1998 Queensland Cup

June 2020 August 2019 1998 Queensland Cup March 14 – September 19, 1998 16 Norths Devils 16 Norths Devils 1st Norths Devils 16 Norths Devils 1st 185 9,184 Norths Devils 16 John Wilshere (276) Redcliffe 16 George Wilson (27) Hunter 16 Shane Perry 1997 1999 The 1998 Queensland Cup season was the 3rd season of top-level statewide rugby league competition in Queensland, Australia. The competition was contested by sixteen teams over a 27-week long season (including finals), with the Norths Devils defeating the Wests Panthers 35–16 in the Grand Final at Suncorp Stadium. Logan hb Shane Perry was named the competition's Player of the Year. Teams The competition returned to a 16-team format in 1998 with the Bundaberg Grizzlies returning to the competition after a year's absence and the admission of the Townsville Stingers and Gold Coast Vikings. The Port Moresby Vipers withdrew after two seasons in the competition after they were unable to continue to pay their travel and accommodation costs. Also in 1998, the Pine Rivers Brothers played as the Brisbane Brothers, while the Logan City Scorpions became the Logan Scorpions. In 1998, a number of NRL clubs partnered with Queensland Cup sides, sending players not selected in first grade to play in the competition. The Brisbane Broncos were affiliated with Brisbane Brothers, the Gold Coast Chargers with the Gold Coast Vikings, the Melbourne Storm with the Norths Devils, the North Queensland Cowboys with the Townsville Stingers and the Adelaide Rams with the Wests Panthers. Colours Club Home ground(s) Brothers 16 Brisbane Brothers Crosby Park Bundaberg 16 Bundaberg Grizzlies Salter Oval Burleigh 16 Burleigh Bears Pizzey Park Cairns Cyclones 16 Cairns Cyclones Barlow Park Central Comets 16 Central Capras Browne Park Balmain 16 Easts Tigers Langlands Park Gold Coast Vikings 16 Gold Coast Vikings Carrara Stadium Ipswich 16 Ipswich Jets North Ipswich Reserve Hunter 16 Logan Scorpions Meakin Park Norths Devils 16 Norths Devils Bishop Park Redcliffe 16 Redcliffe Dolphins Dolphin Oval Western Suburbs 16 Souths Magpies Davies Park Toowoomba Clydesdales 16 Toowoomba Clydesdales Athletic Oval Townsville Stingers 16 Townsville Stingers Malanda Stadium Wests Panthers 16 Wests Panthers Purtell Park Wynnum-Manly 16 Wynnum Seagulls Kougari Oval Results In 1998, the Queensland Cup became a full 22-round competition, unlike the previous two seasons which had 17 and 18 regular season rounds. Ladder 1998 Queensland Cup Pos PositionTeam Pld Games played W Won D Drawn L Lost PF Points for (total points scored) PA Points against (total points conceded) PD Points difference (points scored minus points conceded) Pts Competition points1Norths Devils 16 Norths Devils (P)221615872394+478332Brothers 16 Brisbane Brothers221606731364+367323Wests Panthers 16 Wests Panthers221606748408+340324Redcliffe 16 Redcliffe Dolphins221606647314+333325Gold Coast Vikings 16 Gold Coast Vikings221507673423+250306Wynnum 16 Wynnum Seagulls221507531382+149307Townsville Stingers 16 Townsville Stingers221336686435+251298Burleigh 16 Burleigh Bears221408604442+162289Balmain 16 Easts Tigers221219522497+252510Cairns 16 Cairns Cyclones228212500642-1421811Central Comets 16 Central Capras228014497701-2041612Logan Scorpions 16 Logan Scorpions226115488694-2061313Ipswich 16 Ipswich Jets226016350606-2561214Souths Magpies 16 Souths Magpies226016381763-3821215Toowoomba 16 Toowoomba Clydesdales225017310755-4451016Bundaberg 16 Bundaberg Grizzlies2200222861006-7200 Finals series HomeScore AwayMatch InformationDateVenue Week 1 Semi-finals Gold Coast Vikings 16 Gold Coast Vikings 30 – 10 Wynnum 16 Wynnum Seagulls 22 August 1998 Carrara Stadium Wests Panthers 16 Wests Panthers 10 – 20 Redcliffe 16 Redcliffe Dolphins 22 August 1998 Purtell Park Norths Devils 16 Norths Devils 28 – 10 Brothers 16 Brisbane Brothers 23 August 1998 Kougari Oval Week 2 Semi-finals Wests Panthers 16 Wests Panthers 18 – 16 Gold Coast Vikings 16 Gold Coast Vikings 29 August 1998 Pizzey Park Brothers 16 Brisbane Brothers 24 – 28 Redcliffe 16 Redcliffe Dolphins 29 August 1998 Purtell Park Week 3 Semi-finals Norths Devils 16 Norths Devils 16 – 12 Redcliffe 16 Redcliffe Dolphins 5 September 1998 Dolphin Oval Brothers 16 Brisbane Brothers 16 – 18 Wests Panthers 16 Wests Panthers 6 September 1998 Crosby Park Preliminary Final Redcliffe 16 Redcliffe Dolphins 14 – 27 Wests Panthers 16 Wests Panthers 12 September 1998 Dolphin Oval Grand Final Norths Devils 16 Norths Devils 35 – 18 Wests Panthers 16 Wests Panthers 19 September 1998 Suncorp Stadium Grand Final #f1f5fc Sunday, 19 September Norths Devils Norths Devils 16 3516 6–16 29–0 Report Wests Panthers 16 Wests Panthers 6Geyer (3)Bonus Carmichael O'Dwyer 5Wilshere (4)Carmichael (1) 1Hamilton 3Twist (2)Maguire 2Devlin (2) Suncorp Stadium Tony Maksoud 4,283 Norths DevilsPositionWests PanthersPaul Hubbard FB Tony DevlinMatthew Dux WG Mark MaguireSteven Bell CE Shaun ValentineMatt Geyer CE Craig SmithJohn Wilshire WG Scott WilliamsonCraig O'Dwyer FE Craig Bowen (c)Kevin Carmichael (c) HB Jason TwistAnthony Bonus PR David AsplinDale Williams HK Jason CampbellWade Fenton PR Robert CampbellAndrew Hamilton SR Cameron RoperDaniel Frame SR Alan WielandMark Protheroe LK Joel TwohillRicky Paul Bench David FullerMatt Rua Bench Peter LiddellRyan Gundry Bench Sam FaalafiTristan Brady-Smith Bench David LiddellMark Murray Coach Wayne Treleaven Norths, who finished the season as minor premiers, qualified for their first Grand Final after defeating Brothers and Redcliffe in the finals series. Wests, who finished third, had a tougher road to their first Grand Final appearance, losing in Week 1 to Redcliffe. From there, the Panthers won three straight elimination games to qualify for the decider. When the two sides met in the regular season, Norths defeated the Panthers 42–22 in Round 5 at Purtell Park.http://queensland.rleague.com/results/1998/qld-cup.php Queensland Rugby League queensland.rleague.com 12 January 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20130318182027/http://queensland.rleague.com/results/1998/qld-cup.php 18 March 2013 dead First half Wests halfback Jason Twist scored the first points of the game after four minutes with a try close the posts. 15 minutes later, Wests added four more points when winger Mark Maguire crossed in the corner. The Panthers added to their tally soon after when Twist crossed for his second, backing up Shaun Valentine who made a break down the field. Trailing 16–0, Norths finally got on the board when centre Matt Geyer scored the first of his three tries.Devils too fast in second term Courier Mail News Corporation Australia 20 September 1998 Brisbane, Queensland 153 Second half The second half was all Norths, as they ran in 29 unanswered points to secure their maiden premiership. Devils' prop Anthony Bonus crashed over right next to the posts to cut the lead to four, before Geyer scored his second to level the scores. John Wilshire's sideline conversion put Norths in front by two, their first lead of the game coming in the 60th minute. Captain Kevin Carmichael was the next to score for Norths, with second-rower Andrew Hamilton kicking a field goal 10 minutes later to extend Norths' lead to seven. Norths finished with two late tries to Craig O'Dwyer and Geyer to cap a remarkable 19-point win. The 16–0 deficit they overcame is (as of 2019), the biggest comeback in a Queensland Cup Grand Final.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOD6-twV6g8 1998 QLD Cup Grand Final Norths 35 v Wests 16 YouTubehttps://www.qrl.com.au/news/20182/03/07/20-years-on---remembering-the-1998-grand-final/ 20 Years on - Remembering the 1998 Grand Final 7 March 2018 25 January 2020 25 January 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200125051351/https://www.qrl.com.au/news/20182/03/07/20-years-on---remembering-the-1998-grand-final/ live Geyer and Matt Rua would go onto play in the Melbourne Storm's NRL Grand Final win over the St George Illawarra Dragons a year later, while Steven Bell would win an NRL premiership with the Manly Sea Eagles in 2008.https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/09/26/where-are-they-now-1999-nrl-grand-finalists/ Where are they now: 1999 NRL grand finalists 26 September 2019 https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/apn-bell-to-hang-up-boots-in/60908/ Bell to hang up boots in Rocky The Courier Mail 9 October 2008 25 January 2020 25 January 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200125051354/https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/apn-bell-to-hang-up-boots-in/60908/ live Player statistics Leading try scorers PosPlayerTeamTries1George WilsonRedcliffe 16 Redcliffe Dolphins272Justin MurphyBrothers 16 Brisbane Brothers263Heath EgglestoneCentral Comets 16 Central Capras234Chris WalkerBrothers 16 Brisbane Brothers205Ricky HewinsonRedcliffe 16 Redcliffe Dolphins18Mark MaguireWests Panthers 16 Wests Panthers18 Leading point scorers PosPlayerTeamTGFGPts1John WilshereNorths Devils 16 Norths Devils16106-2762Glen GodbeeGold Coast Vikings 16 Gold Coast Vikings1459-1743Tony DevlinWests Panthers 16 Wests Panthers466-1484Aaron DurrantBalmain 16 Easts Tigers659-1425Brian HamiltonHunter 16 Logan Scorpions5571135 End-of-season awards Courier Mail Medal: Shane Perry (Hunter 16 Logan Scorpions) Rookie of the Year: Jamie Tomlinson (Redcliffe 16 Redcliffe Dolphins) See also Queensland Sports Brisbane Rugby League Queensland Cup Queensland Rugby League Winfield State League References Category:1998 in Australian rugby league Category:Queensland Cup