Shipway reflects on 2006 premiership ahead of 20-year anniversary

For Redcliffe Dolphins great Mark Shipway, the 2006 Queensland Cup grand final feels just like yesterday.

He still remembers waking up to wet conditions and the confidence that was buzzing through the Dolphins’ shed. He remembers what it was like to score the final try of the game.

And he remembers how it felt to win the 2006 premiership.

“I remember Mickey Roberts, he came in with so much confidence,” Shipway, who played lock, said.

“He was going around telling everyone… whether that built into a bit of confidence for us all or not, I’m not sure. But everyone was buzzing. It was pretty cool.

“We thought our experience and our grind would pay dividends with the weather conditions so it was confidence from the start. All of us went into that stadium really confident of our position and what we’d done.

“That (win) is definitely one of my highlights of my career… it was so much pride to represent the club. To win the grand final, it’s very special.”

Shipway first played with the Dolphins in 1995 in the Colts before graduating to Cup in 1996. Redcliffe lost the Cup grand final that year but did win in the Brisbane Rugby League.

He then went on to play in the NRL and Super League before returning to the Dolphins in 2006 and 2007.

This weekend the Redcliffe Dolphins will pay tribute to the 2006 premiership-winning team by donning heritage jerseys against the Western Clydesdales.

With the squad’s names along the back of the jersey, Shipway said it will be a special moment on Saturday to see the current side wearing that replica jersey.

“I love all the old retro jerseys so to see the ’06 grand final, that will be really special,” he said.

“It will bring back a lot of memories. I have a lot of photos in that jersey and teammates in that jersey. I have it hanging up on the wall at home. It will be really cool.”

Shipway said a lot of the 2006 squad are still friends today and continue that connection both through the club and beyond.

“I still go with a lot of the guys off fishing and we catch up regularly,” he said.

“There’s lifelong memories and friends from it.

“We did a lot of things socially (in 2006) as well. Even just after training, we’d have a card night or a pizza night once a week. We were a really tight group which pays dividends coming into the semi-finals and grand finals.

“When you walk into the club and see the history of the club on the walls and see a few guys and everyone knows what everyone has done and what everyone has been part of it, it’s pretty cool. It’s pretty special.”

The 2026 heritage jerseys are available now at What’s Your Team.

The Dolphins will play the Clydesdales in Round 12 of the Hostplus Cup at Toowoomba Sports Ground. The match will be shown live on Qplus.tv.