Last year, I did a series of graphs which told each NRL team’s history in the top flight since 1998. Despite expectations, it was pretty well received compared to the one I was expecting to generate a bit of interest.
Now that we have all of the Queensland Cup results, I thought I’d run the same exercise. I don’t expect all that much interest but I think it’s a shame that the Queensland Cup doesn’t garner more attention. The days of 30,000 attending the BRL grand final in the 1980s has been replaced by less than 10,000 turning up to the equivalent event in the 2010s, crushed under the homogenisation of rugby league culture in Brisbane and Queensland thanks to the twin-headed Orthrus* of the Maroons and the Broncos.
Part of the solution is to create some meaningful content about it and we’ll see more of it on this website this year. This post is the starting point, literally charting the competition’s history from its inception in 1996 through the turbulent early 00s period and into the relatively stability – dare I say, optimism – of the last ten years.
*It’s like Cerberus but with two heads.
Jump ahead
Burleigh Bears
Central Queensland Capras
Easts Tigers
Ipswich Jets
Mackay Cutters
Northern Pride
Norths Devils
PNG Hunters
Redcliffe Dolphins
Souths Logan Magpies
Sunshine Coast Falcons
Townsville Blackhawks
Tweed Heads Seagulls
Wynnum Manly Seagulls- The Departed
- Derby records
Burleigh Bears
Home: Pizzey Park, Miami
Central Queensland Capras
Home: Browne Park, Rockhampton
Easts Tigers
Home: Langlands Park, Coorparoo
Ipswich Jets
Home: North Ipswich Reserve, Ipswich
Mackay Cutters
Home: Stadium Mackay, Mackay
Northern Pride
Home: Barlow Park, Cairns
Norths Devils
Home: Bishop Park, Nundah
PNG Hunters
Home: Oil Search National Stadium, Port Moresby
Redcliffe Dolphins
Home: Dolphin Oval, Redcliffe
Souths Logan Magpies
Home: Davies Park, West End
Sunshine Coast Falcons
Home: Sunshine Coast Stadium, Kawana
Townsville Blackhawks
Home: Jack Manski Oval, Townsville
Tweed Heads Seagulls
Home: Piggabeen Sports Complex, Tweed Heads
Wynnum Manly Seagulls
Home: Kougari Oval, Wynnum
The Departed
Derby records
Most Queensland Cup derbies are geographical and not based out of an animosity from years past, which is kind of a shame. Some rivalries, like Norths and Brothers, don’t exist because one half has gone under. Others, like Souths and Wynnum Manly who played out epic battles between future Immortals in BRL grand finals in the early 80s, but I don’t know if that carries through to today. Happy to be corrected.
#FLOCKBUSTER: Tweed Heads v Wynnum Manly
The real Queensland Cup rivalry and the only one that matters is between the two teams that share the same nickname, the Seagulls.
37 meetings have resulted in 21 wins for Wynnum Manly and 16 for Tweed Heads. Tweed Heads last won the derby in round 6, 2018. The Flockbuster was played out in the 2011 grand final, with Wynnum Manly winning their first premiership, and four other finals matches.
Bayside Derby: Redcliffe v Wynnum-Manly
These two clubs, with Redcliffe located a far way north of the river and Wynnum Manly a far way south, are based on the water’s edge of Moreton Bay.
49 meetings have resulted in 30 wins for Redcliffe, 17 wins for Wynnum Manly and 2 draws. Wynnum Manly last won the derby in round 19, 2017. The Bayside Derby played out in five finals matches, including the 2012 grand final where Wynnum Manly won their second premiership.
Gold Coast Derby: Burleigh v Tweed Heads
31 meetings have resulted in 17 wins for Burleigh, 13 wins for Tweed Heads and 1 draw. Tweed Heads last won the derby in round 12, 2015. These teams have never met in the finals.
M2 Derby: Ipswich v Logan City/Souths Logan
I don’t know if this is a rivalry per se but I think Souths Logan should make a bigger deal of the Logan aspect of their heritage, even though the Scorpions never did anything of note in their twenty odd years. It is a large rugby league market and talent pool, however, and a natural rival for Ipswich, with the two cities forming the bulk of Greater Southern Brisbane, a term I just invented.
41 meetings have resulted in 23 wins for Ipswich and a combined 18 wins for Logan City and Souths Logan with 2 draws. Souths Logan won the most recent rendezvous in round 12, 2018 and Ipswich the five previous to that. Their only finals match was the 2008 grand final, won by Souths Logan for their only premiership.
North Queensland Derby: Northern Pride v Townsville
8 meetings have resulted in 6 wins for Townsville and 2 wins for the Pride. The Pride have won the last two derby matches, both in 2018, never having previously beaten the Blackhawks. The two have never met in the finals.
Pythago NRL 