The 2013 Queensland Cup season was the 18th season of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

's top-level statewide

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

competition run by the

Queensland Rugby League The Queensland Rugby Football League QRL Constitution, 2009: 3 (QRL QRL Constitution, 2009: 2) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL Commission) and selects the mem ...

. The competition, known as the Intrust Super Cup due to sponsorship from Intrust Super, featured 12 teams playing a 26-week long season (including finals) from March to September. The

Mackay Cutters The Mackay Cutters are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Mackay, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup in 2007, alongside th ...

won their first premiership after defeating the

Easts Tigers The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league ...

27–20 in the Grand Final at

North Ipswich Reserve North Ipswich Reserve, known as Qld Group Stadium or commercially Bendigo Bank Oval, is a sports venue in Ipswich, Queensland. Originally an Australian rules football (and later cricket) oval, it became a primarily rugby league venue in the 192 ...

' Cody Walker was named the competition's Player of the Year, winning the Courier Mail Medal.

Teams

In 2013, the lineup of teams remained unchanged for the fifth consecutive year. After partnering with the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

since 2007, the

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Original ...

became an affiliate of the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

Ladder

Finals series

Grand Final

Easts, who finished the regular season in third, qualified for their third Grand Final after upsetting the second-placed

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airport ...

in Week 1 and the first-placed Northern Pride in the major semi final. Mackay, after losing to Easts, defeated

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

in the minor semi final and upset the Pride 20–6 in the preliminary final to qualify for their first Grand Final.

First half

Easts were the first team to get on the board in the decided when centre

Junior Sa'u Tafeaga Junior Sa'u (born 18 April 1987) is a professional New Zealand and Samoan rugby league player who plays as a for Old Glory DC in Major League Rugby (MLR). He also plays for the Keighley Cougars in RFL League 1. He previously played for ...

scored in the 9th minute. In the 25th minute, they extended their lead to eight when Mackay put a dropout out on the full, kicking a penalty goal from right in front. The Cutters finally cracked the Tigers when winger

Bureta Faraimo Bureta Faraimo (born 16 July 1990) is a United States national rugby league team, United States international rugby league footballer who plays on the for the Doncaster RLFC in the RFL League 1. He has previously played for the Parramatta Eel ...

crossed in the right corner in the 29th minute. They took the lead for the first time when Faraimo scored his second in the 32nd minute, sprinting 50 metres down the sideline after a pass from his centre Michael Morgan. The lead didn't last long, as Easts scored in the 38th minute, when Sa'u latched onto a kick that the Cutters let bounce to score his second try.

Second half

Mackay levelled the scores at 14-all seven minutes into the second half when winger David Milne scored in the left corner. In the 64th minute, Mackay captured their second lead of the contest when Morgan picked up a loose ball and ran 50 metres to score in the right corner. Again, the lead did not last long, as Easts' prop Mitch Garbutt muscled over to score in the 69th minute. The Cutters took a one-point lead when halfback

Matt Minto Matthew Paul Minto (born 18 December 1990) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who has previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League. He also played for the Central Queensland Capras and Souths Logan ...

slotted a field goal from 20 metres out with six minutes left in the game. Mackay sealed the win in the 79th minute when hooker Anthony Mitchell darted from dummy half to score and secure the club's first Queensland Cup premiership. Mitchell was awarded the Duncan Hall Medal for Man of Match. A

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

feeder club, the Cutters' side featured Michael Morgan and

Jason Taumalolo Vaai Taumalolo (born 31 May 1993), better known by the nickname Jason, is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or forward for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL). He has played for Tonga and New Z ...

, who would both go on to become

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

regulars for the Cowboys and play in the club's

2015 NRL Grand Final The 2015 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2015 NRL season and was played on Sunday 4 October at Sydney's ANZ Stadium between the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys. North Queensland won the ma ...

win over the

End-of-season awards

* Courier Mail Medal (Best and Fairest): Cody Walker (

) * Coach of the Year: Jason Demetriou ( Northern Pride) * Rookie of the Year:

Cameron Munster Cameron Munster (born 13 September 1994) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL) and captains Queensland rugby league team, Queensland in State of Origin s ...

(

Central Queensland Capras The Central Queensland Capras are a semi-professional rugby league football club primarily based in Rockhampton, Queensland and representing Central Queensland. They play in the Hostplus Cup in Queensland, which is a second-tier competition in ...

) * Representative Player of the Year:

Nick Slyney Nick Slyney (born 2 November 1988) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for the Queensland Residents (captain during 2018), and at club level in the National Rugby ...

(

Queensland Residents The Queensland Residents rugby league team is a representative rugby league team consisting of players who compete in the Intrust Super Cup (Queensland Cup) competition. They currently play an annual fixture against NSW Cup Representative Tea ...

Redcliffe Dolphins Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisbane R ...

) * XXXX People's Choice Award: Hezron Murga ( Northern Pride)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queensland Cup season 2013 2013 in Australian rugby league Queensland Cup