# 2005 Queensland Cup

The 2005 Queensland Cup season was the 10th 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 North Queensland Cowboys finished as minor premiers and defeated the Burleigh Bears 36–6 in the Grand Final at Suncorp Stadium to claim their first premiership. Norths Devils fullback Greg Inglis was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.

## Teams

Brothers-Valleys, who joined the competition in 2004, withdrew after just one season and were not replaced, with the competition featuring 11 teams for the first time since 2001.
The Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm and North Queensland Cowboys were again affiliated with the Toowoomba Clydesdales, Norths Devils and North Queensland Young Guns respectively.
| Club | Home ground(s) | Head coach (s) | Captain (s) | NRL affiliate |
| Burleigh Bears | Pizzey Park | Rick Stone | Ali Brown | None |
| Central Comets | Browne Park | Neale Crow | Mark Henry | None |
| Easts Tigers | Langlands Park | Michael Booth | Brandon Costin | None |
| Ipswich Jets | QLD Group Stadium | Trevor Gillmeister | Danny Coburn | None |
| North Queensland Young Guns | Dairy Farmers Stadium | Grant Bell | Daniel Strickland | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Norths Devils | Bishop Park | Wayne Treleaven | Anthony Boyd | Melbourne Storm |
| Redcliffe Dolphins | Dolphin Oval | Anthony Griffin | Shane Perry | None |
| Souths Logan Magpies | Davies Park, Brandon Park | Phil Economidis | Darren Glase | None |
| Toowoomba Clydesdales | Clive Berghofer Stadium | John Dixon | Anthony Seibold | Brisbane Broncos |
| Tweed Heads Seagulls | Piggabeen Sports Complex | Steve Murphy | Andrew Moroney | None |
| Wynnum Seagulls | Kougari Oval | Neil Wharton | Jace van Dijk | None |

## Ladder

2005 Queensland Cup :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | North Queensland Young Guns (P) | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 612 | 352 | +260 | 33 |
| 2 | Norths Devils | 20 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 719 | 454 | +265 | 31 |
| 3 | Burleigh Bears | 20 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 644 | 354 | +290 | 30 |
| 4 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 582 | 510 | +72 | 24 |
| 5 | Toowoomba Clydesdales | 20 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 663 | 527 | +136 | 23 |
| 6 | Wynnum Seagulls | 20 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 480 | 554 | -74 | 20 |
| 7 | Tweed Heads Seagulls | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 556 | 485 | +71 | 19 |
| 8 | Easts Tigers | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 591 | 504 | +87 | 18 |
| 9 | Ipswich Jets | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 414 | 566 | -152 | 11 |
| 10 | Souths Logan Magpies | 20 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 364 | 836 | -472 | 7 |
| 11 | Central Comets | 20 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 346 | 829 | -483 | 4 |

## Finals series

| Home | Score | Away | Match information | Match information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date | Venue |
| Qualifying / Elimination Finals |||||||
| Redcliffe Dolphins | 23 – 22† | Toowoomba Clydesdales | 27 August 2005 | Dolphin Oval |
| Norths Devils | 18 – 26 | Burleigh Bears | 28 August 2005 | Bishop Park |
| Semi-finals |||||||
| Norths Devils | 10 – 33 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 3 September 2005 | Bishop Park |
| North Queensland Young Guns | 22 – 6 | Burleigh Bears | 3 September 2005 | Dairy Farmers Stadium |
| Preliminary Final |||||||
| Burleigh Bears | 24 – 19 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 10 September 2005 | Pizzey Park |
| Grand Final |||||||
| North Queensland Young Guns | 36 – 6 | Burleigh Bears | 17 September 2005 | Suncorp Stadium |
† Match decided in extra time.
| 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 | North Qld | 22 | | | | North Qld | 36 |
| | | | | Burleigh | 6 | | | | Burleigh | Burleigh | 6 |
| 2 | Norths | 18 | | | | Burleigh | Burleigh | 24 | | | |
| 3 | Burleigh | 26 | | | | Redcliffe | Redcliffe | 19 | | | |
| | | | Norths | Norths | 10 | | | | | | |
| | | | Redcliffe | Redcliffe | 33 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Redcliffe | 23 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Toowoomba | 22 | | | | | | | | | |

## Grand Final

* Saturday, 17 September
| North Queensland Young Guns | 36 – 6 | Burleigh Bears |
| Tries: David Myles 2 Clint Amos 1 Jason Barsley 1 Shane Muspratt 1 Neil Sweeney 1 Goals: Neil Sweeney 6 | 1st: 18 - 6 2nd: 18 - 0 Report | Tries: 1 Trent Leis Goals: 1 Reggie Cressbrook |
* Suncorp Stadium Attendance: 6,893 Referee: Rob Alexander Player of the Match: Shane Muspratt (North Queensland)
| North Queensland Young Guns | Position | Burleigh Bears |
| Jason Barsley | FB | Reggie Cressbrook |
| Neil Sweeney | WG | Balin Cupples |
| Gavin Cooper | CE | Nick Shaw |
| David Myles | CE | Trent Leis |
| Dean Payne | WG | Aseri Laing |
| Shane Muspratt | FE | Adam Hayden |
| Brent McConnell | HB | David Hicks |
| Jaiman Lowe | PR | Ali Brown (c) |
| Clint Amos | HK | Ryan Gundry |
| Matthew Scott | PR | Shane O'Flanagan |
| Daniel Strickland (c) | SR | Martin Griese |
| Mark Dalle Cort | SR | Adam Hutchison |
| Leigh McWilliams | LK | Adrian Vowles |
| Rory Bromley | Bench | James Griffiths |
| Scott Bolton | Bench | Jeremy Lateo |
| Wallace Solomona | Bench | Chris Barnes |
| James Andersen | Bench | Robert Apanui |
| Grant Bell | Coach | Rick Stone |
North Queensland took out the minor premiership and qualified for the finals for the first time since joining the Queensland Cup in 2002, losing just three games in the regular season. In the finals, they defeated Burleigh in the major semi final to book a spot in their first Grand Final. Defending premiers Burleigh, who finished the season in 3rd, defeated Norths in the Week 1 qualifying final to set up a contest with the Young Guns. After losing, the Bears hosted Redcliffe, defeating them 24–19 and qualifying for their third straight Grand Final.

### First half

The Young Guns opened the scoring in the 8th minute, when Neil Sweeney kicked a penalty goal after prop Jaiman Lowe was taken high by Bears' second rower Adam Hutchison. Seven minutes later, North Queensland recorded the first try of the game when centre David Myles sliced through some soft defence to score. They extended their lead to 12–0 when five-eighth Shane Muspratt burrowed over from dummy half to score. In the 28th minute, Burleigh finally got on the board thanks to a long range try to former North Queensland Cowboy Trent Leis. Two minutes before half time, the Young Guns extended their lead to 12 when Neil Sweeney scored under the posts thanks to a Brent McConnell line break.

### Second half

The second half was scoreless until the final 10 minutes, when the Young Guns ran in three unanswered tries on their way to their first premiership. In the 70th minute, hooker Clint Amos dived over from dummy half, pushing the lead to 18. From the set following the kick off, captain Daniel Strickland burst through the Bears' defensive line and sent fullback Jason Barsley away to score under the posts. Finally, in the 76th minute, a McConnell chip kick was regathered by Muspratt, who kept it alive, with the ball going through five sets of hands before Myles finished the play for his second try. The win marked the first time a team from outside of south east Queensland would win the Grand Final.
Three players from the victorious Young Guns' side, Gavin Cooper, Matthew Scott and Scott Bolton, would go on to become club legends for the North Queensland Cowboys, with all three winning an NRL premiership with the club in 2015.

## End-of-season awards

* Courier Mail Medal: Greg Inglis ( Norths Devils)
* Coach of the Year: Wayne Treleaven ( Norths Devils)
* Rookie of the Year: Wayne Bond ( Redcliffe Dolphins)
* Representative Player of the Year: Nathan Friend ( Queensland Residents, Norths Devils)