougari Oval Brisbane 1996

[edit] History of the Queensland Cup

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

[edit] 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 repective 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 Penrith Panthers, 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.

[edit] The Brisbane Broncos

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

[edit] 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 and the 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 2-year sponsorship of the competition and it was known as the Bundy Gold Cup.

2005 saw the welcome announcement of Wizard Home Loans becoming naming right sponsor for the competition, and it is now officially known as the Queensland Wizard Cup.

[edit] 2007 - Loss of the Clydesdales

Main Article: 2007 Queensland Cup Season

Although the Queensland Rugby League had anticipated that the same teams from 2006 would participate in the 2007 Wizard Cup, it was announced on December 5, 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]

[edit] 2008 - Northern Expansion

Main Article: 2008 Queensland Cup Season

2008 saw the Queensland Cup once again have teams based in the northern cities of Cairns and Mackay after absences of 7 and 12 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.

[edit] The Future

Shortly after signing a partnership with National Rugby League team the Manly Sea Eagles to develop rugby league on the Sunshine Coast, the Sunshine Coast Falcons said that they had already received conditional approval for acceptance into the Queensland Cup from the Queensland Rugby League, provided they come up with at least $500,000 in sponsorship money. Sunshine Coast Falcons CEO said that he was “very confident” that the club would attract enough sponsorship.[3]

There is ongoing speculation as to how the Wizard Cup will fare with the introduction of the National Rugby League's Under-20s competition in 2008.[4]

The WA Reds are expected to apply for the 2009 season as part of their 5-year plan to return to the NRL.[5]

[edit] The Competition

[edit] The Draw

The 11 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.

[edit] The Rounds

Normally, there is a round each weekend, which involves 5 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, on ABC-TV. Games kick off at 2 pm Saturdays for the TV game, and at 3 pm Saturdays and Sundays for the remainder. North and Central Queensland both often play their home games at the 7.30 timeslot to avoid playing in the heat of the day.

[edit] Points and Ladder

The winner of each game per round is awarded two points on the League Ladder, however the team with the bye is awarded no points for that round. If a game is drawn between the two teams, each team is awarded one point each.

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 during games minus points conceded.

Current Table

Team Pts

Ipswich Jets 16

Northern Pride 16

Souths Logan Magpies 14

Burleigh Bears 12

Redcliffe Dolphins 11

Wynnum Seagulls 10

Easts Tigers 9

Mackay Cutters 8

Tweed Heads 6

Norths Devils 6

Central Comets 6

[edit] Finals Series

The Queensland Cup uses a final-five series, which has been used for decades not only in Queensland but also in the NSWRL's Winfield Cup. This consists of a number of knockout, qualifying and sudden death games, which see the two remaining teams play in the Grand Final, which is traditionally played at Suncorp Stadium (Lang Park). It has only been played elsewhere three times, at Dolphin Oval in 2001-03, due to the redevelopment of Suncorp Stadium and the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

[edit] NRL Affiliation

The level of club Rugby League in Queensland is of such a high standard that all clubs in the Queensland Wizard Cup have 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. The following teams are affiliated with the listed NRL teams.

[edit] Media Coverage

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.

[edit] Television

The match of the round is televised live on ABC Queensland at 2 pm (AEST) Saturdays, with the game being replayed nationally on ABC2 on Thursday nights at 11 pm (AEST). The QRL has speculated that the Grand Final might be moved to a night timeslot to maximise television coverage from 2008 onwards.

[edit] Radio

In 2006, community broadcaster Bay FM began broadcasting Wynnum-Manly home games, and Wynnum won radio station Nova 106.9's club that Brisbane really really loves.

[edit] Sponsorship

For sponsorship reasons, the competition is officially known as the Queensland Wizard Cup. However it is widely referred to simply as the Queensland Cup by a majority of fans.

The fact that the competition is televised on the government-funded Australian Broadcasting Commission's station, which has strict policies banning advertising and the mention of sponsor's names, may be part of the reason the "Wizard" part of the competition's title is rarely used.

The competition has previously been named the Channel Nine Cup and Bundy Gold Cup.

[edit] 2007 Season Draw and Results

[edit] Queensland Cup premiers

Season Grand Final Information Minor Premiers
Premiers Score Runner-Up Crowd
1996 Toowoomba Clydesdales 8-6 Redcliffe Dolphins 6,500 Toowoomba Clydesdales
1997 Redcliffe Dolphins 18-16 Easts Tigers  ? Wynnum-Manly Seagulls
1998 Norths Devils 35-16 Wests Panthers 4,283 Norths Devils
1999 Burleigh Bears 12-10 Redcliffe Dolphins  ? Redcliffe Dolphins
2000 Redcliffe Dolphins 28-26 Toowoomba Clydesdales 7,280 Redcliffe Dolphins
2001 Toowoomba Clydesdales 28-26 Redcliffe Dolphins 7,000 Toowoomba Clydesdales
2002 Redcliffe Dolphins 34-10 Ipswich Jets 10,000 Redcliffe Dolphins
2003 Redcliffe Dolphins 31-18 Burleigh Bears 8,000 Burleigh Bears
2004 Burleigh Bears 22-18 Easts Tigers 9,398 Burleigh Bears
2005 North Queensland Young Guns 36-6 Burleigh Bears 6,893 North Queensland Young Guns
2006 Redcliffe Dolphins 27-6 Toowoomba Clydesdales 5,538 Toowoomba Clydesdales
2007 Tweed Heads Seagulls 28-18 Redcliffe Dolphins 7,000 North Queensland Young Guns

[edit] Player of the Year

Year Player Club
1996 Robbie Schmidt Cairns Cyclones
1997 Alan Wieland Wests Panthers
1998 Shane Perry Logan Scorpions
1999 Michael Roberts Redcliffe Dolphins
2000 Chris Lawler Ipswich Jets
2001 Michael Roberts Redcliffe Dolphins
2002 Scott Thorburn Easts Tigers
2003 Denny Lambert Wynnum-Manly Seagulls
2004 Jace Van Dijk Souths-Logan Magpies
2005 Ricky Bird Ipswich Jets
2006 Brandon Costin Souths-Logan Magpies
2007 Shannon Walker Tweed Heads Seagulls

Source[6]

[edit] Queensland Cup records

[edit] 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 Queensland Capras, Mackay, Bundaberg, Gold Coast Vikings, etc) or folded (Cairns Cyclones, Port Moresby Vipers, etc).

Team Location Home Ground First year in
QLD Cup		 Last year in
QLD Cup		 QLD Cup
Premierships
Aspley Broncos Brisbane Bishop Park 2007 2007 Nil
Brothers-Valleys Brisbane O'Callaghan Park 2002 2004 Nil
Bundaberg Grizzlies Bundaberg Salter Oval 1996 1996,1998 Nil
Cairns Cyclones Cairns Barlow Park 1996 2000 Nil
Central Capras Rockhampton Browne Park 1996 1997 Nil
Gold Coast Vikings Gold Coast Owen Park and Carrara Stadium 1998 1998 Nil
Logan Scorpions Logan City Meakin Park 1996 2002 Nil
Mackay Sea Eagles Mackay Mackay Junior Rugby League Ground 1996 1996 Nil
North Queensland Young Guns Townsville Dairy Farmers Stadium 2002 2007 2005
Past Brothers Brisbane Corbett Park, Crosby Park, Lang Park, ANZ Stadium 1996 1998 Nil
Port Moresby Vipers Port Moresby Lloyd Robson Oval 1996 1997 Nil
Souths Magpies Brisbane Davies Park 1996 2002 Nil
Sunshine Coast Falcons Sunshine Coast Quad Park 1996 1996 Nil
Townsville Stingers Townsville Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville Sports Reserve 1998 1998 Nil
Toowoomba Clydesdales Toowoomba Athletic Oval (Clive Berghofer Stadium) 1996 2006 1996, 2001
Wests Panthers Brisbane Purtell Park 1996 2003 Nil

[edit] References

  1. ^ Broncos lose stablemate Clydesdales | The Australian
  2. ^ Aspley new Brisbane Broncos feeder club : thewest.com.au
  3. ^ Manly to invest $1m in Coast league | thedaily.com.au
  4. ^ National under-20 comp has support | The Courier-Mail
  5. ^ [1] WA Wins Bid for National Team: The Journey to the NRL Begins, WA Rugby League, Retrieved on 15 December 2006
  6. ^ Queensland Rugby League:: QRL.com.au

[edit] External links

[edit] Queensland Cup News

[edit] Queensland Rugby League forums

[edit] See also

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