The 2009 Queensland Cup season was the 14th 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 12 teams playing a 25-week-long season (including finals) from March to September.[1][2]

2009 Queensland Cup
DurationMarch 14 – September 12, 2009
Teams12
Premiers Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles
(1st title)
Minor premiers Souths Logan Magpies (1st title)
Matches played138
Points scored6,308
Top points scorer(s) Liam Georgetown
Player of the year Scott Smith (Courier Mail Medal)
Top try-scorer(s) Tom Humble
← 2008
2010 →

The Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles, in their first season back in the competition, won their first premiership after defeating the Northern Pride 32–18 at Stockland Park. Burleigh Bears' hooker Scott Smith was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.[3]

Teams

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In 2009, the Queensland Cup featured 12 teams for the first time since the 2004 season. The Sunshine Coast Falcons, re-branded as the Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles, returned to the competition after the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles injected $1 million into the club and formed a partnership.[4]

Colours Club Home ground(s) Head coach(s) Captain(s) NRL Affiliate
Burleigh Bears Pizzey Park Jim Lenihan Scott Smith   Gold Coast Titans
Central Comets Browne Park Wayne Barnett Nat Bowman   Brisbane Broncos
Easts Tigers Langlands Park Darren Smith → Jason Gainey Ben Vaeau   Brisbane Broncos
Ipswich Jets Briggs Rd Sporting Complex Glenn Lazarus Danny Coburn   Gold Coast Titans
Mackay Cutters Mackay JRL Grounds Shane Muspratt Jardine Bobongie   North Queensland Cowboys
Northern Pride Barlow Park Andrew Dunemann Chris Sheppard   North Queensland Cowboys
Norths Devils Bishop Park Mark Gee → Kevin Carmichael Mark Leafa   Brisbane Broncos
Redcliffe Dolphins Dolphin Oval Gary O'Brien Danny Burke   Brisbane Broncos
Souths Logan Magpies Meakin Park, Davies Park Paul Bramley Phil Dennis   Canberra Raiders
Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles Stockland Park Brandon Costin Cameron Joyce   Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Tweed Heads Seagulls Ned Byrne Field Steve Anderson → Steve Lacey Brad Davis   Gold Coast Titans
Wynnum Manly Seagulls BMD Kougari Oval Shane McNally Darren Bain   Brisbane Broncos

Ladder

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2009 Queensland Cup
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1   Souths Logan Magpies 22 16 0 6 711 434 +277 32
2   Northern Pride 22 14 0 8 564 445 +119 28
3   Central Comets 22 13 0 9 508 499 +9 26
4   Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles (P) 22 12 1 9 562 508 +54 25
5   Norths Devils 22 11 0 11 559 524 +35 22
6   Tweed Heads Seagulls 22 11 0 11 525 515 +10 22
7   Burleigh Bears 22 11 0 11 445 517 -72 22
8   Ipswich Jets 22 9 1 12 455 454 +1 19
9   Easts Tigers 22 9 1 12 451 548 -97 19
10   Wynnum Manly Seagulls 22 9 0 13 484 548 -64 18
11   Redcliffe Dolphins 22 7 2 13 472 518 -46 16
12   Mackay Cutters 22 7 1 14 315 541 -226 15

Final series

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In 2009, after using a five-team finals series for 10 years, the Queensland Cup used a six-team system. The competition used a six-team format from 1996 to 1998, although the system used in 2009 was two weeks shorter.

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (local) Venue
Semi-finals
  Souths Logan Magpies 16 – 8   Tweed Heads Seagulls 29 August 2009, 2:00pm Meakin Park
  Central Comets 21 – 14   Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles 29 August 2009, 7:00pm Browne Park
  Northern Pride 44 – 16   Norths Devils 29 August 2009, 8:00pm Barlow Park
Preliminary Finals
  Northern Pride 22 – 10   Central Comets 5 September 2009, 2:00pm Kougari Oval
  Souths Logan Magpies 26 – 30   Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles 5 September 2009, 3:00pm Meakin Park
Grand Final
  Northern Pride 18 – 32   Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles 12 September 2009, 2:00pm Stockland Park

Grand Final

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Saturday, 13 September
Northern Pride   18 – 32   Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles
Tries:
Jamie Frizzo 1
Tom Humble 1
Rod Jensen 1
Goals:
Tom Humble 3
1st: 8 - 12
2nd: 10 - 20
Report
Tries:
3 Shane Neumann
1 Michael Chapman
1 Trent Hodkinson
1 Ryan Walker
1 Tony Williams
Goals:
2 Trent Hodkinson
Stockland Park
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Clayton Sharpe
Player of the Match: Tony Williams (Sunshine Coast)
Northern Pride Position Sunshine Coast
Sea Eagles
Chey Bird FB Dennis Sandow
Josh Vaughan WG Michael Chapman
Rod Jensen CE Shane Neumann
Jamie Frizzo CE Andrew Suniula
Germaine Paulson WG Ryan Walker
Tom Humble FE Tony Williams
Chris Sheppard (c) HB Trent Hodkinson
Ben Laity PR Phil Morwood
Jason Roos HK Cameron Joyce (c)
Alex Starmer PR Junior Palau
Nick Slyney SR Vic Mauro
Mark Cantoni SR Jon Grieve
Joel Riethmuller LK Jon Muir
Luke Millwood Bench Tim Browne
Greg Byrnes Bench Rob Godfrey
Chris Reisen Bench Steve McPhee
Rod Griffin Bench Heath L'Estrange
Andrew Dunemann Coach Brandon Costin

The Northern Pride, who finished the regular season in second, qualified for their first Grand Final after a 22–10 win over the Central Comets in the preliminary final. They were joined by the Sunshine Coast, who finished fourth in their return season, after they defeated reigning premiers Souths Logan 30–26 in the preliminary final.

First half

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The Pride opened the scoring in the fifth minute when they created a huge overlap, with centre Jamie Frizzo finishing off the play with a try. The Sunshine Coast responded quickly when five-eighth Tony Williams bumped off a defender and threw an offload to centre Shane Neumann who crossed for his first try. The Sea Eagles hit the lead in the 27th minute when winger Michael Chapman scored untouched in the corner. They scored again four minutes later when Ryan Walker scored in the opposite corner. Poor goal kicking kept the Pride in the contest, as Williams missed all three conversion attempts. The Pride converted a penalty from right in front on the stroke of half time to trail by just eight at the break.

Second half

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The Sunshine Coast extended the lead to 10 in the 47th minute when Williams dived over for a try of his own. The Sea Eagles kept the points coming when Neumann dived over in the corner for his second just six minutes later. With just over 10 minutes remaining, the Pride gave themselves a chance when Rod Jensen scored and cut the Sea Eagles' lead to 10. Three minutes later, the Sunshine Coast all but sealed victory when halfback Trent Hodkinson scored close to the posts. The Pride scored a late consolation try when Humble latched onto a wayward Sea Eagles' pass and ran 80 metres to score under the uprights. In the final minute, Neumann crossed for his hat trick as the Sea Eagles' wrapped up a 14-point victory.

Tony Williams, who was awarded the Duncan Hall Medal, and second rower Vic Mauro would go onto play in the Manly Sea Eagles' 2011 NRL Grand Final win over the New Zealand Warriors.[5]

End-of-season awards

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Queensland Rugby League Website Retrieved 3 August 2009. Archived 2009-08-11.
  2. ^ Queensland Rugby League 2009 Draw Archived 19 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 3 August 2009
  3. ^ "Sea Eagles claim Queensland Cup". ABC News. 12 September 2009.
  4. ^ "Coast lands footy coup". The Daily. 9 November 2007. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Tony Williams steers coast victory-in Queensland Cup". The Courier Mail.[dead link]