1996 Queensland Cup

The 1996 Queensland Cup season was the 1st season of Queensland's premier statewide competition.[1] It had been formed after the Winfield State League was closed after the end of the 1995 Season. It was subsequently superseded by the Queensland Cup.[2] At this time it was considered as the second highest league, directly under the Brisbane Rugby League. It would run under the BRL until 1998 when it would become the highest rugby league competition in the state.

1996 Queensland Cup
DurationMarch 30 – August 31, 1996
Teams16
Premiers Toowoomba Clydesdales (1st title)
Minor premiers Toowoomba Clydesdales (1st title)
Matches played129
Points scored4,789
Top points scorer(s) James Brown (124)
Player of the year Alan Wieland
Top try-scorer(s) Ricky Hewinson
Floyd Hill (14)

Teams

The inaugural Queensland Cup season featured 16 teams, 12 from south east Queensland, two from north Queensland and one each from central Queensland and Papua New Guinea.

Colours Club Home ground(s)
 Bundaberg Grizzlies Salter Oval
 Cairns Cyclones Barlow Park
 Central Capras Browne Park
 Easts Tigers Langlands Park
 Ipswich Jets North Ipswich Reserve
 Logan City Scorpions Meakin Park
 Mackay Sea Eagles Mackay JRL Grounds
 Norths Devils Bishop Park
 Pine Rivers Brothers Bray Park
 Port Moresby Vipers Lloyd Robson Oval
 Redcliffe Dolphins Dolphin Oval
 Souths Magpies Davies Park
 Sunshine Coast Falcons Kawana Sports Ground
 Toowoomba Clydesdales Athletic Oval
 Wests Panthers Purtell Park
 Wynnum Seagulls Kougari Oval

Regular season

The inaugural Queensland Cup consisted of 16 teams and ran for 15 regular season rounds (which included two split rounds) with a top 6 finals system.[3][4]

Ladder
1996 Queensland Cup
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Toowoomba Clydesdales (P) 151113360226+13423
2 Redcliffe Dolphins 151023365193+17222
3 Souths Magpies 151014375205+17021
4 Wests Panthers 151014359208+15121
5 Cairns Cyclones 151005310224+8620
6 Easts Tigers1 14905315224+9119
7 Wynnum Seagulls 15825325225+10018
8 Pine Rivers Brothers 15906339354-1518
9 Norths Devils 15807334332+216
10 Port Moresby Vipers 15807323408-8516
11 Central Capras 15708309336−2714
12 Mackay Sea Eagles 15618306285+2113
13 Bundaberg Grizzlies1 144010211348−1379
14 Logan City Scorpions 153210236346−1108
15 Sunshine Coast Falcons 151014184397−2132
16 Ipswich Jets 150015138478−3400

1Awarded one point due to game being cancelled.

Finals series
Home Score Away Match Information
Date Venue
Week 1 Qualifying Finals
Cairns Cyclones 12 – 16 Easts Tigers 3 August 1996 Barlow Park
Souths Magpies 15 – 22 Wests Panthers 3 August 1996 Davies Park
Toowoomba Clydesdales 12 – 10 Redcliffe Dolphins 3 August 1996 Athletic Oval
Week 2 Qualifying Finals
Souths Magpies 34 – 6 Easts Tigers 10 August 1996 Davies Park
Redcliffe Dolphins 30 – 10 Wests Panthers 11 August 1996 Dolphin Oval
Semi Finals
Wests Panthers 21 – 8 Souths Magpies 17 August 1996 Purtell Park
Redcliffe Dolphins 6 – 0 Toowoomba Clydesdales 17 August 1996 Athletic Oval
Preliminary Final
Toowoomba Clydesdales 19 – 8 Wests Panthers 24 August 1996 Athletic Oval
Grand Final
Redcliffe Dolphins 6 – 8 Toowoomba Clydesdales 31 August 1996 Suncorp Stadium

Grand Final
Saturday, 31 August
Redcliffe Dolphins 6 – 8 Toowoomba Clydesdales
Tries:
Mark Shipway 1
Goals:
Tony Gould 1		 1st: 0 - 2
2nd: 6 - 6		 Tries:
1 Shaun Lawson
Goals:
2 Scott Kuhnemann
Suncorp Stadium
Attendance: 6,500
Referee: Paul Oliver
Redcliffe Dolphins Position Toowoomba Clydesdales
Barry DenduckFBKyle Warren
Stephen LeydenWGPeter Stennier
Ricky HewinsonCEAndrew Richards
Mark ShipwayCEJeffery Slater
Aaron DouglasWGDarren Lawson
Tom O'ReillyFECameron Hamblin
Peter RobinsonHBDamian Fry
Grant ClealPRRussell Voll
Darren SmallhorneHKMick Jenkins
Danny NutleyPRKayne Spicer
Ian Graham (c)SRScott Kuhnemann
Kahu TweedieSRTony Evans
Tony GouldLKDon Saunders (c)
Graham CotterBenchPaul Sutton
James HincheyBenchRoss Murray
Bevan CanningBenchShaun Lawson
Cameron HurrenBenchCraig Scanlan
John BoxsellCoachGary Lawrence

The inaugural Queensland Cup Grand Final featured minor premiers, the Toowoomba Clydesdales, and the second placed Redcliffe Dolphins, in what would be the fourth meeting between the two sides in 1996. The first encounter was in Round 13, with Redcliffe defeating Toowoomba 18-8 to secure the two competition points. The sides then met twice in the final series, with both matches being low-scoring, defensive battles. In the qualifying final, the Clydesdales recorded a narrow 12-10 win over the Dolphins, while two weeks later Redcliffe held on for a 6-0 victory to progress to the Grand Final.

First half

Toowoomba second-rower Scott Kuhnemann recorded the only points in the first half, kicking a penalty goal in the 21st minute. This came after Redcliffe captain Ian Graham and Toowoomba's Paul Sutton were both sin binned for fighting.

Second half

The first try of the final was eventually scored by Clydesdales' interchange player Shaun Lawson, who dummied and stepped through the Dolphins' defence to score under the posts. Redcliffe then hit back through centre Mark Shipway, who received the ball 35 metres out from the try line and sprinted around the Toowoomba defence to get his side back into the contest.

Redcliffe were then denied twice in the dying minutes by the Clydesdales' defence. Halfback Peter Robinson was stopped just before the line by Toowoomba fullback Kyle Warren, who knocked himself unconscious in the process, while Cameron Hurren had the ball knocked out of his arms, just moments later, as he went over the try line. As of 2019, the 8–6 scoreline is still the lowest ever in a Queensland Cup Grand Final.

Player statistics

The following statistics are correct as of the conclusion of Round 15.

End-of-season awards

See also

References
  1. Queensland R.LEAGUE 1996 Season Page Archived 18 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 17 Dec 2007
  2. Wikipedia Winfield State League Retrieved 17 Dec 2007
  3. Queensland R.LEAGUE 1996 Table Archived 8 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 17 Dec 2007
  4. Queensland R.LEAGUE 1996 Results Archived 18 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 17 Dec 2007
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