| Year: | 2002 |
| Competition: | Queensland Cup |
| Duration: | March 16 – September 21, 2002 |
| Teams: | 12 |
| Count: | 3rd |
| Mpcount: | 3rd |
| Matches: | 138 |
| Points: | 7,846 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Damien Richters (246) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Dan Kennedy (34) |
| Player Of The Year: | Scott Thorburn (Courier Mail Medal) |
| Nextseason Year: | 2003 |
The 2002 Queensland Cup season was the 7th season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition featured 12 teams playing a 26-week long season (including finals) from March to September.
The Redcliffe Dolphins defeated the Ipswich Jets 34–10 in the Grand Final at Dolphin Oval to claim their third premiership. Easts Scott Thorburn was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.[1] [2]
The Queensland Cup returned to a 12-team format in 2002 with the inclusion of the North Queensland Young Guns, who served as the North Queensland Cowboys feeder club.[3]
Along with the Cowboys using the Young Guns as their affiliate, the Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm were again affiliated with the Toowoomba Clydesdales and Norths Devils, respectively.
| 2002 Queensland Cup | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ||||||||||
| 1 | Redcliffe Dolphins (P) | 22 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 833 | 376 | +457 | 36 | |
| 2 | East Coast Tigers | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 704 | 488 | +216 | 33 | |
| 3 | Ipswich Jets | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 673 | 402 | +271 | 32 | |
| 4 | Burleigh Bears | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 768 | 497 | +271 | 31 | |
| 5 | Norths Devils | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 774 | 441 | +363 | 28 | |
| 6 | North Queensland Young Guns | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 713 | 541 | +172 | 28 | |
| 7 | Toowoomba Clydesdales | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 792 | 624 | +168 | 26 | |
| 8 | Wynnum Seagulls | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 654 | 529 | +125 | 26 | |
| 9 | Central Comets | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 434 | 814 | -380 | 9 | |
| 10 | Wests Panthers | 22 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 432 | 854 | -422 | 8 | |
| 11 | Souths Magpies | 22 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 488 | 840 | -352 | 7 | |
| 12 | Logan Scorpions | 22 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 303 | 1192 | -889 | 0 | |
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=14% | Date | width=14% | Venue | |||||
| Qualifying / Elimination Finals | ||||||||
| Burleigh Bears | 20 – 42 | Norths Devils | 31 August 2002 | Pizzey Park | ||||
| 22 – 28 | Ipswich Jets | 31 August 2002 | Langlands Park | |||||
| Semi-finals | ||||||||
| Redcliffe Dolphins | 17 – 16 | Ipswich Jets | 7 September 2002 | Dolphin Oval | ||||
| 16 – 18 | Norths Devils | 7 September 2002 | Langlands Park | |||||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Ipswich Jets | 29 – 26 | Norths Devils | 14 September 2002 | Bendigo Bank Oval | ||||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Redcliffe Dolphins | 34 – 10 | Ipswich Jets | 21 September 2002 | Dolphin Oval | ||||
| Redcliffe Dolphins | Position | Ipswich Jets | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Leis | Marshall Chalk | ||
| Paul Shilvock | Steven West | ||
| Damien Richters | Aaron Bulow | ||
| Richard Allwood | |||
| Aaron Barba | Faron Anderson | ||
| Brendon Lindsay | |||
| Ricky Bird | |||
| Troy Lindsay | Jamie Mathiou | ||
| Matt Doeg | |||
| Danny McAllister | |||
| Luke Scott (c) | Anthony Seibold | ||
| Danny Burke | Andrew Hamilton | ||
| Grant Flugge | Danny Coburn | ||
| Russell Lahiff | Bench | Kerry Theuerkauf | |
| Bench | Reggie Cressbrook | ||
| Bench | Chris Anderson | ||
| Bench | Brian McCarthy | ||
| Neil Wharton | Coach | Gary Greinke |
Redcliffe finished the regular season with the minor premiership, their third, and cruised through the finals. After earning a first round bye, they defeated Ipswich by a point in the major semi final, qualifying for their sixth overall and fourth consecutive Grand Final. Ipswich qualified for the finals for the first time after finishing third, and defeated the East Coast Tigers in the first week of the playoffs. The loss to Redcliffe saw them face Norths in the preliminary final, in which they won 29–26 to set up a rematch with the Dolphins in the Grand Final. In the regular season, Redcliffe defeated Ipswich on both occasions (20–18 in Round 2 and 24–12 in Round 12).[4]
It took just 10 seconds for tensions to flare in the decider after Jets' prop Danny McAllister was hit with a high tackle from the kick off by Dolphins' captain Luke Scott. An all-in brawl erupted, with both teams coming together in a melee. Moments after the referees had finally regained order, the fight erupted again between Scott and McAllister. Both players were subsequently sent to the sin bin. In the 12th minute, Redcliffe opened the scoring through winger Aaron Barba. It was a dominant first half for the Dolphins, who led 22–0 at half time after tries to Bara (his second), Damien Richters and Barry Berrigan added tries.
Three minutes into the second half, Redcliffe pushed their lead to 28 when winger Phil Shilvock scored, the try all but wrapping up the game. Ipswich finally got on the scoreboard in the 49th minute when winger Steven West latched onto a Ricky Bird grubber. Redcliffe scored again in the 61st minute, when a pinpoint Shane Perry chip kick found Trent Leis, who scored in his third Grand Final. Jets' centre Aaron Bulow scored seven minutes later but the game was well out of reach for Ipswich, as Redcliffe secured their third premiership. Dolphins' hooker Barry Berrigan was named man of the match.[5]
The victorious Redcliffe side featured two players who would play in the Brisbane Broncos 2006 NRL Grand Final win over the Melbourne Storm, with Shane Perry starting at halfback and David Stagg starting at centre in the victory.[6]
| Pos | width=120 | Player | Team | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Kennedy | Burleigh Bears | 34 | |
| 2 | Aaron Barba | Redcliffe Dolphins | 28 | |
| 3 | Brian Jellick | Redcliffe Dolphins | 21 | |
| Elia Tuqiri | Toowoomba Clydesdales | 21 | ||
| 5 | Nick Parfitt | Toowoomba Clydesdales | 19 |
| Pos | width=120 | Player | Team | width=20 | T | width=20 | G | width=20 | FG | width=20 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Damien Richters | Redcliffe Dolphins | 10 | 103 | - | 246 | |||||
| 2 | Greg Bourke | Burleigh Bears | 17 | 77 | - | 222 | |||||
| 3 | Scott Thorburn | East Coast Tigers | 10 | 81 | 1 | 203 | |||||
| 4 | Cameron Smith | Norths Devils | 8 | 76 | - | 184 | |||||
| 5 | Justin McKay | North Queensland Young Guns | 8 | 75 | 1 | 183 |