# 1998 Queensland Cup

The 1998 Queensland Cup season was the 3rd season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition.
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 halfback 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.
| Club | Home ground(s) |
| Brisbane Brothers | Crosby Park |
| Bundaberg Grizzlies | Salter Oval |
| Burleigh Bears | Pizzey Park |
| Cairns Cyclones | Barlow Park |
| Central Capras | Browne Park |
| Easts Tigers | Langlands Park |
| Gold Coast Vikings | Carrara Stadium |
| Ipswich Jets | North Ipswich Reserve |
| Logan Scorpions | Meakin Park |
| Norths Devils | Bishop Park |
| Redcliffe Dolphins | Dolphin Oval |
| Souths Magpies | Davies Park |
| Toowoomba Clydesdales | Athletic Oval |
| Townsville Stingers | Malanda Stadium |
| Wests Panthers | Purtell Park |
| 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 | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Norths Devils (P) | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 872 | 394 | +478 | 33 |
| 2 | Brisbane Brothers | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 731 | 364 | +367 | 32 |
| 3 | Wests Panthers | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 748 | 408 | +340 | 32 |
| 4 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 647 | 314 | +333 | 32 |
| 5 | Gold Coast Vikings | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 673 | 423 | +250 | 30 |
| 6 | Wynnum Seagulls | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 531 | 382 | +149 | 30 |
| 7 | Townsville Stingers | 22 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 686 | 435 | +251 | 29 |
| 8 | Burleigh Bears | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 604 | 442 | +162 | 28 |
| 9 | Easts Tigers | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 522 | 497 | +25 | 25 |
| 10 | Cairns Cyclones | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 500 | 642 | -142 | 18 |
| 11 | Central Capras | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 497 | 701 | -204 | 16 |
| 12 | Logan Scorpions | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 488 | 694 | -206 | 13 |
| 13 | Ipswich Jets | 22 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 350 | 606 | -256 | 12 |
| 14 | Souths Magpies | 22 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 381 | 763 | -382 | 12 |
| 15 | Toowoomba Clydesdales | 22 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 310 | 755 | -445 | 10 |
| 16 | Bundaberg Grizzlies | 22 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 286 | 1006 | -720 | 0 |

## Finals series

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date | Venue |
| Week 1 Semi-finals |||||||
| Gold Coast Vikings | 30 – 10 | Wynnum Seagulls | 22 August 1998 | Carrara Stadium |
| Wests Panthers | 10 – 20 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 22 August 1998 | Purtell Park |
| Norths Devils | 28 – 10 | Brisbane Brothers | 23 August 1998 | Kougari Oval |
| Week 2 Semi-finals |||||||
| Wests Panthers | 18 – 16 | Gold Coast Vikings | 29 August 1998 | Pizzey Park |
| Brisbane Brothers | 24 – 28 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 29 August 1998 | Purtell Park |
| Week 3 Semi-finals |||||||
| Norths Devils | 16 – 12 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 5 September 1998 | Dolphin Oval |
| Brisbane Brothers | 16 – 18 | Wests Panthers | 6 September 1998 | Crosby Park |
| Preliminary Final |||||||
| Redcliffe Dolphins | 14 – 27 | Wests Panthers | 12 September 1998 | Dolphin Oval |
| Grand Final |||||||
| Norths Devils | 35 – 18 | Wests Panthers | 19 September 1998 | Suncorp Stadium |

## Grand Final

* Sunday, 19 September
| Norths Devils | 35 – 16 | Wests Panthers |
| Tries: Matt Geyer 3 Anthony Bonus 1 Kevin Carmichael 1 Craig O'Dwyer 1 Goals: John Wilshire 4 Kevin Carmichael 1 Field Goals: Andrew Hamilton 1 | 1st: 6 - 16 2nd: 29 - 0 Report | Tries: 2 Jacob Twist 1 Mark Maguire Goals: 2 Tony Devlin |
* Suncorp Stadium Attendance: 4,283 Referee: Tony Maksoud
| Norths Devils | Position | Wests Panthers |
| Paul Hubbard | FB | Tony Devlin |
| Matthew Dux | WG | Mark Maguire |
| Steven Bell | CE | Shaun Valentine |
| Matt Geyer | CE | Craig Smith |
| John Wilshire | WG | Scott Williamson |
| Craig O'Dwyer | FE | Craig Bowen (c) |
| Kevin Carmichael (c) | HB | Jason Twist |
| Anthony Bonus | PR | David Asplin |
| Dale Williams | HK | Jason Campbell |
| Wade Fenton | PR | Robert Campbell |
| Andrew Hamilton | SR | Cameron Roper |
| Daniel Frame | SR | Alan Wieland |
| Mark Protheroe | LK | Joel Twohill |
| Ricky Paul | Bench | David Fuller |
| Matt Rua | Bench | Peter Liddell |
| Ryan Gundry | Bench | Sam Faalafi |
| Tristan Brady-Smith | Bench | David Liddell |
| Mark 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.

### 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.

### 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.
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.

## End-of-season awards

* Courier Mail Medal: Shane Perry ( Logan Scorpions)
* Rookie of the Year: Jamie Tomlinson ( Redcliffe Dolphins)