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The Queensland Wizard Cup is the premier rugby league competition in Queensland, and is regarded by most as the second best rugby league competition in Australia, after the National Rugby League.
The competition began in 1996 as a replacement for the Winfield State League, but grew to replace the Brisbane Rugby League as the main competition in Queensland in 1998.
For sponsorship reasons, the competition is referred to as the Queensland Wizard Cup, but is widely called the Queensland Cup, so as not to draw confusion with the Australian Football League’s pre-season competition known as the Wizard Cup. The competition has previously been named the Channel Nine Cup and Bundy Gold Cup.
The match of the round is televised live on ABC-TV at 2pm (AEST) Saturdays, with the game being replayed on ABC-2 on Thursday nights at 11pm (AEST).
Club Information
| Current clubs |
The Mackay Sea Eagles applied to join the competition in 2006, however the QRL rejected this application due to shortcomings in the funding and player strength areas and recommended that the Mackay Rugby League concentrate on strengthening these prior to lodging an application for the 2007 competition.The Sea Eagles are expected re-apply in May or June this year.[http://www.dailymercury.com.au/localsport/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3668631&thesection=localsport&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
Home Grounds and Websites
| Team | Home Ground | Address | Official Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burleigh Bears | Pizzey Park | Pacific Avenue, Miami, Gold Coast | Burleigh Bears |
| Central Comets | Browne Park | Corner Cambridge & Murray Streets, Rockhampton | Central Comets |
| Easts Tigers | Langlands Park | Main Avenue, Coorparoo, Brisbane | Easts Tigers |
| Ipswich Jets | Q.L.D. Group Stadium | The Terrace, North Ipswich | Ipswich Jets |
| Norths Devils | Bishop Park | Franklin Street, Nundah, Brisbane | Norths Devils |
| North Queensland Young Guns | Dairy Farmers Stadium | Golf Links Drive, Kirwin, Townsville | North Queensland Young Guns |
| Redcliffe Dolphins | Dolphin Oval | Corner Klinger and Ashmole Roads, Redcliffe | Redcliffe Dolphins |
| Souths-Logan Magpies | Brandon Park | Acacia Ridge | Official Site |
| Toowoomba Clydesdales | Clive Berghofer Stadium | Arthur Street, Toowoomba | Toowoomba Clydesdales |
| Tweed Heads Seagulls | Piggabeen Sports Complex | Carramar Drive, Tweed Heads West | Tweed Heads Seagulls |
| Wynnum-Manly Seagulls | Kougari Oval | Wondall Road, Manly West | Wynnum-Manly Seagulls |
History of the Queensland Cup
Before the Queensland Cup
From the early 1920s to the 1990s, the Brisbane Rugby League premiership was the premier Rugby League competition in Queensland. Through the concept of District Football, it built up a large amount of support and each area of Brisbane was "assigned" a team. For example, Easts represented Brisbane's East, Wests had the Western side of Brisbane, etc. The people of Brisbane loved their competition, the major media outlets like The Courier-Mail, the television stations, and radio all covered it and gave little to no attention to the NSW competition.
The Change
But while the BRL had great success north of the border, the continued pillaging of Queensland's playing stocks by New South Wales was having a detrimental effect on the game. As the playing standard in Brisbane grew lower and lower as more high profile players made the trek to Sydney, more and more people began following the Winfield Cup, and the media outlets followed suit.
The Final Straw
The decision that ultimately ended the Brisbane Rugby League did not come from the NSWRL as one would expect, but from the Queensland Rugby League themselves. In 1987, they voted to allow a Brisbane-based team to enter the Winfield Cup. That team was the Brisbane Broncos. The Broncos signed up the best of the BRL talent, including Wally Lewis, Allan Langer, Gene Miles and more. The public supported this new team, and although the traditionalists continued to support their BRL teams, they were the definite minority.
Rapid Decline
After the Broncos entered the Winfield Cup, the BRL was left to become a "reserve grade" competition. At times the Broncos had a feeder team playing in it, as did the South Queensland Crushers. Many teams were in severe financial trouble, the major ones being Valleys and Brothers. Valleys entered a failed merger with Caboolture and were called Caboolture Valleys, but it only lasted one year (1995)
The Beginning of the Queensland Cup
In 1996 the Queensland Cup began, and replaced the Winfield State League, as new Federal Government Laws banned Cigarette companies from sponsoring sport. The Cup was initially called the Channel Nine Cup, and to date, season 1996 was the most statewide competition in the Cup's history. 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 announcement of Wizard Home Loans becoming naming right sponsor for the competition, and it is now known as the Queensland Wizard Cup.
2006 Season Draw and Results
Queensland Cup premiers
| Season | Logo | Premiers | Grand Final Score | Logo | Runner-up | Minor Premiers | Ground | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Toowoomba Clydesdales | 8 - 6 | Redcliffe Dolphins | Toowoomba | Suncorp Stadium | 6,500 | ||
| 1997 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 18 - 16 | Easts Tigers | Wynnum | Suncorp Stadium | |||
| 1998 | Norths Devils | 35 - 16 | Wests Panthers | Norths | Suncorp Stadium | 4,283 | ||
| 1999 | Burleigh Bears | 12 - 10 | Redcliffe Dolphins | Redcliffe | Suncorp Stadium | |||
| 2000 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 28 -26 | Toowoomba Clydesdales | Redcliffe | Suncorp Stadium | 7,280 | ||
| 2001 | Toowoomba Clydesdales | 28 - 26 | Redcliffe Dolphins | Toowoomba | Dolphin Oval | 7,000 | ||
| 2002 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 34 - 10 | Ipswich Jets | Redcliffe | Dolphin Oval | 10,000 | ||
| 2003 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 31 - 18 | Burleigh Bears | Burleigh | Dolphin Oval | 8,000 | ||
| 2004 | Burleigh Bears | 22 - 18 | Easts Tigers | Burleigh | Suncorp Stadium | 9,398 | ||
| 2005 | North Queensland Young Guns | 36 - 6 | Burleigh Bears | North Queensland | Suncorp Stadium | 6,893 |
Queensland Cup Player of the Year Awards
| Year | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Jace Van Dijk | Souths-Logan Magpies |
| 2005 | Greg Inglis | Norths Devils |
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 "representitive" 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 | Foundation Year | Left Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mackay Sea Eagles | Mackay | Mackay Junior Rugby League Ground | 1996 | 1996 |
| Sunshine Coast Falcons | Sunshine Coast | Quad Park | 1996 | 1996 |
External Links
Queensland Cup News
- Queensland Rugby League
- Queensland Rugby League Queensland Cup Page
- Rleague.com's Queensland page
- League Unlimited's Queensland Page
Queensland Rugby League forums
See also
"Queensland Cup (rugby league competition)"