The 2014 National Rugby League State Championship is a

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 ...

match contested by 2014 NSW Cup premiers

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

and 2014 Queensland Cup premiers the Northern Pride. The match is the inaugural edition of the

NRL State Championship The NRL State Championship is a rugby league match contested by the premiers of the two elite second-tier competitions in Australia, the New South Wales Cup and the Queensland Cup. The match has been played as a curtain-raiser to the NRL Grand F ...

, an annual

championship game In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

staged to determine the title of NRL State Champions, and challenged by the premiers of the

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

and the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...

. The Northern Pride won the match by 8 points, winning their first NRL State Championship title. The match was played at

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ...

as a curtain raiser match for the

2014 NRL Grand Final The 2014 NRL Grand Final was the concluding and premiership-deciding match of the 2014 NRL season. Played on the evening of Sunday 5 October 2014 at ANZ Stadium, the match was contested by the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Canterbury-Bankstown B ...

on 5 October 2014. The match was televised by the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

and

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Background

Penrith had entered the 2014 NRL State Championship by winning the 2014 New South Wales Cup Grand Final. After finishing first on the ladder during the 2014 NSW Cup season, recording only four losses out of 21 games, they entered the 2014 New South Wales Finals Series, winning all their matches including the Grand Final against the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

48–12. The Northern Pride booked a place in the State Championship by winning the 2014 Queensland Cup Grand Final against the

Easts Tigers The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1997, where ...

36–4. They also had recorded only four losses in their season, out of 24 in the 2014 Queensland Cup season, finishing first on the ladder. They entered the 2014 Queensland Cup Finals Series, winning against Easts in the major semi-final 8-7 and then again in the Grand Final. Former

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 ...

and

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_ ...

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

player

Justin Hodges Justin Hodges (born 25 May 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative , Hodges started his career in the Natio ...

had endorsed the Northern Pride in a ''

Cairns Post ''The Cairns Post'' is a major News Corporation newspaper in Far North Queensland, Australia, that exclusively serves the Cairns area. It has daily coverage on local, state, national and world news, plus a wide range of sections and liftouts co ...

'' article before the match, stating, "They may be a

Cowboys A cowboy is a professional pastoralist or mounted livestock herder, usually from the Americas or Australia. Cowboy(s) or The Cowboy(s) may also refer to: Film and television * ''Cowboy'' (1958 film), starring Glenn Ford * ''Cowboy'' (1966 film), ...

feeder team but everyone knows they are a Cairns team and a Queensland team. They are a strong side and are a classy side that is coached very well. They have been the benchmark of the Queensland competition for years so I know they’ll go well. There is only them and the Broncos under-20 from up here playing on grand final day. So I reckon everyone in Queensland will be cheering them on."

Match details

References

External links

2014 Queensland Cup2014 New South Wales Cup
{{2014 in rugby league 2014 in Australian rugby league Northern Pride RLFC Penrith Panthers matches Rugby league club matches

Background

Match details

See also

References

External links