The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fifteen teams, thirteen of which are based in Queensland, with one based in New South Wales and one in National Capital District, Papua New Guinea.
The competition is the present-day embodiment of Queensland's top-level club competition. It replaced the Winfield State League in 1996 and accompanied the Brisbane Rugby League, before becoming the premier competition in 1998, following the disbanding of the Brisbane Rugby League.
History
Origin and establishment Since its inaugural season in 1922, the Brisbane Rugby League was the premier competition in the state of Queensland. Like its counterpart, the Sydney Rugby Football League, the Brisbane Rugby League was thriving, boasting big crowds and large, loyal supporter bases with their respective clubs. The clubs were constant, with new teams rarely entering the competition. However, in 1956, when poker machines ("pokies") were introduced in New South Wales but not in Queensland, Sydney's clubs were able to recruit the best players from Brisbane, Rugby Union and overseas. Within the space of several years, the Sydney Rugby League had come to dominate the code within Australia.
In the 1980s, the NSWRFL began to further expand and supersede the Brisbane competition in popularity and media coverage. In 1982, the first clubs based outside of Sydney, the Canberra Raiders and Illawarra Steelers, were admitted. In 1988, two Queensland-based sides, the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Giants, along with the Newcastle Knights, another team from regional New South Wales, were formed and gained entry into the competition. The Broncos would sign Brisbane Rugby League stars like Wally Lewis, Gene Miles and Allan Langer. In the space of one season, media coverage and match attendance for the Brisbane Rugby League dropped significantly.
1996–1997: The beginning In 1996, the Queensland Cup was formed, replacing the Winfield State League, as new federal government laws banned cigarette companies from sponsoring sport. Originally branded the Channel Nine Cup, the 15 round regular season competition featured sixteen teams, fifteen from Queensland and one from Papua New Guinea. The Toowoomba Clydesdales were crowned the inaugural premiers, defeating the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Grand Final. In 1997, three teams withdrew from the competition and the Burleigh Bears joined, becoming the first Gold Coast-based side.
1998–2002: Premier competition In 1998, the competition became the top level of rugby league in the state, following the end of the Brisbane Rugby League. Channel Nine also ended their sponsorship for the 1998 season, with competition going under name, the Queensland Cup. A sixteen-team competition returned in 1998, with the Bundaberg Grizzlies rejoining and the Gold Coast Vikings being formed.
In 1999, the Grizzlies and Vikings both left the competition, as well as inaugural club Brisbane Brothers and the Townsville Stingers, who played just one season.
In 2000, Bundaberg Rum began a two-year sponsorship of the competition and it was known as the Bundy Gold Cup. The 2000 season was also the first in which all twelve teams remained from the season prior. It would not last long though, as the Cairns Cyclones folded after the 2000 season, leaving no north Queensland representation in the competition. In 2002, the North Queensland Young Guns, a Townsville-based North Queensland Cowboys feeder club, were admitted into the competition. At the end of the 2002 season, the Logan Scorpions, an inaugural club, left the competition.
2003–2006: Interstate expansion
In 2003, the Tweed Seagulls joined the competition, becoming the first New South Wales-based side. The club had originally applied for the 2002 season but were unsuccessful. However, following a merger of the Logan Scorpions and Souths Magpies to form the Souths Logan Magpies, a spot was opened up and Tweed were admitted. Another inaugural club would leave the competition in 2004, with the Wests Panthers exiting, and Brothers-Valleys, a merger of Past Brothers and the Fortitude Valley Diehards, joining for a single season.
In 2005, the competition became known as the Queensland Wizard Cup, after Wizard Home Loans became the major sponsor.
2007: Loss of the Clydesdales
Although the QRL had anticipated that the same teams from 2006 would participate in the 2007 competition, it was announced on 5 December 2006 that inaugural club, the Toowoomba Clydesdales, who were the reigning minor premiers, 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." The following day it was announced that the Aspley Broncos would be replacing the Clydesdales, and acting as the Brisbane Broncos feeder club. The Aspley Broncos would play just a single season in the competition.
The 2007 season marked the first time a team based outside of Queensland would win the competition, with the Tweed Seagulls defeating the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Grand Final.
2008–2013: Further expansion
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 Aspley and North Queensland as part of the rationalisation of rugby league below the NRL level caused by the introduction of the NRL under 20s competition.
In 2009, the Sunshine Coast Falcons rejoined the competition after thirteen-year absence, after signing a partnership with the Manly Sea Eagles to develop rugby league on the Sunshine Coast.Manly to invest $1m in Coast league | thedaily.com.au The side played as the Sea Eagles and won the premiership in their first year.
In 2010, Super was announced as the new major sponsor, with the competition becoming known as the Intrust Super Cup. From 2009 to 2013, the competition featured the same twelve teams for five straight seasons.
2014–2021: Papua New Guinea and Townsville return In 2014, the PNG Hunters entered the competition, becoming the first Papua New Guinea based side in the competition since the Port Moresby Vipers in 1997. In their inaugural season, the side was based out of the East New Britain town of Kokopo. On 10 September 2014, QRL chairman Peter Betros announced that the Brothers Townsville-led Townsville Blackhawks bid had been successful and the side would compete in the 2015 season.
On 5 October 2014, the Northern Pride became the first Queensland Cup side to win the NRL State Championship, defeating the heavily favoured Penrith Panthers New South Wales Cup side in the inaugural final.
In 2017, the Hunters won their first Queensland Cup premiership, defeating the Sunshine Coast Falcons in the Grand Final and becoming the first team outside of Australia, and the second from outside of Queensland to win the competition.
On 27 March 2020, after round one of the season was completed, the 2020 Intrust Super Cup competition was suspended, and subsequently cancelled for the first time in its history due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with no premiers being crowned. In September 2020, the Easts Tigers were renamed as the Brisbane Tigers for the 2021 season onward. The Tigers had played under the name of Easts or Eastern Suburbs since the formation of the Queensland Cup in 1996.
2022–present: Hostplus Cup and return of the Clydesdales In November 2021, Hostplus became the naming rights sponsor of the competition for the 2022 season, replacing Intrust Super after the two companies had merged.
On July 17, the QRL announced that the Western Clydesdales, previously called the Toowoomba Clydesdales would (re)enter the competition for the 2023 season, becoming the competition's fifteenth team.
Queensland Cup teams
The Queensland Cup consists of 15 teams, 13 from Queensland, and 1 each from National Capital District of Papua New Guinea and New South Wales, and operates on a single group system, with no divisions or conferences and no relegation and promotion from other leagues. A number of clubs in the Queensland Cup have an affiliation with a team in the Australian national competition, the National Rugby League.
Current teams Queensland Cup Rugby League Club Established Debut* Location Home Venue Titles (Last) NRL Affiliate Brisbane Tigers 1917 1996 Brisbane Langlands Park 1(2023) Perth Bears Burleigh Bears 1934 1997 Gold Coast Pizzey Park 5(2025) Brisbane Broncos Central Queensland Capras 1996 1996 Rockhampton Browne Park 0(None) Dolphins Ipswich Jets 1982 1996 Ipswich North Ipswich Reserve 1(2015) Gold Coast Titans Mackay Cutters 2007 2008 Mackay Stadium Mackay 1(2013) North Queensland Cowboys Northern Pride 2007 2008 Cairns Barlow Park 2(2014) North Queensland Cowboys Norths Devils 1933 1996 Brisbane Bishop Park 4(2024) Dolphins PNG Hunters 2013 2014 Port Moresby PNG Football Stadium 1(2017) PNG Chiefs Redcliffe Dolphins 1947 1996 Moreton Bay Kayo Stadium 7(2026) Dolphins Souths Logan Magpies 1918 2003 Brisbane Davies Park 1(2008) Brisbane Broncos Sunshine Coast Falcons 1996 2008 Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast Stadium 1(2009) Brisbane BroncosThe Broncos have a partnership agreement with the Falcons but do not send the club any players. Townsville Blackhawks 2014 2015 Townsville Jack Manski Oval 0(None) North Queensland Cowboys Tweed Heads Seagulls 1909 2003 Tweed Heads Piggabeen Complex 1(2007) Gold Coast Titans Western Clydesdales 1919 2023 Toowoomba Clive Berghofer Stadium 0(None) None Wynnum Manly Seagulls 1951 1996 Brisbane Kougari Oval 2(2012) Brisbane Broncos* The season the team joined the competition in its current form and consecutive tenure.
Former 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 were "representative" sides that either withdrew (in the case of Mackay and Bundaberg) or folded (Cairns Cyclones and Port Moresby Vipers).
Queensland Cup Rugby League Club Est. First Season Last Season City/Town State Home Venue Titles Recent Aspley Broncos 1967 2007 2007 Brisbane Queensland Bishop Park 0 - Brisbane Brothers 1929 1996 1998 Brisbane Queensland Corbett Park 0 - Brothers-Valleys 2002 2004 2004 Brisbane Queensland O'Callaghan Park 0 - Bundaberg Grizzlies 1996 1996 1998 Bundaberg Queensland Salter Oval 0 - Cairns Cyclones 1996 1996 2000 Cairns Queensland Barlow Park 0 - Gold Coast Vikings 1982 1998 1998 Gold Coast Queensland Carrara Stadium 0 - Logan Scorpions 1987 1996 2002 Logan Queensland Meakin Park 0 - Mackay Sea Eagles 1996 1996 1996 Mackay Queensland Mackay JRL Ground 0 - North Queensland Young Guns 2002 2002 2007 Townsville Queensland Dairy Farmers Stadium 1 2005 Port Moresby Vipers 1986 1996 1997 Port Moresby N. C. District PNG Football Stadium 0 - Townsville Stingers 1998 1998 1998 Townsville Queensland Townsville Sports Reserve 0 - Toowoomba Clydesdales 1996 1996 2006 Toowoomba Queensland Clive Berghofer Stadium 2 2001 Wests Panthers 1915 1996 2003 Brisbane Queensland Purtell Park 0 -* Brisbane Brothers played as the Pine Rivers Brothers from 1996 to 1997.Toowoomba Clydesdales returned to the Queensland Cup as the Western Clydesdales in 2023
Participating clubs by season