There were upsets in Round 1 of the Hostplus Cup and the 2026 image may still be a little fuzzy around the edges as everyone finds their level.
Five teams from outside the eight in 2025 had wins to start 2026 and four of those five wins were against teams from inside the top eight in 2025.
Round 2 will provide a little more Hostplus Cup clarity.
The Western Clydesdales and Norths Devils are both coming off losses in the opening round of the Hostplus Cup.
The Clydesdales lost to the Brisbane Tigers 22-12 and Norths Devils lost to the Mackay Cutters 32-18.
The Toowoomba-based Clydesdales showed positives with a lead after 10 minutes through Matt Parcell chasing a kick with enthusiasm in the middle of the field.
Parcell’s dummy half work was like my mum’s lasagna; timeless.
It will be the battle of the smart dummy halves in Kierran Moseley and Parcell that will bring people to the broadcast coverage this week.
It took the Tigers until after half-time to score their first try which will please the Clydesdales.
Western Clydesdales led 8-0 at half-time and the Tigers scored all their points in the second half through three tries in a nine-minute period.
All three were on the Clydesdales right as they just could not stop the Tigers straight hard running any longer and were on the back of penalties.
The Clydesdales showed plenty of resilience but eventually they cracked.
Another try before half-time would have broken the Tigers spirit – 14-0 changes the landscape significantly for the Clydesdales.
There was lots of rain in Toowoomba, and it produced green shoots for the Clydesdales to focus on this weekend.
The Devils had a similar second half to the Clydesdales and only had the ball in the second half for eight sets as the Devils were starved of possession.
This meant the Devils’ half-time lead of 18-12 quickly evaporated.
Norths had five new Devils in their side that will be better for the run. The Devils ended up with 41% of the ball which makes it hard to hold onto leads.
In tough conditions the Devils kept giving back the ball to the Cutters and having to do more defence than any human wants to do on a miserable night.
The Devils gave away five ruck infringements and made 72 more tackles than the Cutters as they kept putting themselves under pressure.
Sunday’s feature match, presented by National Storage, will be broadcast live and free across Qplus.tv, Kayo and 9Now.
Statistics courtesy of Brad Tallon
Ipswich Jets v Sunshine Coast Falcons:
* 4th Cup match at Hervey Bay - Sunshine Coast have a win and 2 draws here - Ipswich played here once, beating Sunshine Coast 20-6 in 2016
* Head-to-Head: Ipswich 15 Sunshine Coast 13 Drawn 2
* Last match: 2025 Elim Final: Ipswich 25 def Sunshine Coast 24 (Sun.Coast Stadium)
* Sunshine Coast have lost their last 4 games
* Sunshine Coast have won 2 of the last 3, and 6 of the last 8, games between these 2 sides
* Ipswich's 30-0 win last week was their biggest ever margin over the Blackhawks
Redcliffe Dolphins v Townsville Blackhawks:
* Head-to-Head: Townsville 8 Redcliffe 7 Drawn 2
* Last match: 2025 KO Final: Redcliffe 22 def Townsville 16 (Jack Manski)
* Redcliffe have lost their last 2 games
* Townsville have lost their last 4 games, their equal worst ever losing run
* Redcliffe have won the last 2 games between these 2 sides
* The last 3 games between these 2 sides at Kayo Stadium have seen a win each and a draw
* Redcliffe have won 3 of their last 4 home games
* Townsville have lost their last 3, and 5 of their last 6, away games
Brisbane Tigers v Central Queensland Capras:
* Head-to-Head: Tigers 39 Central 12 Drawn 4
* Last Match: 2025 R8: Central 34 def Tigers 20 (Rugby Park Rockhampton)
* Central won the last 2 games between these 2 sides following 2 draws
* Tigers have won 9 and drawn 3 of the last 12 games between these 2 sides at Totally Workwear Stadium.
* Central's last win at Totally Workwear was in 2011
* Tigers have won 2 of their last 3 home games
* Central have won 2 of their last 3 away games
Northern Pride v Tweed Seagulls:
* Head-to-Head: Tweed 17 Pride 15 Drawn 2
* Last Match: 2025 R22: Pride 39 def Tweed 32 (Piggabeen)
* Tweed have won their last 2 games
* Pride have won 3 of the last 4 games between these 2 sides
* Tweed have won 4 of the last 5 games between these 2 sides in Cairns
* Pride have lost their last 3 home games
* Tweed have won 2 of their last 3 away games
* Lindon McGrady (1062) requires 5 points to pass Brad Davis (1066) to become Tweed's highest Cup score and the 6th highest scorer in Cup history
Western Clydesdales v Brisbane Norths:
* Head-to-Head: Norths 13 Clydesdales 11 Drawn 1
* Last Match: Norths 34 def Clydesdales 12 (Bishop)
* Clydesdales have 14 losses and 2 draws in their last 16 games
* Norths have lost their last 2 games
* Norths have won the last 3 games between these 2 sides
* Clydesdales have won 2 of the last 3 games between these 2 sides
* Clydesdales have 5 losses and a draw in their last 6 games in Toowoomba
* Norths have won 2 of their last 3 away games
* Connor Broadhurst requires 1 try to bring up 50 in Cup
* Brandon Finnegan requires 1 point to bring up 300 in Cup
PNG Hunters v Wynnum Manly Seagulls:
* Head-to-Head: PNG 11 Wynnum 7
* Last Match: Wynnum 32 def PNG 10 (BMD Kougari)
* Both teams have lost their last 2 games
* PNG have won 3 of the last 4 games between these 2 sides
* PNG have won the last 3, and 8 of the 9, games played between these 2 sides in PNG
* PNG have won 4 of their last 5 home games
* Wynnum have lost their last 4 away games
* 50th Cup game: Sonny Wabo (all PNG)
Souths Logan Magpies v Burleigh Bears:
* Head-to-Head: Burleigh 31 Souths-Logan 16 Drawn 3
* Last Match: 2025 R11: Burleigh 21 def Souths-Logan 8 (UAA PArk)
* Souths-Logan have won their last 2 games
* Burleigh have won their last 7, and 12 of their last 13, games
* Burleigh have won 2 of the last 3 games between these 2 sides
* Burleigh have won 3 of the last 4 games between these 2 sides at Davies Park
* Souths-Logan have won their last 2 home games
* Burleigh have 5 wins and a draw in their last 6 away games
* Josh Rogers (406) requires 4 goals to pass Liam Georgetwon (409) to become the 5th highest goal kicker in Cup history
* Rogers (1025) also requires 6 points to pass Damian Richters (1030) to become the 8th highest points scorer in Cup history
