New South Wales Rugby League

The Sydney premiership was started on 20 April 1908. Nine teams contested the initial season. These were the nine teams:

• Balmain Tigers
• (Central) Cumberland Fruitpickers
• Eastern Suburbs Roosters
• Glebe Dirty Reds
• Newcastle Rebels
• Newtown Jets
• North Sydney Bears
• Western Suburbs Magpies
• South Sydney Rabbitohs

The NSWRFL premiership was continued on the successful basis of the first competition in

When NSWRFL president Flegg died in 1960,

The Royal Agricultural Society Shield, or RAS Shield was the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL)'s first premiership trophy. It was presented to each year's premiership winning rugby league team; the first to win three successive titles would take permanent ownership of the shield. The Eastern Suburbs club achieved this feat winning premierships in 1911, 1912 and 1913.

The hand crafted silver and oak designed shield was donated to the NSWRL by the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales in its first year of competition.^{[citation needed]}

Leading journalist Claude Corbett wrote in Sydney, Sun, newspaper on, 1 May 1914, "The Royal Agricultural Society Shield, which was presented at the inception of the League's first grade competition has been won outright by Eastern Suburbs, who upset all calculations by winning the premiership three years in succession. The club has presented the shield to their captain, Dally Messenger, 'as a token of appreciation of his captaincy'."^{[citation needed]}

In 1929, Jersey Flegg was appointed to the position of president of the NSWRFL.

Midway through the 1909 season, Edward Larkin was appointed full-time secretary of the NSWRFL.^[2]

J.J. Giltinan Shield

In 1951, the NSWRFL originated the

Following Jersey Flegg's death in 1960, Bill Buckley was made the NSWRFL's new president.

In 1967 the NSWRFL grand final became the first football grand final of any code to be televised live in Australia. The Nine Network had paid $5,000 for the broadcasting rights.^[3]

In 1973, NSWRFL boss Kevin Humphreys negotiated rugby league's first television deal with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.^[4] The NSWRFL had commenced a very popular and successful mid-week competition in 1974, originally known as the Amco Cup, but later as the Tooth Cup and the National Panasonic Cup. The success of this competition, which included teams from both Brisbane and New Zealand, ultimately created pressure for further expansion in the NSWRFL competition.^{[citation needed]}

In 1980, the NSWRFL President Kevin Humphries, who had been chairman of the League since 1973, was instrumental in the establishment of the State of Origin series between teams representing the NSWRFL and Queensland Rugby League (QRL). The immediate success of this series, which remains the premier representative competition in Australia, and the overriding success of the Queensland team further pressured the NSWRFL to expand the club competition outside the boundaries of the state.^{[citation needed]}

Sydney suburban teams came and went throughout the NSWRFL's history but it was not until

The Winfield Cup trophy remains a permanent symbol of one of the game's most successful eras. Cast in bronze by Alan Ingham, it was the game's ultimate prize for the duration of the Winfield sponsorship from 1982 to 1995.

Based on John O'Gready's world famous photograph of Norm Provan (St George) and Arthur Summons (Wests) after the 1963 Grand Final, the trophy represented the premiership pinnacle for players in the Winfield Era.

The Winfield Cup captured these and many other enduring things about League in its primary image, "The Gladiators" and the famous trophy, like the J.J. Giltinan Shield, remains an important part of the game's heritage.

The League's name was changed in 1984 to the New South Wales Rugby League and Ken Arthurson became the new chairman. In 1988, two Queensland teams joined the competition, with the inclusions of the Brisbane Broncos and the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants seeing the game move beyond the outer borders of New South Wales. At the same a team from the Hunter region of New South Wales was included, with the return of a Newcastle franchise. Their return was the end of an 81-year wait in the wilderness and this time around the franchise was badged the Newcastle Knights.

In 1990, the NSWRL introduced a salary cap system to even the playing field of teams in the Winfield Cup.^[5]

The Winfield Cup competition was handed over to the control of the

The Knock On Effect NSW Cup (formerly known as NSW Cup, VB NSW Cup, Intrust Super Premiership and Canterbury Cup NSW) is the States's top-tier competition and clubs run as direct feeders to

Country Rugby League

On 24 August 2018, the NSWRL and CRL announced that they had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which would involve formal discussions in relation to a possible merger of the two organisations. This would result in Rugby League in NSW being governed by one body for the first time in more than 80 years. In October 2019 CRL merged with the NSWRL after the NSWRL agreed a new constitution and the CRL voted to wind up its affairs immediately. The decisions made on 19 October and merger mean that the aim of a unified administration of the sport in NSW was achieved over a year ahead of time.^[6]

National Rugby League Clubs

New South Wales is home to the following National Rugby League teams:

Club	Location	Home Ground(s) & Capacity	First season
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Sydney (Belmore)	Stadium Australia (82,500), Belmore Sports Ground (19,000)	1935
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Cronulla )	Endeavour Field (20,000)	1967
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Sydney (Brookvale)	Brookvale Oval (23,000)	1947
Newcastle Knights	New Lambton )	Newcastle International Sports Centre (33,000)	1988
Parramatta Eels	Sydney (Parramatta)	Western Sydney Stadium (30,000)	1947
Penrith Panthers	Sydney (Penrith)	Penrith Stadium (22,000)	1967
South Sydney Rabbitohs	Sydney (Redfern)	Stadium Australia (82,500)	1908
St. George Illawarra Dragons*	Sydney (Carlton), Wollongong	Jubilee Oval (20,500), Wollongong Showground (20,000)	1999
Sydney Roosters	Sydney (Moore Park)	Sydney Football Stadium (45,000)	1908
Wests Tigers*	Lilyfield), (Parramatta )	Campbelltown Stadium (18,000),	2000

• St. George Dragons joined in 1921, Illawarra Steelers joined in 1982. They merged in 1999 to form St. George Illawarra Dragons
• Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs joined in 1908. They merged in 2000 to form Wests Tigers.

Current Senior Competitions

Statewide/Representative

Metropolitan

• Ron Massey Cup
• Sydney Shield
• Macarthur Division Rugby League
• NSWRL Conference Competitions
  • Metro Open Age Gold (Manly/Norths/Balmain/Canterbury/Parramatta)
  • Central Northern Open Age (Manly/Norths/Balmain)
  • Central West Open Age (Canterbury/Parramatta)
  • Southern Open Age (Cronulla/St George)
• Penrith District Rugby League
• South Sydney A Grade

Country

* = Top-level Country leagues; Premiers eligible for Clayton Cup as best regional team in the state.

Representative

The NSWRL manages the New South Wales State of Origin team as well the NSW Residents, Jim Beam Cup, under-19s, under-17s and under-16s and Indigenous rugby league teams. These teams traditionally play against teams from the Queensland Rugby League.

The annual

Hawkesbury Radio call Penrith Panthers matches while Alive FM call selected Wentworthville games. Each year, they host the Tom Brock Lecture in their headquarters.

See also

• New South Wales Rugby League premiership
• Queensland Rugby League
• Super League (Australia)
• Touch Football Australia

References