Sport | Rugby league |
---|---|
Instituted | 2009 |
Inaugural season | 2009 |
Ceased | 2017 |
Number of teams | 16 |
Country | Australia |
Most titles | Norths Devils (3 titles) |
Website | www.QRL.com.au |
Related competition | Harold Matthews Cup |
The Cyril Connell Challenge is an under-16 competition administered by the Queensland Rugby League. First run in 2021, the competition replaced the QRL Junior State Championships, which ran from 2017 to 2020. The 2020 competition was ultimately cancelled in the wake of the COVID pandemic before the tournament re-commenced in a round robin format for the 2021 season. Originally known as The Cyril Connell Cup the competition, which began in 2009, included the junior representative teams of Queensland Cup clubs. The competition also featured teams from Victoria and the Northern Territory. In the 2016 season, the Cyril Connell Cup consisted of sixteen clubs: fifteen based within Queensland and one in Victoria. Eleven of the sixteen clubs were junior representative teams for Queensland Cup clubs. From 2011 to 2016, the winners of the Grand Final played the winners of the New South Wales’ under-16 competition, the Harold Matthews Cup, in the National Final.
The Cyril Connell Cup/Challenge was named after Cyril Connell Jr., who played 24 games for Queensland and 2 Tests for Australia between 1952 and 1957.
In 2021 The Cyril Connell Challenge comprised 15 teams from across the state split into 3 pools. Thirteen of the fifteen clubs were junior representative teams for Queensland Cup clubs. Tweed Heads Seagulls and Redcliffe Dolphins finished equal top of the ladder after going undefeated during their campaigns. Redcliffe would remain undefeated, topping the table in both the 2022 and 2023 editions of the tournament.
Season | Grand Finals | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Premiers | Score | Runners-up | Venue | |
2009 | Norths Devils | 42–30 | Townsville Stingers | Bishop Park |
2010 | Norths Devils | 26–24 | Gold Coast Blue | Langlands Park |
2011 | Easts Tigers | 28–10 | Central Comets | Langlands Park |
2012 | Souths Logan Magpies | 10–6 | Townsville Stingers | BMD Kougari Oval |
2013 | Norths Devils | 44–6 | Easts Tigers | Langlands Park |
2014 | Northern Pride | 14–12 | Townsville Stingers | Barlow Park |
2015 | Townsville Stingers | 31–30 | Sunshine Coast Falcons | Tapout Energy Stadium |
2016 | Townsville Blackhawks | 20–18 | Souths Logan Magpies | Suzuki Stadium |
The Queensland Rugby Football League (QRL) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission and selects the members of the Queensland rugby league team.
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fifteen teams, thirteen of which are based in Queensland, with one based in New South Wales and one in Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
The Western Suburbs Panthers, or the West Brisbane Panthers, or often simply referred to as Wests for short, are a rugby league club based in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The club is the oldest in the QRL and despite absences from the top grade in recent years and several name changes the club continued to operate. After leaving the Queensland Cup, they participated in the Brisbane A-Grade competition from 2005 until their senior sides disbanding in 2012. In 2013, the club entered a voluntary hiatus, but was announced to be part of the revived Brisbane Rugby League.
Central Queensland Capras are a semi-professional rugby league football club primarily based in Rockhampton, Queensland and representing Central Queensland. They currently play in the Queensland Cup, the premier rugby league competition in Queensland. From 2023, they will serve as one of the feeder clubs for the Dolphins.
The Northern Division of the Queensland Rugby League is responsible for administering the game of rugby league in North Queensland, specifically in the area from Sarina in the south to Cape York and the Torres Strait Islands in the north and west to Mount Isa as well as into the Gulf Communities. There are over 8000 registered players across 36 senior clubs and 39 junior clubs in this division. The Northern Division is responsible for the historic Foley Shield competition that is held each year. Mid West and Mount Isa play in the Toyota Outback Carnival.
The WesternClydesdales are a rugby league football club based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The Clydesdales originally played in the Queensland Cup from the competition's inception in 1996 until 2006, and were the feeder club for the Brisbane Broncos between 1999 and 2006. They re-entered the Queensland Cup in 2023 as the Western Clydesdales.
The FOGS Colts Challenge is an 11-team rugby league competition run by the QRL. It is the highest level of junior rugby league in Brisbane before players move into senior rugby. FOGS in an acronym for Former Origin Greats.
Paul "Porky" Morgan was an Australian rugby league footballer, administrator and businessman. He is remembered for being co-founder of the Brisbane Broncos club. The Paul Morgan Medal for the Brisbane Broncos' best and fairest player of the season is named after him. He is best remembered for nearly destroying the game of rugby league in Australia and was the key architect of the Super League concept.
The Gold Coast Rugby League premiership is a rugby league football competition based in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is under the administration of the Queensland Rugby League through the South East Queensland Division, which also administers the competitions from Brisbane and Ipswich.
The 2007 Queensland Cup season was the 12th 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 from March to September.
The Cairns District Rugby League was formed on 5 August 1918 and is the administrative body for the game of rugby league football in Cairns, Queensland. The CDRL runs senior, junior and women's club competitions and has its headquarters at Barlow Park. The competition changed its name to Far North Queensland Rugby League in 2023.
The Mal Meninga Cup, known as the Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup due to sponsorship, is a junior rugby league football competition based in Queensland, played between teams made up of players aged under 18. The competition, administered by the Queensland Rugby League, features the junior representative teams of Queensland Cup clubs.
The Queensland Under-16 rugby league team, also known as Queensland Under-16s or Queensland U16, represents Queensland in the sport of rugby league at an under-16 age level. Since 2008, the team has played an annual fixture against the New South Wales Under-16s team as a curtain raiser to a State of Origin game. The team features players selected from Queensland's premier under-16 rugby league competition, the Cyril Connell Cup. They are administered by the Queensland Rugby League.
Cameron Cullen is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Intrust Super Cup. He plays as a five-eighth, halfback and hooker. He previously played for the Gold Coast Titans.
The Ipswich Rugby League is a rugby league football competition based in Ipswich, Queensland. It is under the administration of the Queensland Rugby League through the South East Queensland Division, which also administers the Brisbane and Gold Coast competitions.
The 1997 Queensland Cup season was the 2nd season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition.
The Hastings Deering Colts is a junior rugby league competition based in Queensland, contested among teams made up of players aged 21 or under. The competition is administered by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL), and is contested by fourteen teams, thirteen of which are located in Queensland and one in New South Wales.
Tom Dearden is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a five-eighth or halfback for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL.
Keenan Palasia is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a prop and second-rower for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL.
The Dolphins are a professional rugby league football team, based in the Redcliffe Peninsula area of the Moreton Bay Region, that competes in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL).