2010 Queensland Cup
# 2010 Queensland Cup

The 2010 Queensland Cup season was the 15th 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 12 teams playing a 25-week-long season (including finals) from March to September.

The Northern Pride won their first premiership after defeating the Norths Devils 30–20 in the Grand Final at Suncorp Stadium. Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles' halfback Daly Cherry-Evans was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.

## Teams

In 2010, the lineup of teams remained unchanged for the second consecutive year.

| Club | Home ground(s) | Head coach(s) | Captain(s) | NRL Affiliate |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Burleigh Bears | Pizzey Park | Mark Gee | Scott Smith | Gold Coast Titans |
| Central Comets | Browne Park | Wayne Barnett | Tyron Haynes | Brisbane Broncos |
| Easts Tigers | Langlands Park | Jason Gainey | Jace van Dijk | Brisbane Broncos |
| Ipswich Jets | North Ipswich Reserve | Glenn Lazarus → Ben & Shane Walker | Todd Riggs & Paul Stephenson | Gold Coast Titans |
| Mackay Cutters | Mackay JRL Grounds | Paul Bramley | Jardine Bobongie | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Northern Pride | Barlow Park | David Maiden | Chris Sheppard | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Norths Devils | Bishop Park | Kevin Carmichael | Mark Leafa | Brisbane Broncos |
| Redcliffe Dolphins | Dolphin Oval | John Dixon | Mick Roberts | Brisbane Broncos |
| Souths Logan Magpies | Davies Park | Mark Beaumont | Phil Dennis | Canberra Raiders |
| Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles | Stockland Park | Brandon Costin | Daly Cherry-Evans | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles |
| Tweed Heads Seagulls | Ned Byrne Field | Ben Anderson | Brad Davis | Gold Coast Titans |
| Wynnum Manly Seagulls | BMD Kougari Oval | Paul Green | Darren Bain | Brisbane Broncos |

## Ladder

2010 Queensland Cup :

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Souths Logan Magpies | 22 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 604 | 362 | +242 | 34 |
| 2 | Norths Devils | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 581 | 505 | +76 | 31 |
| 3 | Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 641 | 400 | +241 | 28 |
| 4 | Northern Pride (P) | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 501 | 446 | +55 | 28 |
| 5 | Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 22 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 538 | 478 | +60 | 27 |
| 6 | Mackay Cutters | 22 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 544 | 491 | +53 | 23 |
| 7 | Burleigh Bears | 22 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 450 | 484 | -34 | 22 |
| 8 | Redcliffe Dolphins | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 467 | 536 | -69 | 21 |
| 9 | Tweed Heads Seagulls | 22 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 528 | 498 | +30 | 16 |
| 10 | Central Comets | 22 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 415 | 624 | -209 | 12 |
| 11 | Easts Tigers | 22 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 429 | 631 | -202 | 10 |
| 12 | Ipswich Jets | 22 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 384 | 627 | -243 | 10 |

## Final series

In 2010, the competition used a modified version of the six-team finals format that they implemented a year earlier.

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time (local) | Venue |
| Semi-finals |||||
| Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles | 4 – 14 | Mackay Cutters | 4 September 2010, 2:00pm | Stockland Park |
| Souths Logan Magpies | 16 – 20 | Norths Devils | 5 September 2010, 3:00pm | Davies Park |
| Northern Pride | 28 – 12 | Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 5 September 2010, 3:30pm | Barlow Park |
| Preliminary Finals |||||
| Norths Devils | 56 – 12 | Mackay Cutters | 11 September 2010, 2:00pm | Bishop Park |
| Souths Logan Magpies | 8 – 28 | Northern Pride | 12 September 2010, 2:00pm | Davies Park |
| Grand Final |||||
| Norths Devils | 20 – 30 | Northern Pride | 19 September 2010, 2:00pm | Suncorp Stadium |
| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Preliminary Finals | Preliminary Finals | Preliminary Finals | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| 1 | Souths Logan Magpies | 16 | | | | | | |
| 2 | Norths Devils | 20 | 1W | Norths Devils | 56 | | | |
| | | | 3W | Mackay Cutters | 12 | | | |
| 3 | Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles | 4 | | | | Norths Devils | Norths Devils | 20 |
| 6 | Northern Pride | 28 | | | | Northern Pride | Northern Pride | 30 |
| | | | 1L | Souths Logan Magpies | 8 | | | |
| 4 | Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 12 | 2W | Northern Pride | 28 | | | |
| 5 | Mackay Cutters | 14 | | | | | | |

## Grand Final

* Saturday, 13 September

| Norths Devils | 20 – 30 | Northern Pride |
| - | - | - |
| Tries: Luke Samoa 2 Brendon Gibb 1 Gideon Mzembe 1 Goals: Troyden Watene 2 | 1st: 6 - 18 2nd: 14 - 12 Report | Tries: 1 Michael Bani 1 Rod Griffin 1 Rod Jensen 1 Nick Slyney 1 Noel Underwood Goals: 5 Chey Bird |

* Suncorp Stadium Referee: Justin Davis Player of the Match: Chris Sheppard (Northern Pride)

| Norths Devils | Position | Northern Pride |
| - | - | - |
| Javarn White | FB | Chey Bird |
| 2. Daniel Ogden | WG | 2. Michael Bani |
| 3. Josefa Davui | CE | 3. Brett Anderson |
| 4. Jack Reed | CE | 4. Rod Jensen |
| 5. Gideon Mzembe | WG | 5. Kaine Manihera |
| 6. Shane Perry | FE | 14. Clint Amos |
| 7. Matt Smith | HB | 7. Chris Sheppard (c) |
| 8. Mark Leafa (c) | PR | 16. Noel Underwood |
| 9. Asher Elemani | HK | 9. Jason Roos |
| 17. Troy Hansen | PR | 10. Ben Laity |
| 11. Troyden Watene | SR | 11. Nick Slyney |
| 12. Brendon Gibb | SR | 12. Mark Cantoni |
| 13. Eddy Purcell | LK | 13. Joel Riethmuller |
| 10. Nathan Cleaver | Bench | 8. Alex Starmer |
| 14. Luke Samoa | Bench | 15. Ben Spina |
| 15. Jay Aston | Bench | 17. Mark Dalle Cort |
| 16. Michael Morris | Bench | 18. Rod Griffin |
| Kevin Carmichael | Coach | David Maiden |

The Norths Devils finished the regular season in second and defeated the minor premiers Souths Logan in the first week of the finals. In the preliminary final they thrashed Mackay 56–12 to qualify for the second Grand Final and their first since 1998. The Northern Pride finished fourth and defeated Wynnum Manly in an elimination final. In the preliminary final, they upset Souths Logan 28–8 to qualify for their second straight Grand Final.

### First half

The Pride started the first half on fire, scoring three tries inside the first 20 minutes. They kicked it off with a try to prop Noel Underwood in the 4th minute before centre Rod Jensen helped double his side's lead in the 15th minute. Winger Michael Bani was the next to score, stepping through some soft defence to push the Pride's lead to 18. It took 37th minutes for the Devils to finally post their first points when second rower Brendon Gibb barged over.

### Second half

The Pride regained their 18-point lead when bench forward Rod Griffin steamrolled his way through to score four minutes after the break. Norths hit back quickly this time, crossing just five minutes later through Luke Samoa. They made it back-to-back tries not long after when winger Gideon Mzembe dived over in the right corner. The comeback attempt was short lived, as the Pride scored their fifth try of the game when Nick Slyney crossed. Samoa scored off a Pride error in the 72nd minute to give his side a slight chance but it was too little too late. The Pride won their first premiership and became the second club from outside south east Queensland to lift the trophy.

Pride halfback and captain Chris Sheppard was awarded the Duncan Hall Medal in his final game before retirement.

## End-of-season awards

* Courier Mail Medal (Best and Fairest): Daly Cherry-Evans ( Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles)
* QANTAS Player of the Year (Coaches Award): Ryan Cullen ( Redcliffe Dolphins)
* Coach of the Year: Mark Beaumont ( Souths Logan Magpies)
* Rookie of the Year: Daly Cherry-Evans ( Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles)
* Representative Player of the Year: Dayne Weston ( Queensland Residents, Burleigh Bears)
