The Gold Coast-Tweed Giants were admitted to the New South Wales Rugby League premiership for the 1988 season, along with the Brisbane Broncos and Newcastle Knights.

The Giants were formed, swiftly, after the Internationals Syndicate Including, John Sattler, Peter Gallagher, Bob Hagan and Doug Ryan had missed out on their bid to win the contract to bring a Brisbane team into the Sydney competition.

A key signing for the club was Ron Gibbs, Second-row forward who had won the 1987 Grand Final while playing for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

Rampaging young forward Keith Neller, who was once touted as a potential State of Origin player, produced strong performances during the season.

Two and a half months and eight losses after entering the NSWRL the Gold Coast Giant's scored their historic victory over their rivals the Brisbane Broncos.

Billy Johnstone outplayed State of Origin hooker Greg Conescu in a tough personal duel, while Peter Smith, Chris Close and Mark Gee all turned in their best displays of the season for the Giants.

They went undefeated for four weeks drawing with Western Suburbs 12 all, and defeating; the Newcastle Knights 12–6, the North Sydney Bears 6–4, and the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 29–6.

The experience of players such as Ron Gibbs, Chris Close and Billy Johnstone proved invaluable to the club during what was a very good season for the team.

Keith Neller suffered several injuries during the 1989 campaign that limited his effectiveness for the Giants Home crowd attendances improved despite very poor weather.

The revelation that former Australian captain and State of Origin player Wally Lewis, would be joining the club for the 1991 season after a falling out with the Brisbane Broncos and their coach Wayne Bennett.

Former Balmain Tigers, NSW and Australian representative winger Larry Corowa made a surprise return to First Grade football after an absence of seven seasons.

These farewells were offset by the arrival of young goal kicking forward Wayne Bartrim who played at both hooker and lock for the club.

A heroic twelve man victory against the Illawarra Steelers in round three at home should have ranked among the most courageous wins in Gold Coast's short history.

However, on Saturday, 29 August 1992 in front of a crowd of 10,160 at Seagulls Stadium the team sent Lewis into retirement by defeating the defending premiers Penrith by 12 points to 8.

[1] A positive to come from the season was the performances of young players such as Adrian Vowles, Kevin Campion, Jason Hetherington, Jamie Goddard and John Skardon.

The young Gold Coast team won a play off for fifth against St George, before they were eliminated by Manly in the minor preliminary semi final.

The side won five games during the 1994 campaign which included impressive wins against the eventual premiers The Canberra Raiders 8–4 and rivals The Brisbane Broncos 25–12.

Inspired by Craig Coleman and Dale "Rowdy" Shearer Gold Coast outplayed the reigning premiers Brisbane in front of more than 22,000 at Carrara Stadium in round two of the premiership.

The club's losses included Adrian Vowles, Paul Galea and David Bouveng to the North Queensland Cowboys, Dale "Rowdy" Shearer, Brett Horsnell and Ray Herring to the South Queensland Crushers, talented lock Wayne Bartrim to the St George Dragons and Robert Tocco to the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs.

In comparison to other clubs to enter the premiership in the 1980s – Canberra, Illawarra, Newcastle and Brisbane – Gold Coast's returns were modest in the extreme.

Young centre Ben Ikin was selected to play for Queensland in the State of Origin series after only a handful of first grade appearances.

With new colours, the club then enjoyed some immediate success in winning the Plate Trophy at that year's pre-season World Sevens tournament, the only silverware the Gold Coast had ever won.

Captained by former Kiwi international Dave Watson the Chargers, having only three members of the last Gold Coast side from 1995, acquitted themselves well in a 42–26 defeat against the North Sydney Bears in front of more than 8000 supporters.

However sustaining the high level of their performances on a weekly basis became increasingly difficult and the Chargers came back to the field throughout the second half of the season.

However the South Queensland Crushers, playing their last ever match, managed to knock Wests out of the running and give the Chargers their first ever finals berth.

The increase in local support, plus the better than expected results on the field, convinced the club officials that the Chargers should strive to remain a separate entity in the game.

Discussions with the financially embattled South Queensland Crushers to form the game's first joint venture club were aborted late in the year.

Boardroom in-fighting, political agendas and an almost annual procession of administrators, coaching staff and players greatly affected the club's stability and Gold Coast was officially disbanded in early December 1998.

When the Storm met the Chargers at Olympic Park Stadium in May, Melbourne inflicted the biggest loss on the Gold Coast in its history, 62–6.

The decision to knock back the Mariners' offer angered Coach Phil Economidis, who saw the difficulties that lay ahead in a 20 team competition with a significantly diminished outfit.