The 2026 draw has been locked in for the Sumo Energy Hospital Cup and Sumo Energy Founders Cup seasons with kick-off set for Saturday, March 28.
Premiers Bond University will launch their title defence at home on the Gold Coast when close rivals University of Queensland visit "The Canal."
The men's and women's teams of the nine clubs will play 16 matches across 18 regular season rounds at the top end of Queensland Premier Rugby.
This will determine the make-up of the finals series, a three-weekend run with a grand final climax at Ballymore Stadium on August 29-30.
In the opening round on March 28, grand finalists Brothers take on Souths at Crosby Park, Easts meet Wests at Bottomley Park for the Paul Mooney Cup and Norths host Sunnybank at Courtney Field.
The re-match between the 2025 grand finalists is locked in for Round Four when Brothers host Bond University at Crosby Park.
Sumo Energy is newly on board as the official naming rights partner of the Hospital Cup and Founders Cup through to the end of 2027.
The Australian-owned and operated energy provider sees Queensland's premier club competition as the ideal way to strengthen its commitment to the communities it serves in South-East Queensland.
Premiers Bond University have already gained a star after losing one in the backrow.
The loss of headgeared flanker Matt Engelbrecht to Sevenoaks Rugby Club in England, after a massive contribution to the premiership win in 2025, has been offset by openside dynamo Kohan Herbert arriving at the club.
Herbert was Souths skipper for his run of 49 straight games in 2023-25 when a yellow card was one of the few reasons he missed playing every minute of every game.
Losing the standout will hurt the Magpies but Herbert lives and works on the Gold Coast.
With mentor Garrick Morgan no longer at Souths, it made the call less difficult.
"I love that club at Souths so it wasn't an easy decision to switch but when you live and work on the Coast it makes sense to be with Bond," Herbert said
"I turned down Bond at the start of this year. This time, it was me saying I was interested. (Coach) Mick Heenan didn't recruit me, it just happened.
"I'm looking at the draw and it's 'Bond vs Souths at Chipsy Wood (Oval) in Round Two'. It'll be different playing there in a Bond jersey but it'll be good going back there to play against some old teammates."
There have been some seismic shifts on the coaching front on the club scene with former Queensland Reds assistant coach Jim McKay (UQ), Matt Cockbain (GPS), Adrian Thompson (Souths) and Rex Tapuai (Sunnybank) in charge of the Hospital Cup fortunes at their clubs.
Luke Samoa (Wests) and Manny Cole-Manolis (GPS) are among the new faces coaching women's team in the Sumo Energy Founders Cup. Cole-Manolis, making the switch from a successful stint at Wests, is in charge of rebuilding the women's program at GPS after the club failed to field a women's side in 2025.
The Bond University women will be chasing a fifth straight premiership in 2026 to extend their dynasty in the Founders Cup.
A thrilling 32-29 grand final win over Easts showed how close the top teams are.
"The grand final was awesome as a showcase for women's rugby," Easts fullback Abbi Spooner said.
"Clubs are getting into pre-season mode. I sense there are more numbers and clubs are building that connection with their junior programs.
"I think there will be a number of clubs challenging Bond in 2026. They are not as untouchable as they once were."
Easts stalwart Loretta Lealiifano is playing on and will hit the 100-game milestone in 2026.
