Player's Guide to QRL Hostplus Cup Ages 18+ 2026

Hostplus Cup contracts are accepted for a final squad of 32 players. Larger squads are allowed for the pre-season and trials, but only 32 contracts lodged through Smartabase will be accepted.

A player can be added to the squad only if an existing member suffers a season-ending injury, with medical confirmation and an application to the Competitions Manager.

A match-day squad is 17 players in numbered positions plus a nominated 18th Player Replacement, with 13 on the field at a time.

Single NRL affiliate: where a Statewide Competition club is the only affiliate of an NRL club, no more than six players are eligible to participate in any given week of a QRL Statewide Competition.

Multiple affiliates: the affected clubs must give the QRL suitable evidence, no later than 1 March of each football year, that players allocated from the NRL club are distributed equally across all affiliates. An NRL club allocates from its top 36 NRL contract list:

• Three Hostplus Cup affiliates: 33% (up to 12) to each, on an equal basis approved by the QRL.
• Two Hostplus Cup affiliates: 50% (up to 18) to each, on an equal basis approved by the QRL.

Allocations are made at the start of the season.

Each Hostplus Cup match is played in two equal periods of 40 minutes, with a 10-minute half-time interval.

The QRL Competitions Manager may alter match timings in the event of travel delays or heat policy implementation. Requests to change match days and times may be made up to 28 days before the scheduled match; changes inside 28 days need the approval of the opposition club and the QRL.

Clubs submit three team lists for each match:

1. Tuesday Team List: by 5pm on the Tuesday before the match.
2. Day-Before Team List: no later than 24 hours before the advertised kick-off. It must name 17 players in numbered positions as "Active Players" and a maximum of three additional "Reserves", all drawn from the Tuesday list.
3. Final Team List: no later than one hour before the advertised kick-off, through the Team List Entry Software (MySideline app or URL). It must name 17 players in numbered positions plus one nominated 18th Player Replacement.

Suspended or concussion-restricted players must not be named in the initial line-up. If you are injured or become ill after the Final Team List is submitted but before the team takes the field, the club must report it to the Ground Manager and notify the Competitions Manager.

Only 13 players from each team may be on the field at any one time, and a limited interchange system applies. Hostplus Cup teams may use up to a maximum of eight interchanges in ordinary time.

• Each team lists four interchange players on its official team list.
• Each team is given official interchange cards numbered 1-8, including HIA cards, free interchange cards and 18th player replacement cards.
• A replaced player must have left the field before the interchange player takes their place.
• Interchanging a bleeding player who leaves the field counts towards the eight.
• If a fouled player has to leave the field because of an injury in that incident, and the opponent is sin binned or sent off, that interchange does not count, provided it is made without delay and by the time the referee has acted on the incident.
• For extra time, each team gets two interchange cards back, with any unused cards from regular time used first.

The 18th player replacement applies only in the Hostplus Cup. A club can activate its 18th player:

• after a player from the same side has failed a HIA (head injury assessment) test; or
• when a player suffers a match-ending injury caused by foul play and the perpetrator has been sin binned or sent off.

The 18th player must be registered with a Statewide Competitions club and be in the club squad list in MySideline. Clubs select the 18th player on merit and must name them when the final team sheets are provided on game day. The 18th player must wear the provided colour vest until activated, and does not have to be interchanged immediately.

Points: a win is 2 points, a draw 1, a loss 0 and a bye 2. A team receiving a forfeit gets 2 points (and is awarded a 40-0 score on the table); the forfeiting team gets 0.

Season: a maximum of 23 premiership rounds, then a 4-week finals series.

Finals: the top eight teams play. Week 1 has two qualifying finals (1 v 4, 2 v 3) and two elimination finals (5 v 8, 6 v 7). Week 2 has two semi finals, with the two qualifying final winners on a bye. Week 3 is the preliminary finals and week 4 is the Grand Final.

Teams level on points are ranked by points difference, then points percentage (points for x 100 / points against), then most tries, most goals, most drop goals, and finally a coin toss.

You are eligible for the finals series of the competition in which you played the majority of your games in the premiership season.

Under the QRL salary cap and contracting model (Appendix 4 of the 2026 manual), the maximum wage for a Hostplus Cup player is $35,000, which is also the individual salary cap.

• Each club has a total cap of $460,000: $420,000 for the Hostplus Cup and Mal Meninga Cup squads (32 players each) and $40,000 for the Talent Development Squad (up to 8 players).
• The cap is estimated at the start of the season from the highest paid 17 players plus all guaranteed payments outside the top 17, such as player and training fees, travel, meal and accommodation allowances, relocation allowance above $5,000 and any additional bonuses or benefits. The year-end actuals determine the final figure.
• Clubs are not expected to meet a minimum cap value.
• Talent Development Squad players must be turning 18 to 21 in the competition year.

Breaching the $420,000 team cap brings fines of $1 for $1 over the cap and, above $430,000, loss of competition points for the club.

Temporary suspension (sin bin):

• It lasts ten minutes of playing time. It starts when the referee signals time-on or play recommences, and it is paused whenever the referee signals time-off.
• It does not include the half-time break. It stops at the end of the first half and resumes at the start of the second.
• If more than one player is sin binned from the one incident, their suspensions are equal and they return together.
• You re-enter from an onside position after reporting to the Interchange Official and Touch Judge.

Permanent dismissal (sent off): you must go straight to your team's dressing room and stay there until you have changed out of your playing uniform. You cannot return to the players' bench unless it is outside the area bounded by the fence around the playing area.

A player suspended or disqualified from playing rugby league by the QRL Judiciary Panel, or any other judiciary or disciplinary body with authority to do so, cannot play in any match until the suspension has been served or the disqualification has expired. You must not enter the playing field or the area inside the fence before, during or after a match.

• Pre-season trial matches are not counted when working out the length of a suspension (NRL Judiciary Code, Queensland edition, rule 44A).
• If your suspension is the sole consequence of a Grade 1 or Grade 2 offence conviction, you may play in a pre-season trial during the suspension, but in no other match (ordinary matches, carnivals, finals, representative matches or touring team matches). Playing in that trial does not reduce your allocated penalty.
• A suspended player or staff member is not permitted on the sideline or bench area.

Clubs must also keep suspended players off their team lists.