| Year: | 2005 |
| Competition: | Queensland Cup |
| Duration: | March 12 – September 17, 2005 |
| Teams: | 11 |
| Premiers: | North Queensland Young Guns (1st title) |
| Minor Premiers: | North Queensland Young Guns (1st title) |
| Matches: | 116 |
| Points: | 6,216 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Reggie Cressbrook (206) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Simon Phillips (19) |
| Player Of The Year: | Greg Inglis (Courier Mail Medal) |
| Nextseason Year: | 2006 |
The 2005 Queensland Cup season was the 10th 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 11 teams playing a 26-week long season (including finals) from March to September.
The North Queensland Cowboys finished as minor premiers and defeated the Burleigh Bears 36–6 in the Grand Final at Suncorp Stadium to claim their first premiership. Norths Devils Greg Inglis was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.[1] [2]
Brothers-Valleys, who joined the competition in 2004, withdrew after just one season and were not replaced, with the competition featuring 11 teams for the first time since 2001.
The Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm and North Queensland Cowboys were again affiliated with the Toowoomba Clydesdales, Norths Devils and North Queensland Young Guns respectively.
| Colours | Club | Home ground(s) | Head coach (s) | Captain (s) | NRL affiliate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burleigh Bears | Pizzey Park | Rick Stone | Ali Brown | None | ||
| Central Comets | Browne Park | Neale Crow | Mark Henry | None | ||
| Easts Tigers | Langlands Park | Michael Booth | Brandon Costin | None | ||
| Ipswich Jets | QLD Group Stadium | Trevor Gillmeister | Danny Coburn | None | ||
| North Queensland Young Guns | Dairy Farmers Stadium | Grant Bell | Daniel Strickland | North Queensland Cowboys | ||
| Norths Devils | Bishop Park | Wayne Treleaven | Anthony Boyd | Melbourne Storm | ||
| Redcliffe Dolphins | Dolphin Oval | Anthony Griffin | Shane Perry | None | ||
| Souths Logan Magpies | Davies Park, Brandon Park | Phil Economidis | Darren Glase | None | ||
| Toowoomba Clydesdales | Clive Berghofer Stadium | John Dixon | Anthony Seibold | Brisbane Broncos | ||
| Tweed Heads Seagulls | Piggabeen Sports Complex | Steve Murphy | Andrew Moroney | None | ||
| Wynnum Seagulls | Kougari Oval | Neil Wharton | Jace van Dijk | None |
| 2005 Queensland Cup | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | |||||||||||
| 1 | North Queensland Young Guns (P) | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 612 | 352 | +260 | 33 | |
| 2 | Norths Devils | 20 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 719 | 454 | +265 | 31 | |
| 3 | Burleigh Bears | 20 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 644 | 354 | +290 | 30 | |
| 4 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 582 | 510 | +72 | 24 | |
| 5 | Toowoomba Clydesdales | 20 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 663 | 527 | +136 | 23 | |
| 6 | Wynnum Seagulls | 20 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 480 | 554 | -74 | 20 | |
| 7 | Tweed Heads Seagulls | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 556 | 485 | +71 | 19 | |
| 8 | Easts Tigers | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 591 | 504 | +87 | 18 | |
| 9 | Ipswich Jets | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 414 | 566 | -152 | 11 | |
| 10 | Souths Logan Magpies | 20 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 364 | 836 | -472 | 7 | |
| 11 | Central Comets | 20 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 346 | 829 | -483 | 4 | |
| Home | Score | Away | Match information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=14% | Date | width=14% | Venue | |||||
| Qualifying / Elimination Finals | ||||||||
| Redcliffe Dolphins | 23 – 22† | 27 August 2005 | Dolphin Oval | |||||
| Norths Devils | 18 – 26 | Burleigh Bears | 28 August 2005 | Bishop Park | ||||
| Semi-finals | ||||||||
| Norths Devils | 10 – 33 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 3 September 2005 | Bishop Park | ||||
| North Queensland Young Guns | 22 – 6 | Burleigh Bears | 3 September 2005 | Dairy Farmers Stadium | ||||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Burleigh Bears | 24 – 19 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 10 September 2005 | Pizzey Park | ||||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| North Queensland Young Guns | 36 – 6 | Burleigh Bears | 17 September 2005 | Suncorp Stadium | ||||
| North Queensland Young Guns | Position | Burleigh Bears | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reggie Cressbrook | |||
| Balin Cupples | |||
| Nick Shaw | |||
| Trent Leis | |||
| Dean Payne | Aseri Laing | ||
| Adam Hayden | |||
| David Hicks | |||
| Ali Brown (c) | |||
| Ryan Gundry | |||
| Shane O'Flanagan | |||
| Daniel Strickland (c) | Martin Griese | ||
| Adam Hutchison | |||
| Adrian Vowles | |||
| Bench | James Griffiths | ||
| Bench | Jeremy Lateo | ||
| Wallace Solomona | Bench | Chris Barnes | |
| James Andersen | Bench | Robert Apanui | |
| Coach | Rick Stone |
North Queensland took out the minor premiership and qualified for the finals for the first time since joining the Queensland Cup in 2002, losing just three games in the regular season. In the finals, they defeated Burleigh in the major semi final to book a spot in their first Grand Final. Defending premiers Burleigh, who finished the season in 3rd, defeated Norths in the Week 1 qualifying final to set up a contest with the Young Guns. After losing, the Bears hosted Redcliffe, defeating them 24–19 and qualifying for their third straight Grand Final.
The Young Guns opened the scoring in the 8th minute, when Neil Sweeney kicked a penalty goal after prop Jaiman Lowe was taken high by Bears' second rower Adam Hutchison. Seven minutes later, North Queensland recorded the first try of the game when centre David Myles sliced through some soft defence to score. They extended their lead to 12–0 when five-eighth Shane Muspratt burrowed over from dummy half to score. In the 28th minute, Burleigh finally got on the board thanks to a long range try to former North Queensland Cowboy Trent Leis. Two minutes before half time, the Young Guns extended their lead to 12 when Neil Sweeney scored under the posts thanks to a Brent McConnell line break.
The second half was scoreless until the final 10 minutes, when the Young Guns ran in three unanswered tries on their way to their first premiership. In the 70th minute, hooker Clint Amos dived over from dummy half, pushing the lead to 18. From the set following the kick off, captain Daniel Strickland burst through the Bears' defensive line and sent fullback Jason Barsley away to score under the posts. Finally, in the 76th minute, a McConnell chip kick was regathered by Muspratt, who kept it alive, with the ball going through five sets of hands before Myles finished the play for his second try. The win marked the first time a team from outside of south east Queensland would win the Grand Final.[3]
Three players from the victorious Young Guns' side, Gavin Cooper, Matthew Scott and Scott Bolton, would go on to become club legends for the North Queensland Cowboys, with all three winning an NRL premiership with the club in 2015.[4]
| Pos | width=120 | Player | Team | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simon Phillips | Wynnum Seagulls | 19 | |
| 2 | Greg Inglis | Norths Devils | 18 | |
| 3 | Tony Duggan | Toowoomba Clydesdales | 16 | |
| 4 | Trent Leis | Burleigh Bears | 15 | |
| Damien Quinn | Wynnum Seagulls | 15 | ||
| David Strachan | Tweed Heads Seagulls | 15 |
| Pos | width=120 | Player | Team | width=20 | T | width=20 | G | width=20 | FG | width=20 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reggie Cressbrook | Burleigh Bears | 14 | 75 | - | 206 | |||||
| 2 | Greg Bourke | Redcliffe Dolphins | 6 | 72 | - | 168 | |||||
| 3 | Damien Quinn | Wynnum Seagulls | 15 | 50 | - | 160 | |||||
| 4 | Nick Parfitt | Toowoomba Clydesdales | 12 | 55 | - | 158 | |||||
| 5 | Greg Inglis | Norths Devils | 18 | 39 | - | 150 |