Hastings Deering Colts

Hastings Deering Colts
Current season or competition:
2018 Hastings Deering Colts season
Sport Rugby league
Instituted 12 October 2017[1]
Inaugural season 2018
Chairman Bruce Hatcher
Number of teams 14
Country  Australia (14 teams)
Holders Norths Devils (2018)
Most titles Norths Devils (1 title)
Website qrl.com.au
Related competition Jersey Flegg Cup
Mal Meninga Cup

The Hastings Deering Colts is a junior rugby league competition based in Queensland, contested among teams made up of players aged 20 or under. The competition is administered by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL), and is contested by fifteen teams, thirteen of which are located in Queensland and one in northern New South Wales.

History

Before the advent of the Hastings Deering Colts, there had been no statewide, full season under-20 competition in Queensland. The FOGS Colts Challenge, which ran from 1986 to 2017, only featured sides from south east Queensland. From 2008 to 2017, the National Rugby League (NRL) administered their own under-20 competition, the National Youth Competition, which featured the three Queensland-based NRL clubs, the Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans and North Queensland Cowboys, and a plethora of young players from the state. In 2016, the NRL announced that the National Youth Competition would be discontinued after the 2017 season, in favour of state-based under-20 competitions, administered by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL).[2]

In 2017, in preparation for the new competition, the QRL ran a shortened, statewide under-20 competition called the FOGS U20s Cup. The competition, which was won by the Redcliffe Dolphins, ran over nine-weeks, alongside the Mal Meninga Cup, and featured all 15 teams who would eventually participate in the Hastings Deering Colts.[3] [4]

On 12 October 2017, the QRL announced the Hastings Deering Colts as the state's under-20 competition. The competition runs alongside the senior Queensland Cup competition, with 13 Queensland Cup sides fielding a team in the inaugural season.[1]

Teams

The Hastings Deering Colts consists of 14 teams, thirteen based in Queensland and one in northern New South Wales. The league operates on a single group system, with no divisions or conferences and no relegation and promotion from other leagues. Much like the Queensland Cup, each club in the competition has an affiliation with a team in NRL.

Hastings Deering Colts
Club Est. City Stadium Premierships Last NRL affiliate
Burleigh Bears 1934 Gold Coast Pizzey Park 0 - Gold Coast Titans
Central Queensland Capras 1996 Rockhampton Browne Park 0 - None
Easts Tigers 1917 Brisbane Suzuki Stadium 0 - Melbourne Storm
Ipswich Jets 1982 Ipswich North Ipswich Reserve 0 - Brisbane Broncos
Mackay Cutters 2007 Mackay BB Print Stadium Mackay 0 - North Queensland Cowboys
Northern Pride 2007 Cairns Barlow Park 0 - North Queensland Cowboys
Norths Devils 1933 Brisbane Bishop Park 1 2018 Brisbane Broncos
Redcliffe Dolphins 1947 Redcliffe Dolphin Stadium 0 - Brisbane Broncos
Souths Logan Magpies 1918 Brisbane Davies Park 0 - Brisbane Broncos
Sunshine Coast Falcons 1996 Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast Stadium 0 - Melbourne Storm
Townsville Blackhawks 2015 Townsville Jack Manski Oval 0 - North Queensland Cowboys
Tweed Heads Seagulls 1909 Tweed Heads Piggabeen Sports Complex 0 - Gold Coast Titans
Western Mustangs 2017 Toowoomba Gold Park 0 - Gold Coast Titans
Wynnum Manly Seagulls 1951 Brisbane BMD Kougari Oval 0 - Brisbane Broncos

Previous teams

Hastings Deering Colts
Club Est. City Stadium Premierships Last NRL affiliate
Victoria Thunderbolts 2015 Melbourne Casey Fields 0 - Melbourne Storm

Season structure

Regular season

The Hastings Deering Colts follows the same regular season format as the Queensland Cup, with games usually played as curtain-raisers to the senior fixtures. Beginning in early March, a round of regular season games is then played almost every weekend for twenty-four weeks, ending in late August. Unlike the Queensland Cup, the Hastings Deering Colts features two full rounds where every team receives a bye. These rounds are scheduled in to accommodate university exam periods.[5]

Teams receive two competition points for a win, and one point for a draw. The bye also receives two points; a loss, no points. Teams on the ladder are ranked by competition points, then match points differential (for and against) and points percentage are used to separate teams with equal competition points. At the end of the regular season, the club which is ranked highest on the ladder is declared minor premiers.

Finals series

The six highest placed teams at the end of the regular season compete in the finals series. The system consists of a number of games between the top six teams over four weeks in September, until only two teams remain. The first week features two elimination finals played between the sides ranked 3-6, while the Top 2 receive a bye. In the second week, the Top 2 play off in a major semi final, where the winner earns a bye and qualifies for the Grand Final, and the winners of the two elimination finals meet in the minor semi final. In the third week, the loser of the major semi final faces the winner of the minor semi final for a place in the Grand Final.[6]

These two teams then contest the Grand Final, which is played in late September at Suncorp Stadium, as a curtain-raiser to the Queensland Cup Grand Final.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "New comp to strengthen pathways". 11 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "NRL replaces Holden Cup under 20s with new NSW, Qld competitions in 2018 - Fox Sports". www.foxsports.com.au.
  3. ↑ "QRL gets jump on new under-20s comp". 3 March 2017.
  4. ↑ "FOGS U20s Cup state final teams". 2 May 2017.
  5. ↑ "Hastings Deering Colts draw". 25 January 2018.
  6. ↑ "High stakes and ladders: 2018 finals format". 31 July 2018.
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