New South Wales Rugby League premiership
- This page is for the NSWRL Premierships run from the inception of rugby league in Australia until the ARL Premierships. For information about the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales, see New South Wales Rugby League
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition in Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New South Wales Rugby Football League) from 1908 until 1994, the premiership was the state's and later the country's elite rugby league competition. For most of the premiership's history it was contested by clubs from the state of New South Wales only, but later grew into a nation-wide competition, eventually leading to the Australian Rugby League taking control of the premiership in 1995.
1908: Rugby league premiership in Sydney
The inaugural New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) Premiership began in 1908, and was made up of eight Sydney-based teams and one team from Newcastle. Cumberland joined the competition after the first round, meaning that they played one game fewer than the rest of the field for the season. Still known as the "foundation clubs" today, these nine teams battled against one another during the 1908 season, with South Sydney taking the first premiership honours after beating Eastern Suburbs in the Final.
Club | Traditional Colours | Years Contested | Matches [1] | Seasons | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Played | Won | Drew | Lost | Win/Loss | Played | Premiers | Minor Premiers | Runners-Up | |||||
Balmain | 1908 - 1999 | 1705 | 871 | 68 | 766 | 53.08% | 92 | 11 | 7 | 9 | |||
Cumberland | File:Cumberland colours.png | 1908 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 12.50% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Eastern Suburbs | File:Eastern Suburbs colours.png | 1908 - current | 1880 | 995 | 67 | 818 | 54.71% | 98 | 12 | 16 | 14 | ||
Glebe | File:Glebe colours.png | 1908 - 1929 | 297 | 163 | 6 | 128 | 55.89% | 22 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
Newcastle | File:Newcastle foundation colours.png | 1908 - 1909 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 45.00% | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Newtown | File:Newtown colours.png | 1908 - 1983 | 1305 | 583 | 59 | 663 | 46.93% | 76 | 3 | 6 | 7 | ||
North Sydney | File:North Sydney colours.png | 1908 - 1999 | 1665 | 678 | 71 | 916 | 42.85% | 92 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
South Sydney | File:South Sydney colours.png | 1908 - 1999 2002 - current |
1813 | 940 | 45 | 828 | 53.09% | 96 | 20 | 17 | 13 | ||
Western Suburbs | File:Western Suburbs colours.png | 1908 - 1999 | 1691 | 734 | 49 | 908 | 44.86% | 92 | 4 | 5 | 8 |
1982 - 1994: Expansion of the premiership
Over the decades since the NSWRFL competition started, Sydney suburban teams came and went throughout its history but it was not until 1982 that the competition saw significant expansion outside of the Sydney area. 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. This corresponded with the adoption of commercial sponsorship of the competition for the first time, seeing it become the Winfield Cup (named after the popular cigarette brand).
The NSWRFL had also commenced a very popular and successful mid-week competition in 1973, originally known as the Amco Cup, but also 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 of the NSWRL competition. In 1984, the New South Wales Rugby Football League changed its name to New South Wales Rugby League.
In 1988, for the very first time, two Queensland teams joined the competiton, with the inclusions of the Brisbane Broncos and the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants. This saw the premiership competition move beyond the outer borders of New South Wales. At the same time, as a result of mounting pressure from the central coast of New South Wales, a Newcastle franchise was returned to the competition. Their return saw the end of an 86-year wait in the wilderness and this time around the team was badged the Newcastle Knights.
Club | Traditional Colours | Years Contested | Matches [2] | Seasons | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Played | Won | Drew | Lost | Win/Loss | Played | Premiers | Minor Premiers | Runners-Up | |||||
Annandale | File:Annandale colours.png | 1910 - 1920 | 153 | 25 | 6 | 122 | 18.30% | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
University | File:University colours.png | 1920 - 1937 | 242 | 47 | 5 | 190 | 20.45% | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
St. George | 1921 - 1998 | 1545 | 910 | 56 | 579 | 60.71% | 78 | 15 | 15 | 12 | |||
Canterbury-Bankstown | File:Canterbury colours.png | 1935 - current | 1502 | 778 | 53 | 671 | 53.56% | 71 | 8 | 6 | 8 | ||
Manly-Warringah | File:Manly colours.png | 1947 - 1999 2003 - current |
1261 | 719 | 35 | 507 | 58.41% | 56 | 6 | 9 | 9 | ||
Parramatta | File:Parramatta colours.png | 1947 - current | 1321 | 608 | 38 | 675 | 47.46% | 59 | 4 | 5 | 4 | ||
Cronulla-Sutherland | File:Cronulla colours.png | 1967 - current | 932 | 456 | 22 | 454 | 50.11% | 39 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
Penrith | File:Penrith colours.png | 1967 - current | 917 | 379 | 26 | 512 | 42.75% | 39 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
Illawarra | File:Illawarra colours.png | 1982 - 1998 | 396 | 153 | 13 | 230 | 40.28% | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Canberra | File:Canberra colours.png | 1982 - current | 606 | 323 | 9 | 274 | 54.04% | 24 | 3 | 1 | 2 | ||
Brisbane | File:Brisbane colours.png | 1988 - current | 457 | 299 | 11 | 147 | 66.63% | 18 | 5 | 4 | 0 | ||
Newcastle | File:Newcastle colours.png | 1988 - current | 446 | 234 | 14 | 198 | 54.04% | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Gold Coast | File:Gold Coast colours.png | 1988 - 1998 | 246 | 53 | 9 | 184 | 23.37% | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
After mostly solid results were obtained by the expansion teams in 1988, there was increasing pressure for new inclusions into the competition. In 1995, some seven years later, the competition expanded further into Queensland, with the inception of the 'South Queensland Crushers' and the 'North Queensland Cowboys'. 1995 also saw a new team in Western Australia, the 'Western Reds', as well as a New Zealand-based team - the Auckland Warriors. The total number of teams in the competition was now twenty - the largest-scale rugby league competition ever in Australia. The premiership's new national outlook was further reflected in the governing body's name, with the New South Wales Rugby League transferring control of the competition to the Australian Rugby League (ARL).
Premiers
Between 1912 and 1925 there was no semi-final system and a final was only played if two clubs finished level at the conclusion of the Minor Premiership. Souths won the 1909 premiership when Balmain forfeited in protest against the final being played as a preliminary match before a promotional game between the national Rugby League and Rugby Union sides. The 1937 season also featured no finals as the year was disrupted by the Kangaroos tour.
Past winners of the NSWRL Premiership |
- 1909: Balmain refused to play the final in protest to the game being held as a curtain-raiser to a Kangaroos v Wallabies match. Souths played, kicked off, scored & were declared premiers.
- 1910: Top two played off for the title. In the event of a drawn match, the superior record during the season secured the title, Newtown had compiled 23 competition points, Souths 22.
- 1977-78: Drawn games requiring a replay.
See Also
- Winfield Cup
- Amco Cup
- History of Rugby League
- Rugby League in Australia
- New South Wales Rugby League
- Australian Rugby League
- National Rugby League
- ^ Rugby League Tables / Win-Loss Records / All Teams, As of Round 10, 2006,
- ^ Rugby League Tables / Win-Loss Records / All Teams, As of Round 10, 2006,