2005 National League Cup
The 2005 National League Cup was a British rugby league competition. The 2005 competition was the first to feature sides from RFL [League 1|National League] Three: previously the competition had only featured sides from National Leagues One and Two.
There were no cross-group games in the 2005 competition, each team therefore played only six games in the group stages. The top team from each of the first five groups progressed to the quarter-final directly. The second-placed team in each of these groups, plus the top team from group six, played an additional round to determine the remaining three spots in the quarter-finals.
The winners of the 2005 Northern Rail Cup were Hull Kingston Rovers, beating Castleford in the final.
Group stages
Knockout stages
''Home team given first.''Play-off Round
- Swinton Lions 40–24 Batley Bulldogs
- Featherstone Rovers 44–20 Workington Town
- Hull Kingston Rovers 64–14 Bradford Dudley Hill
Quarter-finals
- Featherstone Rovers 14–38 Castleford Tigers
- Doncaster Dragons 54–38 Halifax
- Whitehaven 28–22 Rochdale Hornets
- Hull Kingston Rovers 62–0 Swinton Lions