New South Wales Rugby League


The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission.
It was registered on 21 December 1983 and succeeded the New South Wales Rugby Football League which had been formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907. The NSWRFL and then NSWRL operated the premier rugby league club competitions for Sydney, then New South Wales and then Australia from 1908 to 1994. The organisation administers the New South Wales rugby league team for State of Origin.

New South Wales Rugby League clubs

Current New South Wales members

Of all of the club in New South Wales, some are some who field teams in the NRL, New South Wales Cup and New South Wales Jersey Flegg Cup, and there are some who no longer field teams in the NRL, but continue to field teams in the New South Wales Cup and New South Wales Jersey Flegg Cup.
The following clubs are the direct full member clubs of the NSWRL.
ColoursSydney rugby league clubFirst seasonFinal seasonCurrent league
Balmain Tigers1908 season1999 season
Merger with Wests Magpies		U17s
Canberra Raiders1982 seasonCurrently playing in the NRLNRL, NSWRL,
U21s, U19s, U17s
Canterbury Bulldogs1935 seasonCurrently playing in the NRLNRL, NSWRL,
U21s, U19s, U17s
Cronulla Sharks1967 seasonCurrently playing in the NRLNRL,
U21s, U19s, U17s
Eastern Suburbs Roosters/
Sydney City Roosters/Sydney Roosters^		1908 seasonCurrently playing in the NRLNRL, NSWRL,
U21s, U19s, U17s
Illawarra Steelers1982 season1998 season
Merger with St. George Dragons		U19s, U17s
Manly Sea Eagles1947 seasonCurrently playing in the NRL*NRL, NSWRL,
U21s, U19s, U17s
Newcastle Knights1988 seasonCurrently playing in the NRLNRL, NSWRL,
U21s, U19s, U17s
Newtown Jets1908 season1983 seasonNSWRL
North Sydney Bears1908 season1999 season*NSWRL,
U21s, U19s, U17s
Parramatta Eels1947 seasonCurrently playing in the NRLNRL, NSWRL,
U21s, U19s, U17s
Penrith Panthers1967 seasonCurrently playing in the NRLNRL, NSWRL,
U21s, U19s, U17s
St. George Dragons1921 season1998 season
Merger with Illawarra Steelers		NRL, NSWRL,
U21s, U19s, U17s
South Sydney Rabbitohs1908 seasonCurrently playing in the NRL+NRL, NSWRL,
U21s, U19s, U17s
Western Suburbs Magpies1908 season1999 NRL season
Merger with Balmain Tigers		NSWRL,
U19s, U17s

  • * Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies merged after 1999 season to form the Wests Tigers.
  • * Illawarra Steelers and St George Dragons merged after 1999 season to form the St George Illawarra Dragons.
  • * Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and North Sydney Bears merged after 1999 season to form the Northern Eagles which demerged after the 2002 season. Manly Warringah returned at the start of the 2003 NRL season.
  • + South Sydney Rabbitohs were evicted from the competition after the 1999 season but, following a successful court battle, returned for the start of the 2002 season.
  • ^ Sydney Roosters were initially called Eastern Suburbs Roosters from the 1908 season until the 1994 season, then called Sydney City Roosters from the 1995 season until the 1999 season.

    History

was first played in New South Wales in 1907. The New South Wales Rugby Football League was formed in August 1907, when player discontent with the administration of the New South Wales Rugby Union, over rejection of compensation payments for injuries and lost wages, led to a breakaway movement. Key figures in the new league were James Joseph Giltinan, legendary cricketer Victor Trumper, Alex Burdon, Peter Moir, Labor politician Henry Hoyle, George Brackenreg and Jack Feneley. The first NSWRFL game was played on 17 August 1907, in which a New Zealand team defeated a NSW team 12–8.
The Sydney premiership was started on 20 April 1908. Nine teams contested the initial season. These were the nine teams:
  • Balmain Tigers
  • 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 basis of the first competition in 1908. In 1929, Jersey Flegg was appointed to the position of president of the NSWRFL and in 1941 he became chairman of the Australian Rugby League Board of Control. At the time of his death in 1960, aged 82, he was still serving in these roles.
When NSWRFL president Flegg died in 1960, Bill Buckley replaced him and also became boss of the Australian Rugby League, a position he remained in from 1960 until his death in 1973. In 1973, Kevin Humphreys was appointed President of NSWRFL and Chairman of Australian Rugby League. Under him State of Origin was introduced.
In 1983, Humphreys was succeeded in these positions by Ken Arthurson. Under Arthurson, the NSWRFL was succeeded by the New South Wales Rugby League Ltd and the clubs in the league expanded outside the borders of the state and even the country until, in 1994, after the 87th consecutive premiership season, the Australian Rugby League replaced the NSWRL in the operation of the premier competition.
Notwithstanding the handover of control of the game at the elite level across Australia to the ARL, NSWRL retained responsibility for both the administration of the New South Wales rugby league team in State of Origin series, as well as day-to-day management of the state-based New South Wales Cup second-tier premiership, as well as junior representative competitions and divisional leagues throughout NSW and the ACT. It did so in conjunction with the NSW Country Rugby League before their merger in 2019. In a similar way, the rival Queensland Rugby League retained responsibility for that state's Origin team and lower tier competitions.

Royal Agricultural Society Shield

The Royal Agricultural Society Shield, or RAS Shield was the New South Wales Rugby League '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.
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'."
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.

J.J. Giltinan Shield

In 1951, the NSWRFL originated the J.J. Giltinan Shield, following his death in 1950. This trophy was awarded to the premiers of the NSWRFL competition, being named after one of the founding fathers of the NSWRFL and rugby league in Australia. The trophy remains today, being awarded to the minor premiers of the National Rugby League competition.
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.
In 1973, NSWRFL boss Kevin Humphreys negotiated rugby league's first television deal with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 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.
In 1980, the NSWRFL President Kevin Humphreys, 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. 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.
Sydney suburban teams came and went throughout the NSWRFL's history but it was not until 1982 that the competition included expansion outside of the Sydney area. This corresponded with the adoption of commercial sponsorship of the competition for the first time, the Winfield Cup. The two new inclusions were from the Australian Capital Territory – the Canberra Raiders – as well as a team from the southern New South Wales region – the Illawarra Steelers.