The 2003 Queensland Cup season was the 8th season of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

's top-level statewide

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

competition run by the

Queensland Rugby League The Queensland Rugby Football League QRL Constitution, 2009: 3 (QRL QRL Constitution, 2009: 2) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL Commission) and selects the membe ...

. The competition featured 12 teams playing a 26-week long season (including finals) from March to September. The

Redcliffe Dolphins The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisba ...

defeated the

Burleigh Bears The Burleigh Bears are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Gold Coast, Australia. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. Since their admission to the competition in 1997, the ...

31–18 in the Grand Final at

Dolphin Oval Dolphin Stadium (also known as Kayo Stadium and previously Moreton Daily Stadium under naming rights) is a sports stadium in the suburb of Kippa-Ring, Queensland, Kippa-Ring in the Moreton Bay Region, north of the adjoining Brisbane metropolita ...

, becoming the first club to win back-to-back premierships.

Wynnum Wynnum is a coastal suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wynnum had a population of 12,915 people. The suburb is a popular destination in Brisbane due to its coastline, jetty and tidal wading pool. Geography Wynnu ...

Denny Lambert Denny Lambert (born January 7, 1970) is a former professional Canadian ice hockey player and member of the Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways, Batchewana First Nation. Lambert was drafted in the Ontario Hockey League where he played for the S ...

was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.

Teams

The

Tweed Heads Seagulls The Tweed Heads Seagulls, often referred to simply as Tweed or Seagulls or Tweed Seagulls, is a rugby league club based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales. It is one of only two non-Queensland teams to play in the Queensland Cup, along with the ...

, the oldest provincial club in Australia, gained entry to the competition for the 2003 season. The club applied for the 2002 season but were unsuccessful. They re-applied after the

Logan Scorpions The Logan Scorpions were an Australian rugby league football club from the suburb of Slacks Creek in Logan City, Queensland. Due to financial difficulties, the club ceased operation at the end of the 2002 Queensland Cup season, and merged with ...

, an inaugural Queensland Cup club, ceased operations. Seagulls became the first

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

-based team to enter the competition.

Souths Magpies The Souths Logan Magpies, more commonly referred to by their former names Southern Suburbs Magpies, or South Brisbane Magpies, or often simply referred to as Souths, are a rugby league football club based in the southern suburbs of Brisbane, Au ...

acquired what remained of the Logan club and re-branded as the Souths Logan Magpies. Also in 2003, the East Coast Tigers reverted to their original name, Easts Tigers, after two seasons. The

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

and

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

were again affiliated with the

Toowoomba Clydesdales The Toowoomba Clydesdales are a rugby league football club based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The Clydesdales originally played in the Queensland Cup from the competition's inception in 1996 until 2006, and were the feeder club for the ...

Norths Devils The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They pl ...

and

North Queensland Young Guns The North Queensland Young Guns were a rugby league team competing in the Queensland Cup. They acted as a feeder team for the North Queensland Cowboys. The Cowboys had previously entered reserve grade teams in the Australian Rugby League and Su ...

respectively.

Ladder

Finals series

Grand Final

Burleigh, who finished as minor premiers ahead of Redcliffe on points differential, earned a week one bye in the finals before defeating the Dolphins in the major semi final to secure a spot in their second Grand Final. Redcliffe, who defeated

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

in the first week of the finals, faced

in the preliminary final after their loss to Burleigh. A dominant 46–26 win over the Seagulls saw them qualify for their fifth straight Grand Final and set up a rematch of the 1999 decider against Burleigh.

First half

Burleigh started the Grand Final in the best way possible when centre

Reggie Cressbrook Reggie Cressbrook (born 23 October 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. Primarily a , he was a foundation player for the North Queensland Cowboys Playing career Born and raised in Woorabin ...

intercepted a pass in the opening set to score under the posts. Redcliffe hit back through the competition's top try scorer Aaron Barba, who scored in the 18th minute. Barba got his second try of the game when he chased down a

Shane Perry Shane Perry (born 9 November 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s whose usual position was halfback. He played in the National Rugby League for the Western Suburbs Magpies, Canterbury-Bankst ...

kick from a scrum win to score untouched. Barba scored his third try of the contest when he scooped up a kick from inside his own half and ran 70 metres to score just before half time.

Second half

Redcliffe seemingly put the game beyond doubt four minutes into the second half when centre Damien Richters scored out wide. Burleigh staged a small fightback with two tries in five minutes to Tony Gray and Trent Purdon but the Dolphins truly put the game to bed when Ben Jones scored with eight minutes to play. In the 78th minute, five-eighth

wrapped up the victory with a field goal to extend the final winning margin to 13. The win gave the Dolphins' their fourth premiership in eight seasons and their first back-to-back titles.

Player statistics

Leading try scorers

Leading point scorers

End-of-season awards

* Courier Mail Medal:

(

Wynnum Seagulls The Wynnum-Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1951 to 1997. Since ...

) * Rookie of the Year: Stanley Fau (

Souths Logan Magpies The Souths Logan Magpies, more commonly referred to by their former names Southern Suburbs Magpies, or South Brisbane Magpies, or often simply referred to as Souths, are a rugby league football club based in the southern suburbs of Brisbane, Au ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queensland Cup season 2003 2003 in Australian rugby league Queensland Cup