NZRL National Competition
The NZRL Men's National Competition is the top-level rugby league competition run by the New Zealand Rugby League. In 2010 the competition replaced the Bartercard Premiership following a Sparc funded review and restructure of the New Zealand Rugby League. Since 2019, the competition has consisted of a four-team national premiership and an eight-team national championship with a promotion and relegation between the two divisions.
Trophies and awards
Senior teams compete for the Albert Baskerville Trophy, which is named after Albert Baskerville, the organiser of the 1907-1908 [All Golds tour]. Under-17s compete for the Mark Graham Cup, which is named after Mark Graham, the New Zealand Rugby League player of the century. Under-15s compete for the Nathan Cayless Cup, which is named after Nathan Cayless, the only captain to win the Rugby [League World Cup|World Cup] for New Zealand.Structure
The competition was reformatted for the 2016 season, with Akarana, Counties Manukau, Canterbury and Wellington competing in a national championship. The Upper Central and Mid-Central zones reverted to district teams with these teams, alongside Northland and the South Island districts, competing in four regional championships. The four regional winners then compete in a National Premiership competition, which play a promotion-relegation match against the last placed national championship side.From 2019, this changed again, with a 4-team Premiership and 8-team, two conference Championship contested.