2002 Queensland Cup

2002 Queensland Cup
Duration	March 16 – September 21, 2002
Teams	12
Premiers	Redcliffe Dolphins (3rd title)
Minor premiers	Redcliffe Dolphins (3rd title)
Matches played	138
Points scored	7,846
Top points scorer(s)	Damien Richters (246)
Player of the year	Scott Thorburn (Courier Mail Medal)
Top try-scorer(s)	Dan Kennedy (34)
← 2001 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 halfback Scott Thorburn was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.^[1][2]

Teams

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.

Colours	Club	Home ground(s)
	Burleigh Bears	Pizzey Park
	Central Comets	Browne Park
	East Coast Tigers	Langlands Park
	Ipswich Jets	Bendigo Bank Oval
	Logan Scorpions	Meakin Park
	North Queensland Young Guns	Dairy Farmers Stadium
	Norths Devils	Bishop Park
	Redcliffe Dolphins	Dolphin Oval
	Souths Magpies	Davies Park, Brandon Park
	Toowoomba Clydesdales	Newtown Oval, ANZ Stadium
	Wests Panthers	Purtell Park
	Wynnum Seagulls	Kougari Oval

Ladder

2002 Queensland Cup
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
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

Finals series

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date	Venue
Qualifying / Elimination Finals
Burleigh Bears	20 – 42	Norths Devils	31 August 2002	Pizzey Park
East Coast Tigers	22 – 28	Ipswich Jets	31 August 2002	Langlands Park
Semi-finals
Redcliffe Dolphins	17 – 16	Ipswich Jets	7 September 2002	Dolphin Oval
East Coast Tigers	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

	Qualifying / Elimination Finals					Major / Minor Semi-finals					Preliminary Final					Grand Final
						1	Redcliffe	17								Redcliffe		34
							Ipswich	16								Ipswich		10
	2	East Coast	22								Ipswich		29
	3	Ipswich	28								Norths		26
						East Coast		16
						Norths		18
	4	Burleigh	20
	5	Norths	42

Grand Final

Saturday, 21 September

Redcliffe Dolphins	34 – 10	Ipswich Jets
Tries: Aaron Barba 2 Barry Berrigan 1 Trent Leis 1 Damien Richters 1 Paul Shilvock 1 Goals: Damien Richters 5	1st: 22 - 0 2nd: 12 - 10	Tries: 1 Aaron Bulow 1 Steven West Goals: 1 Steven West

Dolphin Oval Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Tony Maksoud Player of the Match: Barry Berrigan (Redcliffe)

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]

First half

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.

Second half

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]

Player statistics

Leading try scorers Pos 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

Leading point scorers Pos Player Team T G FG 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

End-of-season awards

• Courier Mail Medal: Scott Thorburn ( Easts Tigers)
• Rookie of the Year: David Stagg ( Redcliffe Dolphins)

See also

• Queensland Cup
• Queensland Rugby League

References