| Year: | 2003 |
| Competition: | Queensland Cup |
| Duration: | March 15 – September 20, 2003 |
| Teams: | 12 |
| Count: | 4th |
| Mpcount: | 1st |
| Matches: | 138 |
| Points: | 7,799 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Steven West (264) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Aaron Barba (33) |
| Player Of The Year: | Denny Lambert (Courier Mail Medal) |
| Nextseason Year: | 2004 |
The 2003 Queensland Cup season was the 8th 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 Burleigh Bears 31–18 in the Grand Final at Dolphin Oval, becoming the first club to win back-to-back premierships. Wynnum Denny Lambert was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.[1] [2] [3]
The Tweed Heads Seagulls, 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, an inaugural Queensland Cup club, ceased operations. Seagulls became the first New South Wales-based team to enter the competition. Souths Magpies 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, Melbourne Storm and North Queensland Cowboys were again affiliated with the Toowoomba Clydesdales, Norths Devils and North Queensland Young Guns respectively.
| 2003 Queensland Cup | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ||||||||||
| 1 | Burleigh Bears | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 707 | 366 | +341 | 33 | |
| 2 | Redcliffe Dolphins (P) | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 789 | 486 | +303 | 33 | |
| 3 | Ipswich Jets | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 732 | 465 | +267 | 31 | |
| 4 | Wynnum Seagulls | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 700 | 536 | +164 | 31 | |
| 5 | Tweed Heads Seagulls | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 606 | 564 | +42 | 28 | |
| 6 | Toowoomba Clydesdales | 22 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 738 | 591 | +147 | 23 | |
| 7 | North Queensland Young Guns | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 638 | 457 | +181 | 22 | |
| 8 | Norths Devils | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 615 | 589 | +26 | 21 | |
| 9 | Easts Tigers | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 626 | 641 | -15 | 20 | |
| 10 | Central Comets | 22 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 466 | 749 | -283 | 14 | |
| 11 | Souths Logan Magpies | 22 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 484 | 978 | -494 | 8 | |
| 12 | Wests Panthers | 22 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 361 | 1040 | -679 | 0 | |
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=14% | Date | width=14% | Venue | |||||
| Qualifying / Elimination Finals | ||||||||
| Wynnum Seagulls | 40 – 22 | Tweed Heads Seagulls | 30 August 2003 | Kougari Oval | ||||
| Redcliffe Dolphins | 28 – 22 | Ipswich Jets | 31 August 2003 | Dolphin Oval | ||||
| Semi-finals | ||||||||
| Burleigh Bears | 26 – 24 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 6 September 2003 | Pizzey Park | ||||
| 12 – 42 | Wynnum Seagulls | 6 September 2003 | Bendigo Bank Oval | |||||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Redcliffe Dolphins | 46 – 26 | Wynnum Seagulls | 13 September 2003 | Dolphin Oval | ||||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Burleigh Bears | 18 – 31 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 20 September 2003 | Dolphin Oval | ||||
| Burleigh Bears | Position | Redcliffe Dolphins | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Purdon | Justin McKay | ||
| Paul Shilvock | |||
| Damien Richters | |||
| Brian Jellick | |||
| Aaron Barba | |||
| Ryan Gundry | Shane Perry | ||
| Mick Roberts (c) | |||
| Shane Tronc | |||
| Ryan Dagwell | Jason Campbell | ||
| Shane O'Flanagan | Adam Starr | ||
| Stan Berryman | Ben Jones | ||
| Tony Gray | Danny Burke | ||
| Dean Allen (c) | Grant Flugge | ||
| Jeremy Lateo | Bench | Matt Anderton | |
| Matt Harriden | Bench | Troy Lindsay | |
| Afa Gafa | Bench | Daniel Green | |
| Bench | Andrew Wynyard | ||
| Coach | Neil Wharton |
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 in the first week of the finals, faced Wynnum 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.[4]
Burleigh started the Grand Final in the best way possible when centre Reggie Cressbrook 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 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.
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 Shane Perry 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.[5]
| Pos | width=120 | Player | Team | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Barba | Redcliffe Dolphins | 33 | |
| 2 | Ricky Bird | Ipswich Jets | 19 | |
| Cooper Cronk | Norths Devils | 19 | ||
| 3 | Rick Dodd | Souths Logan Magpies | 17 | |
| Derek Fletcher | Norths Devils | 17 | ||
| Denny Lambert | Wynnum Seagulls | 17 |
| Pos | width=120 | Player | Team | width=20 | T | width=20 | G | width=20 | FG | width=20 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steven West | Ipswich Jets | 15 | 102 | - | 264 | |||||
| 2 | Damien Quinn | Wynnum Seagulls | 13 | 70 | - | 192 | |||||
| 3 | Reggie Cressbrook | Burleigh Bears | 11 | 70 | - | 184 | |||||
| 4 | Brenton Bowen | North Queensland Young Guns | 15 | 49 | - | 158 | |||||
| 5 | Rick Dodd | Souths Logan Magpies | 17 | 43 | - | 154 |