The Falcons have conquered the regular season, now they have one question to answer: can a team without NRL-contracted players go all the way?
The Sunshine Coast side secured the minor premiership in the state’s top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup, with a dominant 48-4 win over the PNG Hunters at Sunshine Coast Stadium last weekend, but the hard work is far from over.
The Falcons will host the Ipswich Jets in their final regular season game at Sunshine Coast Stadium on Sunday, August 30, before beginning their finals campaign with a home qualifying final on Saturday, September 5.
Sunshine Coast Falcons CEO Chris Flannery said the minor premiership was not the end goal.
“The minor premiership’s fantastic and I think it’s a wonderful reward for all the hard work that the players and the staff have put into this season,” he said.
“But no one’s going to be looking back at the minor premiership trophy if we don’t capitalise on this position that we find ourselves in.”
The Falcons have won 15 of 19 games this season and will enter the finals as one of four teams in the 15-team competition without any NRL-contracted players.
The club’s affiliation with Melbourne Storm ended last year before it formed a partnership with the Brisbane Broncos, but the Falcons are unable to use the Broncos’ NRL squad members this season.
Flannery admitted there had been some uncertainty about how the team would fare without access to top-tier players.
“Yeah, look, definitely there was a lot of concern obviously,” he said.
“(But) we did know that we had the fundamentals, we had a great coach, we had some great staff, and we knew that we had a talented bunch of players.”
Flannery said the settled squad may have ultimately created a stronger connection among the players.
“We probably underestimated just how disruptive it was to the team and to the players, looking over their shoulder wondering if an NRL player is going to come and take their spot,” he said.
“But don’t get me wrong, if we had the opportunity today to reaffiliate with an NRL club or get feeder players with an NRL club, we’d certainly take it.”
Winger Zion Johnson agreed the consistent playing group had helped their success throughout the season.
“I think that it comes down to team cohesion,” he said.
“When you’re training and spending every spare second with the boys that you are playing with, it matters a lot on the field, and it obviously shows.”
With the finals approaching, coach Brad Henderson said the competition’s strongest teams were beginning to hit their stride.
“You get to this time of the year and all the big teams are just starting to flex a little bit,” he said.
Henderson identified the Redcliffe Dolphins as the biggest threat to the Falcons’ premiership hopes.
“The top eight are all playing well but Redcliffe are the standouts for sure,” he said.
The Dolphins secured second spot with a win over the Tweed Seagulls in Round 22.
Flannery, a former NRL premiership and Queensland State of Origin player, said the finals would come down to which teams could handle the pressure.
“It’s just who can handle it better on the day,” he said.
For Johnson, the season has also been a confidence boost after he was named the 2025 Rookie of the Year.
“It gives you that extra bit of confidence knowing that you can compete at this level and that was me last year finding my feet in the first few games,” he said.
“I give all the credit to Hendo for continuously instilling that confidence within me and telling me that I could play at this level and even higher.”
Henderson said Johnson’s development had extended beyond his try-scoring.
“It’s those unseen efforts that the coach always sees that makes me really proud of him,” he said.
“He’s done a hell of a job this year and, particularly the last two months especially, he’s just been exceptional.”
Flannery said the Falcons had also noticed growing interest from the community as the team built momentum.
“I think our crowds have definitely been up on previous years,” he said.
“There’s a bit more interest from everyone around town. So, that’s always good to see and hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”
The Sunshine Coast won the competition, which is now known as the Hostplus Cup, in 2009, when the team had a link with Manly.
The Falcons finished runner-up in 2017, with a link with Melbourne Storm.
The Falcons claimed the minor premiership in 2019, utilising Storm players like Harry Grant. They lost just one of 23 games in the regular season but were knocked out in the preliminary finals.
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