The Queensland Under-16 rugby league team, also known as Queensland Under-16s or Queensland U16, represents Queensland in the sport of rugby league at an under-16 age level. Since 2008, the team has played an annual fixture against the New South Wales Under-16s team as a curtain raiser to a State of Origin game. The team features players selected from Queensland's premier under-16 rugby league competition, the Cyril Connell Cup. They are administered by the Queensland Rugby League.
Queensland suffered defeat in the first under-16 Origin fixture in 2008, with a side that featured future NRL players Kyle Feldt, Ben Hampton, Lachlan Maranta and Korbin Sims. They recorded their first win a year later, defeating New South Wales 30–10 in 2009. That team featured future New Zealand international Jason Taumalolo. From 2010 to 2013, Queensland suffered four straight defeats before winning both fixtures against New South Wales in 2014 and 2015.
Players
Players selected for the Queensland under-16 team are usually contracted with a National Rugby League (NRL) side and, until 2017, played in the Cyril Connell Cup. Occasionally players who are contracted to Sydney-based NRL sides, who play in the Harold Matthews Cup, are selected. In 2008, before the Cyril Connell Cup began, players were selected from the under-16 representative carnival in Proserpine.[1] Each pre-season the Queensland Rugby League will select an under-16 squad featuring players in contention for the mid-season fixture. The squad participates in a weekend camp at the Queensland Academy of Sport.[2]
In 2017, the QRL ended the Cyril Connell Cup, replacing it with a three-day statewide carnival in which the Queensland under-16 side would be selected from.
In 2019, no under-16 State of Origin was held, with both states instead holding a City vs Country fixture.[3] On 29 September 2019, Queensland Country under-16 defeated City 44–4, and a Queensland under-16 merit side was named after the game.[4]
