The 1996 Queensland Cup season was the 1st season of Queensland's premier statewide competition.Queensland R.LEAGUE 1996 Season Page Retrieved 17 Dec 2007 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 It was subsequently superseded by the Queensland Cup.Wikipedia Winfield State League Retrieved 17 Dec 2007 At this time it was considered as the second highest league, directly under the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.

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.Queensland R.LEAGUE 1996 Table Retrieved 17 Dec 2007Queensland R.LEAGUE 1996 Results Retrieved 17 Dec 2007

Ladder 1996 Queensland Cup Team 1 Toowoomba Clydesdales (P)151113360226+134232 Redcliffe Dolphins151023365193+172223 Souths Magpies151014375205+170214 Wests Panthers151014359208+151215 Cairns Cyclones151005310224+86206 Easts Tigers114905315224+91197 Wynnum Seagulls15825325225+100188 Pine Rivers Brothers15906339354-15189 Norths Devils15807334332+21610 Port Moresby Vipers15807323408-851611 Central Capras15708309336−271412 Mackay Sea Eagles15618306285+211313 Bundaberg Grizzlies1144010211348−137914 Logan City Scorpions153210236346−110815 Sunshine Coast Falcons151014184397−213216 Ipswich Jets150015138478−3400 1Awarded one point due to game being cancelled.

Finals series HomeScore AwayMatch InformationDateVenue 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

Redcliffe DolphinsPositionToowoomba Clydesdales Barry Denduck FB Kyle Warren2. Stephen Leyden WG 2. Peter Stennier3. Ricky Hewinson CE 3. Andrew Richards4. Mark Shipway CE 4. Jeffery Slater5. Aaron Douglas WG 5. Darren Lawson6. Tom O'Reilly FE 6. Cameron Hamblin7. Peter Robinson HB 7. Damian Fry8. Grant Cleal PR 8. Russell Voll9. Darren Smallhorne HK 9. Mick Jenkins10. Danny Nutley PR 10. Kayne Spicer11. Ian Graham (c) SR 11. Scott Kuhnemann12. Kahu Tweedie SR 12. Tony Evans13. Tony Gould LK 13. Don Saunders (c)14. Graham Cotter Bench 14. Paul Sutton15. James Hinchey Bench 15. Ross Murray16. Bevan Canning Bench 16. Shaun Lawson17. Cameron Hurren Bench 17. Craig ScanlanJohn Boxsell Coach Gary 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.

Leading try scorers PosPlayerTeamTries1Ricky Hewinson Redcliffe Dolphins15Floyd Hill Souths Magpies153Robert Volu Port Moresby Vipers144Seko Pae Port Moresby Vipers13Robbie Schmidt Cairns Cyclones13

Leading point scorers PosPlayerTeamTGFGPts1James Brown Wests Panthers650-1242Ron Troutman Wynnum Seagulls745-1183Scott Maguire Pine Rivers Brothers45011174Floyd Hill Souths Magpies1528-1165Brendan Liston Easts Tigers340-92

End-of-season awards Courier Mail Medal: Alan Wieland ( Wests Panthers) Rookie of the Year: Brendan Liston ( Easts Tigers)

Brisbane Rugby League The Queensland Rugby League also decided to continue the tradition of crowning a Brisbane club premier as was tradition since 1922. The competition, which was run as a second-tier title, started with the Brisbane teams who missed the finals, with the finalists filtering in upon their elimination from the Queensland Cup finals. HomeScore AwayMatch InformationDateVenue Week 1 Qualifying Finals Wynnum Seagulls 28 – 22 Ipswich Jets Norths Devils 28 – 20 Logan City Scorpions Week 2 Qualifying Finals Pine Rivers Brothers 28 – 4 Wynnum Seagulls Easts Tigers1 20 – 14 Norths Devils Minor Semi Final Pine Rivers Brothers 19 – 18 Easts Tigers1Major Semi Final Souths Magpies 24 – 16 Pine Rivers Brothers Preliminary Final Souths Magpies 22 – 16 Wests Panthers Grand Final Redcliffe Dolphins 16 – 12 Souths Magpies Suncorp Stadium Source:

See also

Brisbane Rugby League Queensland Cup Queensland Rugby League Winfield State League

References