However, in 1956, when poker machines ("pokies") were introduced in New South Wales but not in Queensland, Sydney's clubs were able to recruit the best players from Brisbane, Rugby Union and overseas.

In 1988, two Queensland-based sides, the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Giants, along with the Newcastle Knights, another team from regional New South Wales, were formed and gained entry into the competition.

The Broncos would sign Brisbane Rugby League stars like Wally Lewis, Gene Miles and Allan Langer.

In the space of one season, media coverage and match attendance for the Brisbane Rugby League dropped significantly.

In 1996, the Queensland Cup was formed, replacing the Winfield State League, as new federal government laws banned cigarette companies from sponsoring sport.

Originally branded the Channel Nine Cup, the 15 round regular season competition featured sixteen teams, fifteen from Queensland and one from Papua New Guinea.

The Toowoomba Clydesdales were crowned the inaugural premiers, defeating the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Grand Final.

In 1999, the Grizzlies and Vikings both left the competition, as well as inaugural club Brisbane Brothers and the Townsville Stingers, who played just one season.

It would not last long though, as the Cairns Cyclones folded after the 2000 season, leaving no north Queensland representation in the competition.

[1] Another inaugural club would leave the competition in 2004, with the Wests Panthers exiting, and Brothers-Valleys, a merger of Past Brothers and the Fortitude Valley Diehards, joining for a single season.

Brisbane Broncos chairman Bruno Cullen said that "It didn't make sense to have this club up there running at what was looking like a $250,000 loss for the year.

The 2007 season marked the first time a team based outside of Queensland would win the competition, with the Tweed Seagulls defeating the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Grand Final.

[4] 2008 saw the Queensland Cup once again have teams based in the northern cities of Cairns and Mackay after absences of seven and twelve years, respectively.

On 10 September 2014, QRL chairman Peter Betros announced that the Brothers Townsville-led Townsville Blackhawks bid had been successful and the side would compete in the 2015 season.

[9] On 27 March 2020, after round one of the season was completed, the 2020 Intrust Super Cup competition was suspended, and subsequently cancelled for the first time in its history due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with no premiers being crowned.

[11] In November 2021, Hostplus became the naming rights sponsor of the competition for the 2022 season, replacing Intrust Super after the two merged.

As the Queensland Cup initially began as a representative competition that took over the old Winfield State League before becoming a proper club competition, many of the following clubs were "representative" sides that either withdrew (in the case of Mackay and Bundaberg) or folded (Cairns Cyclones and Port Moresby Vipers).

Usually, Queensland Cup teams will play each other in trials, while some face National Rugby League (NRL) sides.

For example, in 2018, the Brisbane Broncos played trial matches against the Central Queensland Capras and PNG Hunters.

The Queensland Cup Grand Final, which determines the season's premiers, is one of the state's major sporting events.

Past recipients include Tony Williams and Jake Granville, who would go onto win NRL premierships shortly after their Queensland Cup success.

Starting from 2022 Queensland Rugby League announced a new streaming deal with Cluch.tv under the website name Qplus.TV where fan can subscribe to watch every game live.