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The Queensland Cup is a Rugby League competition in Queensland , Australia . For sponsorship reasons the competition is also known as the '''Queensland Wizard Cup'''. It is administered by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL). The competition was formed in 1996 to superscede the previous Winfield State League , and took over the Brisbane Rugby League as the premier Rugby League competition in Queensland in 1998. Because of sponsorship reasons, the Queensland Cup has also been known as the Channel 9 Cup ( 1996 - 97 ) and Bundy Gold Cup ( 2000 - 01 ) The match of the round from the Queensland Cup is broadcast on ABC-TV on Saturday afternoons. The 2005 Queensland Cup was won by the North Queensland Young Guns . This is the first time that a team from outside of south-east Queensland has won the competition. 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.[http://www.dailymercury.com.au/localsport/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3668631&thesection=localsport&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection= Club Home Grounds Official Club Websites
HISTORY OF THE QUEENSLAND CUP The Beginning From the early 1920s to the 1990s, the Brisbane Rugby League premiership was the premier Rugby League competition in Queensland. Through the concept of District Football, it built up a large amount of support and each area of Brisbane was "assigned" a team. For example, Easts represented Brisbane 's East, Wests had the Western side of Brisbane , etc. The people of Brisbane loved their competition, the major media outlets like The Courier-Mail , the television stations, and radio all covered it and gave little to no attention to the NSW competition. The Change But while the BRL had great success north of the border, the continued pillaging of Queensland's playing stocks by New South Wales was having a detrimental effect on the game. As the playing standard in Brisbane grew lower and lower as more high profile players made the trek to Sydney, more and more people began following the Winfield Cup, and the media outlets followed suit. The Final Straw The decision that ultimately ended the Brisbane Rugby League did not come from the NSWRL as one would expect, but from the Queensland Rugby League themselves. In 1987, they voted to allow a Brisbane-based team to enter the Winfield Cup. That team was the Brisbane Broncos . The Broncos signed up the best of the BRL talent, including Wally Lewis , Allan Langer , Gene Miles and more. The public supported this new team, and although the traditionalists continued to support their BRL teams, they were the definite minority. Rapid Decline After the Broncos entered the Winfield Cup, the BRL was left to become a "reserve grade" competition. At times the Broncos had a feeder team playing in it, as did the South Queensland Crushers . Many teams were in severe financial trouble, the major ones being 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 representitive competition that took over the old Winfield State League before becoming a proper club competition, many of the following clubs are "representitive" 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). EXTERNAL LINKS Queensland Cup News
Queensland Rugby League forums SEE ALSO
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