2018 Queensland Cup

2018 Queensland Cup
Duration	March 10 – September 23, 2018
Teams	14
Premiers	Redcliffe Dolphins (6th title)
Minor premiers	Redcliffe Dolphins (6th title)
Matches played	167
Points scored	7,279
Top points scorer(s)	Guy Hamilton (176)
Player of the year	Nathaniel Neale (Petero Civoniceva Medal)
Top try-scorer(s)	Daniel Ogden Michael Purcell (22)
← 2017 2019 →

The 2018 Queensland Cup season was the 23rd season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition, known as the Intrust Super Cup due to sponsorship from Intrust Super, featured 14 teams playing a 28-week long season (including finals) from March to September.^[1]

The Redcliffe Dolphins won their sixth premiership after defeating the Easts Tigers 32–22 in the Grand Final at Suncorp Stadium. Ipswich Jets prop Nathaniel Neale was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Petero Civoniceva Medal.^[2]

Teams[]

In 2018, the lineup of teams remained unchanged for the fourth consecutive year.

Colours	Club	Home ground(s)	Head coach(s)	Captain(s)	NRL Affiliate
	Burleigh Bears	Pizzey Park	Jim Lenihan	Luke Page	Gold Coast Titans
	Central Queensland Capras	Browne Park	Kim Williams	Jack Madden	None
	Easts Tigers	Suzuki Stadium	Scott Sipple	Jake Foster	Melbourne Storm
	Ipswich Jets	North Ipswich Reserve	Ben & Shane Walker	Nathaniel Neale	None
	Mackay Cutters	BB Print Stadium	Steve Sheppard	Tom Murphy	North Queensland Cowboys
	Northern Pride	Barlow Park	Ty Williams	Ryan Ghietti	North Queensland Cowboys
	Norths Devils		Rohan Smith	John Palavi	Brisbane Broncos
	Papua New Guinea Hunters	National Football Stadium	Michael Marum	Ase Boas	None
	Redcliffe Dolphins	Dolphin Oval	Adam Mogg	Cameron Cullen	Brisbane Broncos
	Souths Logan Magpies	Davies Park	Jon Buchanan	Phil Dennis	Brisbane Broncos
	Sunshine Coast Falcons	Sunshine Coast Stadium	Craig Ingebrigtsen	Dane Hogan	Melbourne Storm
	Townsville Blackhawks	Jack Manski Oval	Kristian Woolf	Andrew Niemoeller	North Queensland Cowboys
	Tweed Heads Seagulls	Piggabeen Sports Complex	Ben Woolf	Sam Meskell	Gold Coast Titans
	Wynnum Manly Seagulls	BMD Kougari Oval	Adam Brideson	Mitch Cronin	Brisbane Broncos

Ladder[]

2018 Queensland Cup
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Redcliffe Dolphins (P)	23	16	1	6	1	600	382	+218	35
2	Burleigh Bears	23	16	0	7	1	589	427	+162	34
3	Townsville Blackhawks	23	15	0	8	1	571	348	+223	32
4	Northern Pride	23	13	1	9	1	474	404	+70	29
5	Easts Tigers	23	13	0	10	1	576	503	+73	28
6	Ipswich Jets	23	13	0	10	1	554	505	+49	28
7	Papua New Guinea Hunters	23	13	0	10	1	444	418	+26	28
8	Norths Devils	23	11	0	12	1	516	553	-37	24
9	Souths Logan Magpies	23	10	0	13	1	534	499	+35	22
10	Sunshine Coast Falcons	23	10	0	13	1	453	464	-11	22
11	Tweed Heads Seagulls	23	9	1	13	1	435	634	-199	21
12	Wynnum Manly Seagulls	23	9	0	14	1	472	593	-121	20
13	Central Queensland Capras	23	7	0	16	1	390	576	-186	16
14	Mackay Cutters	23	4	1	18	1	386	688	-302	11

Final series[]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time (Local)	Venue
Elimination Finals
Townsville Blackhawks	12 - 32	Ipswich Jets	1 September 2018, 1:10pm	Jack Manski Oval
Northern Pride	0 – 32	Easts Tigers	1 September 2018, 3:00pm	Stan Williams Park
Major / Minor Semi Finals
Easts Tigers	50 – 20	Ipswich Jets	8 September 2018, 1:10pm	Suzuki Stadium
Redcliffe Dolphins	13 – 6	Burleigh Bears	8 September 2018, 6:00pm	Dolphin Stadium
Preliminary Finals
Burleigh Bears	26 – 36	Easts Tigers	15 September 2018, 1:10pm	Pizzey Park
Grand Final
Redcliffe Dolphins	36 – 22	Easts Tigers	23 September 2018, 3:10pm	Suncorp Stadium

	Elimination Finals					Major / Minor Semi-finals					Preliminary final					Grand Final
						1	Redcliffe	13
						2	Burleigh	6								1	Redcliffe	36
	4	Northern Pride	0								2	Burleigh	26			5	Easts	22
	5	Easts	32								5	Easts	36
						5	Easts	50
	3	Townsville	12		6	Ipswich	20
	6	Ipswich	32

Grand Final[]

Sunday, September 23 3:00pm (AEST)

Redcliffe Dolphins	36 – 22	Easts Tigers
Tries: Trai Fuller (8', 42') 2 Jeremy Hawkins (27') 1 Kotoni Staggs (46') 1 Nathan Watts (62') 1 Tom Opacic (78') 1 Goals: Kotoni Staggs 6 (10', 28', 33', 43', 48', 63')	1st: 14 – 10 2nd: 22 – 12 Report	Tries: 1 (12') Conor Carey 1 (37') Marion Seve 1 (56') Jake Foster 1 (64') Scott Drinkwater Goals: 3 Brayden Torpy (13', 57', 65')

Suncorp Stadium Attendance: 7,504[3] Player of the Match: Toby Rudolf (Redcliffe)

Redcliffe finished the regular season as minor premiers for the sixth time and earned a bye in the first week of the finals. In the major semi final, they defeated Burleigh 13–6 and qualified for their 11th Grand Final. Easts finished fifth on the ladder and defeated the fourth-placed Northern Pride 32–0 in the first week of the finals. In the minor semi final, they eliminated Ipswich 50–20 before upsetting Burleigh in the preliminary final to qualify for their fifth Grand Final. Redcliffe and Easts last met in a Grand Final in 1997, with the Dolphins winning 18–16.

First half[]

Redcliffe were the first to score in the Grand Final thanks to a Kotoni Staggs penalty goal from 20 metres out. The first try of the contest went to Easts, with Conor Carey stretching out to score in the corner. Redcliffe recorded their first four-pointer in the 16th minute when a late Cameron Cullen offload found fullback Trai Fuller who muscled his way over. They scored their second when Jeremy Hawkins leapt high to catch a Bryce Donovan kick and planted it down for a try. Another penalty goal in the 33rd minute gave the Dolphins a 14–6 lead. Easts hit back in the shadow of half time when Marion Seve scored out wide to cut the margin to four points.

Second half[]

The Dolphins opened the second half with an early try when Fuller ducked through the Tigers' defence to score his second try. They extended their lead in the 46th minute when a Donovan grubber was kept alive by Aaron Whitchurch, who batted infield for Staggs to score. Easts got back into the game in the 56th minute when captain Jake Foster barged over from close range to score. In the 62nd minute, Redcliffe all but sealed the win when Donovan set up another try with his boot, this time finding Nathan Watt who dived on his grubber. The Tigers got one back two minutes later through fullback Scott Drinkwater but it proved to be a consolation try in the end, as Redcliffe ended the game with a try to Tom Opacic in the 78th minute. Dolphins' second rower Toby Rudolf was awarded the Duncan Hall Medal for man of the match.^[4][5]

NRL State Championship[]

After winning the Grand Final, the Redcliffe Dolphins qualified for the NRL State Championship on NRL Grand Final day. They were defeated by the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, the New South Wales Cup premiers, 18–42.^[6][7]

Player statistics[]

Leading try scorers[] Pos Player Team Tries 1 Michael Purcell Ipswich Jets 22 2 Daniel Ogden Wynnum Manly Seagulls 19 3 Scott Drinkwater Easts Tigers 17 4 Linc Port Easts Tigers 16 Marion Seve Easts Tigers 16 Kalifa Faifai Loa Townsville Blackhawks 16 7 Jaelen Feeney Townsville Blackhawks 15 8 Jonus Pearson Redcliffe Dolphins 14 Jarrod McInally Easts Tigers 14 Troy Leo Burleigh Bears 14

Leading point scorers[] Pos Player Team T G FG Pts 1 Kotoni Staggs Redcliffe Dolphins 13 63 - 178 2 Guy Hamilton Souths Logan Magpies 5 78 - 176 3 Wes Conlon Ipswich Jets 11 53 - 150 4 Jake Clifford Northern Pride 10 46 2 134 5 Marmin Barba Ipswich Jets 10 44 0 128 6 Brayden Torphy Easts Tigers 6 50 0 124 Ase Boas Papua New Guinea Hunters 7 48 0 124 8 Cameron Broadhurst Central Queensland Capras 4 50 0 116 9 Todd Murphy Norths Devils 4 47 0 110 10 Jamal Fogarty Burleigh Bears 5 42 0 104

QRL awards[]

• Petero Civoniceva Medal (Best and Fairest): Nathaniel Neale ( Ipswich Jets)
• Coach of the Year: Ty Williams ( Northern Pride)
• Rookie of the Year: Jake Clifford ( Northern Pride)
• Representative Player of the Year: David Fifita ( Queensland under-18, Souths Logan Magpies)

Team of the Year[]

Position	Nat	Winner	Club
Fullback		Scott Drinkwater	Easts Tigers
Wing		Kalifa Faifai Loa	Townsville Blackhawks
Centre		Kotoni Staggs	Redcliffe Dolphins
Five-eighth		Billy Walters	Easts Tigers
Halfback		Jake Clifford	Northern Pride
Prop		Nathaniel Neale	Ipswich Jets
Hooker		Pat Politoni	Burleigh Bears
Second-row		Patrick Kaufusi	Easts Tigers
Lock		Jamil Hopoate	Redcliffe Dolphins

See also[]

• Queensland Cup
• Queensland Rugby League

References[]