| Year: | 2014 |
| Competition: | Queensland Cup |
| Duration: | March 1 – September 28, 2014 |
| Teams: | 13 |
| Count: | 2nd |
| Mpcount: | 2nd |
| Matches: | 162 |
| Points: | 7,501 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Khan Ahwang (197) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Garry Lo (24) |
| Player Of The Year: | Luke Page (Courier Mail Medal) |
| Nextseason Year: | 2015 |
The 2014 Queensland Cup season was the 19th season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition, known as the Intrust Super Cup due to sponsorship from Intrust Super, featured 13 teams playing a 30-week long season (including finals) from March to September.[1]
The Northern Pride won their second premiership after defeating the Easts Tigers 36–4 in the Grand Final at Suncorp Stadium. Souths Logan Magpies' Luke Page was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.[2] [3]
In 2014, the competition expanded to the 13 teams with the inclusion of the PNG Hunters. The Hunters are the first Papua New Guinea-based club to play in the Queensland Cup since the Port Moresby Vipers, who took part in the 1996 and 1997 seasons.[4] The Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles returned to their original name, the Sunshine Coast Falcons, and returned to their usual black and gold colour scheme.
The Canberra Raiders re-introduced their affiliation with the Souths Logan Magpies for the 2014 season.[5]
| 2014 Queensland Cup | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | |||||||||||
| 1 | Northern Pride (P) | 24 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 677 | 414 | 263 | 44 | |
| 2 | Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 690 | 400 | 290 | 38 | |
| 3 | Easts Tigers | 24 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 667 | 409 | 258 | 37 | |
| 4 | Tweed Heads Seagulls | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 617 | 511 | 106 | 35 | |
| 5 | Ipswich Jets | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 642 | 514 | 128 | 34 | |
| 6 | Papua New Guinea Hunters | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 648 | 557 | 91 | 33 | |
| 7 | Burleigh Bears | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 549 | 599 | -50 | 27 | |
| 8 | Norths Devils | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 572 | 544 | 28 | 26 | |
| 9 | Mackay Cutters | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 472 | 546 | -74 | 26 | |
| 10 | Souths Logan Magpies | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 535 | 620 | -85 | 24 | |
| 11 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 24 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 566 | 617 | -51 | 21 | |
| 12 | Central Queensland Capras | 24 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 2 | 415 | 773 | -358 | 13 | |
| 13 | Sunshine Coast Falcons | 24 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 230 | 776 | -546 | 6 | |
See also: 2014 Queensland Cup season results. The 2014 Queensland Cup regular season featured 26 rounds, with each team playing 24 games and receiving two byes.
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=10% | Date and Time (Local) | width=10% | Venue | ||||
| Elimination / Qualifying Final | |||||||
| Tweed Heads Seagulls | 10 – 28 | Ipswich Jets | 7 September 2014, 2:00pm | Piggabeen Sports Complex | |||
| Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 12 – 18 | Easts Tigers | 7 September 2014, 2:00pm | BMD Kougari Oval | |||
| Major / Minor Semi-final | |||||||
| Northern Pride | 8 – 7 | Easts Tigers | 13 September 2014, 5:30pm | Barlow Park | |||
| Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 34 – 22 | Ipswich Jets | 14 September 2014, 1:30pm | BMD Kougari Oval | |||
| Preliminary Final | |||||||
| Easts Tigers | 30 – 12 | Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 21 September 2014, 2:30pm | Langlands Park | |||
| Grand Final | |||||||
| Northern Pride | 36 – 4 | Easts Tigers | 28 September 2014, 3:55pm | Suncorp Stadium | |||
| Northern Pride | Position | Easts Tigers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hezron Murgha | Cameron Munster | ||
| Jarrod McInally | |||
| Brett Anderson (c) | Shane Neumann | ||
| Hymel Hunt | |||
| Richie Kennar | |||
| Shaun Nona | Liam Tyson | ||
| Cody Walker | |||
| Felise Kaufusi | |||
| Jason Roos (c) | Tom Butterfield | ||
| Matthew Zgrajewski | |||
| Dane Hogan | |||
| Troy Giess | |||
| Kenny Bromwich | |||
| Davin Crampton | Bench | Donald Malone | |
| Bench | Steven Thorpe (c) | ||
| Sheldon Powe-Hobbs | Bench | Mitch Garbutt | |
| Bench | Liam McDonald | ||
| Coach | Craig Ingebrigtsen |
The Northern Pride dominated the regular season, winning 16 games as they won their second consecutive minor premiership. They defeated Easts 8–7 in the major semi final to qualify for their third Grand Final. Easts, who finished third, defeated Wynnum Manly in the first week of the finals before their one-point loss to the Pride. A week later, they again faced Wynnum Manly, winning 30–12 to qualify for their second consecutive Grand Final and their fourth overall.
The Northern Pride opened the scoring in the 15th minute when centre Kyle Feldt crossed after a set play to the right. They added another try five minutes later when Hezron Murgha sent Javid Bowen over with a short ball. They went into the half time break with an 18–0 lead after Davin Crampton scored next to the posts in the 35th minute.
The Pride started the second half as they ended the first, when Shaun Nona caught his own rebounded kick and found his captain Brett Anderson, who scored in the corner. The lead jumped to 30 in the 51st minute when Ryan Ghietti scored thanks to a Blake Leary line break. After 65 minutes, the Tigers finally got on the scoreboard after winger Jarrod McInally scored a consolation try. The Pride wrapped up the win with their sixth try of the game, after Bowen crossed out wide for his second in the 79th minute. Shaun Nona converted to bring the final score to 36–4, the biggest winning margin in a Queensland Cup Grand Final (as of 2019).[6] Nona was awarded the Duncan Hall Medal for man of the match.[7]
North Queensland Cowboys-contracted Pride players Kyle Feldt and Ethan Lowe would go onto to play in the Cowboys' 2015 NRL Grand Final win over the Brisbane Broncos, while Pride head coach Jason Demetriou joined the Cowboys as an assistant coach in 2015 and was on the coaching staff for the Grand Final win.
See also: 2014 NRL State Championship. After winning the Grand Final, the Northern Pride qualified for the inaugural NRL State Championship on NRL Grand Final day. They defeated the Penrith Panthers 32–28.[8] [9]
| Pos | width=120 | Player | Team | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garry Lo | Papua New Guinea Hunters | 24 | |
| 2 | Marmin Barba | Ipswich Jets | 20 | |
| Jarrod McInally | Easts Tigers | 20 | ||
| Henare Wells | Burleigh Bears | 20 | ||
| 5 | Tom Merritt | Tweed Heads Seagulls | 18 |
| Pos | width=120 | Player | Team | width=20 | T | width=20 | G | width=20 | FG | width=20 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khan Ahwang | Burleigh Bears | 12 | 74 | 1 | 197 | |||||
| 2 | Shaun Nona | Northern Pride | 7 | 81 | 0 | 190 | |||||
| 3 | Matt Seamark | Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 1 | 83 | 0 | 170 | |||||
| 4 | Liam Taylor | Mackay Cutters | 13 | 51 | 0 | 154 | |||||
| 5 | Adrian Davis | Redcliffe Dolphins | 3 | 66 | 0 | 144 |