# 2008 Queensland Cup

The 2008 Queensland Cup season was the 13th season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition, known as the Queensland Wizard Cup due to sponsorship from Wizard Home Loans featured 11 teams playing a 26-week long season (including finals) from March to September.
The Souths Logan Magpies won their first premiership after defeating the Ipswich Jets 24–18 at North Ipswich Reserve. Central Comets' five-eighth Nat Bowman was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.

## Teams

Two new teams entered the Queensland Cup in 2008, as the competition expanded north with the Mackay Cutters and the Northern Pride. Mackay hadn't hosted a team since the 1996 season, while the Pride, based in Cairns, were represented by the Cairns Cyclones from 1996 to 2000. The two new clubs replaced the Aspley Broncos and North Queensland Young Guns, who withdrew from the competition.
With the loss of Aspley and the Young Guns, the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys formed new feeder club partnerships. The Broncos sent players to six different clubs and the Cowboys sent players to the Cutters and Pride, while the Canberra Raiders formed a partnership with the Souths Logan Magpies. 2008 marked the first season since 1997 that the Melbourne Storm were not affiliated with the Norths Devils, instead forming the Central Coast Storm who played in the NSW Cup.
| Club | Home ground(s) | Head coach(s) | Captain(s) | NRL Affiliate |
| Burleigh Bears | Pizzey Park | Jim Lenihan | Shane O'Flanagan | Brisbane Broncos |
| Central Comets | Browne Park | Wayne Barnett | Wayne Barnett | Brisbane Broncos |
| Easts Tigers | Langlands Park | Darren Smith | Trent Young | Brisbane Broncos |
| Ipswich Jets | North Ipswich Reserve | Kevin Walters | Danny Coburn | Gold Coast Titans |
| Mackay Cutters | Mackay JRL Grounds | Shane Muspratt | Shane Muspratt | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Northern Pride | Barlow Park | Andrew Dunemann | Chris Sheppard | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Norths Devils | Bishop Park | Mark Gee | Marc Brentnall | Brisbane Broncos |
| Redcliffe Dolphins | Dolphin Oval | Gary O'Brien | Troy Lindsay | Brisbane Broncos |
| Souths Logan Magpies | Davies Park | Paul Bramley | Phil Dennis | Canberra Raiders |
| Tweed Heads Seagulls | Ned Byrne Field | Michael Woods | Brad Davis | Gold Coast Titans |
| Wynnum Manly Seagulls | Kougari Oval | Shane McNally | Darren Bain | Brisbane Broncos |

## Ladder

2008 Queensland Cup :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Ipswich Jets | 20 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 656 | 329 | +327 | 36 |
| 2 | Souths Logan Magpies (P) | 20 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 592 | 378 | +214 | 32 |
| 3 | Northern Pride | 20 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 494 | 416 | +78 | 30 |
| 4 | Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 20 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 526 | 514 | +12 | 28 |
| 5 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 20 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 498 | 418 | +80 | 27 |
| 6 | Burleigh Bears | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 528 | 506 | +22 | 26 |
| 7 | Easts Tigers | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 454 | 462 | -8 | 21 |
| 8 | Tweed Heads Seagulls | 20 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 507 | 535 | -28 | 19 |
| 9 | Mackay Cutters | 20 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 416 | 488 | -72 | 19 |
| 10 | Central Comets | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 404 | 595 | -191 | 18 |
| 11 | Norths Devils | 20 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 288 | 722 | -434 | 8 |

## Regular season

The 2008 Queensland Cup regular season featured 22 rounds, with one team receiving a bye in each round. Each team played 20 games and received two byes.

## Final series

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date | Venue |
| Qualifying / Elimination Finals |||||
| Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 16 – 50 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 23 August 2008 | BMD Kougari Oval |
| Souths Logan Magpies | 16 – 40 | Northern Pride | 24 August 2008 | Davies Park |
| Semi-finals |||||
| Ipswich Jets | 34 – 16 | Northern Pride | 30 August 2008 | Briggs Road Complex |
| Souths Logan Magpies | 16 – 14 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 30 August 2008 | Meakin Park |
| Preliminary Final |||||
| Northern Pride | 12 – 16 | Souths Logan Magpies | 6 September 2008 | Langlands Park |
| Grand Final |||||
| Ipswich Jets | 18 – 24 | Souths Logan Magpies | 13 September 2008 | North Ipswich Reserve |
| Qualifying / Elimination Finals | Qualifying / Elimination Finals | Qualifying / Elimination Finals | Major / Minor Semi-finals | Major / Minor Semi-finals | Major / Minor Semi-finals | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | | 1 | Ipswich | 34 | | | | Ipswich | 18 |
| | | | | Northern Pride | 16 | | | | Souths Logan | Souths Logan | 24 |
| 2 | Souths Logan | 16 | | | | Northern Pride | Northern Pride | 12 | | | |
| 3 | Northern Pride | 40 | | | | Souths Logan | Souths Logan | 16 | | | |
| | | | Souths Logan | Souths Logan | 16 | | | | | | |
| | | | Redcliffe | Redcliffe | 14 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Wynnum Manly | 16 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Redcliffe | 50 | | | | | | | | | |

## Grand Final

* Saturday, 13 September
| Ipswich Jets | 18 – 24 | Souths Logan Magpies |
| Tries: Donald Malone 1 Michael Ryan 1 Aaron Sweeney 1 Goals: Josh Lewis 3 | 1st: 0 - 18 2nd: 18 - 6 Report | Tries: 1 McKanah Gibson 1 Cy Lasscock 1 Kyle Lodge 1 Matt Templeman Goals: 2 Tim Cannard 2 Josh White |
* North Ipswich Reserve Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Justin Eastwood Player of the Match: Albert Talipeau (Souths Logan)
| Ipswich Jets | Position | Souths Logan Magpies |
| Troy O'Sullivan | FB | Quentin Laulu-Togaga'e |
| 2. Scott Ireland | WG | 2. Matt Templeman |
| 3. Donald Malone | CE | 3. Kyle Lodge |
| 4. Brendon Marshall | CE | 4. Chad Grintell |
| 5. Smith Samau | WG | 5. Shea Moylan |
| 6. Josh Lewis | FE | 19. Brad Cross |
| 7. Ian Lacey | HB | 7. Albert Talipeau |
| 8. Aaron Sweeney | PR | 8. Daniel Joyce |
| 9. Michael Ryan | HK | 9. McKanah Gibson |
| 10. Isaak Ah Mau | PR | 10. Liam McDonald |
| 11. Kurtis Lingwoodock | SR | 11. Tim Cannard |
| 12. Trevor Exton | SR | 12. Lewis Balcomb |
| 13. Danny Coburn (c) | LK | 13. Josh White |
| 14. Matt McPhee | Bench | 6. Phil Dennis (c) |
| 15. Scott Alo | Bench | 14. Graham Levu |
| 16. Leigh Coghill | Bench | 16. Cy Lasscock |
| 17. Jason Bulgarelli | Bench | 17. Dashae Francis |
| Kevin Walters | Coach | Paul Bramley |
Ipswich had their best regular season to date, finishing with their first minor premiership. They then defeated the Northern Pride in the major semi final to earn their second Grand Final appearance. Souths Logan, who finished second and qualified for the finals for just the second time, were upset by the Pride in Week 1 of the finals. In Week 2, they hosted and defeated Redcliffe before getting revenge on the Pride and defeating them 16–12 in the preliminary final to qualify for their first Grand Final.

### First half

Souths Logan got off to a brilliant start when they forced an error off the kickoff and scored in the second minute through prop Cy Lasscock. It took them just five minutes to extend their lead when hooker McKanah Gibson dived over from dummy half in almost the exact spot of their first try. After denying two Ipswich try scoring opportunities, the Magpies crossed for their third try of the game when Matt Templeman intercepted an Ian Lacey pass and sprinted away to score. With two minutes left in the half, Souths Logan converted a penalty goal from in front to lead 18-0.

### Second half

Down 18, Ipswich began their fightback with a try from hooker Michael Ryan just four minutes into the second half. In the 55th minute, the Jets cut the lead to six when centre Donald Malone pulled down a Lacey kick to score. Just a minute later, Ipswich completed the comeback when prop Aaron Sweeney scored under the posts to level the scores. A tense final 20 minutes followed, with Souths Logan being denied a try in the 65th minute and Ipswich missing a field goal from in front in the 78th minute. With 40 seconds left to play, Magpies' halfback Albert Talipeau put his centre Kyle Lodge through a gap close to the line. Lodge was cut down short by Jets' fullback Troy O'Sullivan but got up and scored after O'Sullivan couldn't complete the tackle. Referee Justin Eastwood checked with the video referee, who awarded the try. Josh White converted the try to seal the win and give Souths Logan their first Queensland Cup premiership.

## End-of-season awards

* Courier Mail Medal (Best and Fairest): Nat Bowman ( Central Comets)
* QANTAS Player of the Year (Coaches Award): Scott Smith ( Burleigh Bears)
* Coach of the Year: Kevin Walters ( Ipswich Jets)
* Rookie of the Year: Fred Tila ( Easts Tigers)
* Representative Player of the Year: Isaak Ah Mau ( Queensland Residents, Ipswich Jets)