1996 Queensland Cup

The 1996 Queensland Cup season was the 1st season of Queensland's premier statewide competition. It had been formed after the Winfield State League was closed after the end of the 1995 Season. It was subsequently superseded by the Queensland Cup.
At this time it was considered as the second highest league, directly under the Brisbane Rugby League. It would run under the BRL until 1998 when it would become the highest rugby league competition in the state.

Teams

The inaugural Queensland Cup season featured 16 teams, 12 from south east Queensland, two from north Queensland and one each from central Queensland and Papua New Guinea.

Colours	Club	Home ground
	Bundaberg Grizzlies	Salter Oval
	Cairns Cyclones	Barlow Park
	Central Capras	Browne Park
	Easts Tigers	Langlands Park
	Ipswich Jets	North Ipswich Reserve
	Logan City Scorpions	Meakin Park
	Mackay Sea Eagles	Mackay JRL Grounds
	Norths Devils	Bishop Park
	Pine Rivers Brothers	Bray Park
	Port Moresby Vipers	Lloyd Robson Oval
	Redcliffe Dolphins	Dolphin Oval
	Souths Magpies	Davies Park
	Sunshine Coast Falcons	Kawana Sports Ground
	Toowoomba Clydesdales	Athletic Oval
	Wests Panthers	Purtell Park
	Wynnum Seagulls	Kougari Oval

Regular season

The inaugural Queensland Cup consisted of 16 teams and ran for 15 regular season rounds with a top 6 finals system.

Ladder

¹Awarded one point due to game being cancelled.

Grand Final

Redcliffe Dolphins	Position	Toowoomba Clydesdales
Barry Denduck	FB	Kyle Warren
2. Stephen Leyden	WG	2. Peter Stennier
3. Ricky Hewinson	CE	3. Andrew Richards
4. Mark Shipway	CE	4. Jeffery Slater
5. Aaron Douglas	WG	5. Darren Lawson
6. Tom O'Reilly	FE	6. Cameron Hamblin
7. Peter Robinson	HB	7. Damian Fry
8. Grant Cleal	PR	8. Russell Voll
9. Darren Smallhorne	HK	9. Mick Jenkins
10. Danny Nutley	PR	10. Kayne Spicer
11. Ian Graham	SR	11. Scott Kuhnemann
12. Kahu Tweedie	SR	12. Tony Evans
13. Tony Gould	LK	13. Don Saunders
14. Graham Cotter	Bench	14. Paul Sutton
15. James Hinchey	Bench	15. Ross Murray
16. Bevan Canning	Bench	16. Shaun Lawson
17. Cameron Hurren	Bench	17. Craig Scanlan
John Boxsell	Coach	Gary Lawrence

The inaugural Queensland Cup Grand Final featured minor premiers, the Toowoomba Clydesdales, and the second placed Redcliffe Dolphins, in what would be the fourth meeting between the two sides in 1996. The first encounter was in Round 13, with Redcliffe defeating Toowoomba 18-8 to secure the two competition points. The sides then met twice in the final series, with both matches being low-scoring, defensive battles. In the qualifying final, the Clydesdales recorded a narrow 12-10 win over the Dolphins, while two weeks later Redcliffe held on for a 6-0 victory to progress to the Grand Final.

First half

Toowoomba second-rower Scott Kuhnemann recorded the only points in the first half, kicking a penalty goal in the 21st minute. This came after Redcliffe captain Ian Graham and Toowoomba's Paul Sutton were both sin binned for fighting.

Second half

The first try of the final was eventually scored by Clydesdales' interchange player Shaun Lawson, who dummied and stepped through the Dolphins' defence to score under the posts. Redcliffe then hit back through centre Mark Shipway, who received the ball 35 metres out from the try line and sprinted around the Toowoomba defence to get his side back into the contest.
Redcliffe were then denied twice in the dying minutes by the Clydesdales' defence. Halfback Peter Robinson was stopped just before the line by Toowoomba fullback Kyle Warren, who knocked himself unconscious in the process, while Cameron Hurren had the ball knocked out of his arms, just moments later, as he went over the try line. As of 2019, the 8–6 scoreline is still the lowest ever in a Queensland Cup Grand Final.

Player statistics

The following statistics are correct as of the conclusion of Round 15.

End-of-season awards

Courier Mail Medal: Alan Wieland Rookie of the Year: Brendan Liston

Brisbane Rugby League

The Queensland Rugby League also decided to continue the tradition of crowning a Brisbane club premier as was tradition since 1922. The competition, which was run as a second-tier title, started with the Brisbane teams who missed the finals, with the finalists filtering in upon their elimination from the Queensland Cup finals.
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