|
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 which was formerly 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 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.* Home Grounds and Websites History of the Queensland Cup
Before the Queensland Cup From the early 1920s to the 1970s, the Brisbane Rugby League premiership was the premier Rugby League competition in Queensland and a thriving success with big crowds and large supporter bases. The richer NSWRL clubs (backer by poker machine revenues) gradually enticed more and more star Queensland players south. Combined with the admission of non-Sydney teams like the Penrith Panthers, Canberra Raiders and Illawarra Steelers, the NSWRL competition during the 1980s began to supersede the Brisbane competition in popularity and media coverage. Other sports like AFL and basketball were establishing national competitions, and by 1986 the admission of at a Brisbane team into the NSWRL had become inevitable. Finally in 1988 both the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Giants gained entry. Post Broncos The Brisbane Broncos signed up the best of the BRL talent, including Wally Lewis, Allan Langer, Gene Miles and more. The public and media supported this new team, and the BRL entered a period of decline for the best part of a decade. Many teams encountered severe financial trouble, including 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 Queensland Cup Player of the Year Awards 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). Queensland Cup News Queensland Rugby League forums See also | |||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
 |
|
| |