The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. 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 elite rugby league competition, parallel to Queensland's first-class league, the Brisbane Rugby League.
For most of the premiership's history it was contested by clubs from the state of New South Wales only, but later attempted to grow into a nationwide competition, eventually leading to the competition being played under the auspices of the Australian Rugby League in 1995. Despite this name, the 1995 and 1996 Australian Rugby League Premierships competitions were still administered by the Board and staff of the New South Wales Rugby League.
History 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.
ClubNickname Years Contested MatchesRugby league tables / win–loss records / all teams , As of Round 10, 2006, SeasonsPlayedWonDrewLostWin–lossPlayedPremiersMinor PremiersRunners-up Balmain Tigers1908–199417058716876653.08%921179 CumberlandFruitpickers1908810712.50%1000 Eastern SuburbsRoosters1908–199418809956781854.71%92111511 GlebeDirty Reds1908–1929297163612855.89%22014 NewcastleRebels1908–190920901145.00%2000 NewtownJets1908–198313055835966346.93%76367 North SydneyBears1908–199416656787191642.85%92221 South SydneyRabbitohs1908–199418139404582853.09%92201713 Western SuburbsMagpies1908–199416917344990844.86%92458
1909–1994: Expansion of the premiership Between 1912 and 1925 the premiers were decided by first past the post. As a result of South Sydney's dominant 1925 season, the NSWRFL introduced a finals system in order to maintain interest in the competition.
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 competition, 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, Newcastle returned to the competition with a new franchise. 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 coloursYears contested Matches SeasonsPlayedWonDrewLostWin–lossPlayedPremiersMinor premiersRunners-upAnnandale1910–192015325612218.30%11000Sydney Uni.1920–193724247519020.45%18001St. George1921–199815459105657960.71%78151512Canterbury-Bankstown1935–199415027785367153.56%71868Manly-Warringah1947–199912617193550758.41%567910Parramatta1947–199413216083867547.46%59454Cronulla-Sutherland1967–19949324562245450.11%39023Penrith1967–19949173792651242.75%39221Illawarra1982–19983961531323040.28%17000Canberra1982–1994606323927454.04%24312Brisbane1988–19944572991114766.63%18540Newcastle1988–19944462341419854.04%18200Gold Coast1988–199824653918423.37%11000
After mostly solid results were obtained by the expansion teams in 1988, there was increasing pressure for new inclusions into the competition. Having decided in May 1992 that a team from Auckland would join the premiership in 1995, the League announced in November that three more new clubs — a second team from Brisbane, and also a team each from Perth and Townsville — will also be invited.
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', later called the Perth 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).
Senior grade 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. Between 1926 and 1953 first played third and second played fourth and winners played off. If the minor premiers were defeated they had a right of challenge, but if they were not defeated there was no true "grand final."
From 1954 a mandatory grand final was introduced in which there was a knockout minor semi-final between third and fourth and a second-chance major semi between first and second. The winner of the major semi went to the grand final and a preliminary final was played between the winner of the minor semi and the loser of the major semi to decide who would meet the winner of the major semi.
In 1973 a final five was devised with the top team going straight into the major semi, the second and third teams playing a major preliminary semi, and the fourth and fifth playing a sudden-death minor preliminary semi. The top team played the winner of the major preliminary semi-final, whilst the winner of the minor preliminary semi played the loser of the major preliminary semi in the minor semi-final (which was played as before under the final four system.
SeasonGrand finalsMinor premiersPremiersScoreRunners-up 1908 South Sydney Eastern Suburbs South Sydney1909 South Sydneyforfeit Balmain South Sydney1910 Newtown4–4 South Sydney Newtown1911 Eastern Suburbs11–8 Glebe Glebe1912 Eastern SuburbsN/A GlebeN/A1913 Eastern Suburbs Newtown1914 South Sydney Newtown1915 Balmain Glebe1916 Balmain5–3 South Sydney Balmain1917 BalmainN/A South SydneyN/A1918 South Sydney Western Suburbs1919 Balmain Eastern Suburbs1920 Balmain South Sydney1921 North Sydney Eastern Suburbs1922 North Sydney35–3 Glebe North Sydney1923 Eastern Suburbs15–12 South Sydney Eastern Suburbs1924 Balmain3–0 South Sydney Balmain1925 South SydneyN/A Western SuburbsN/A1926 South Sydney11–5 Sydney Uni. South Sydney1927 South Sydney20–11 St. George South Sydney1928 South Sydney26–5 Eastern Suburbs St. George1929 South Sydney30–10 Newtown South Sydney1930 Western Suburbs27–2 St. George Western Suburbs1931 South Sydney12–7 Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs1932 South Sydney19–12 Western Suburbs South Sydney1933 Newtown18–5 St. George Newtown1934 Western Suburbs15–2 Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs1935 Eastern Suburbs19–3 South Sydney Eastern Suburbs1936 Eastern Suburbs32–12 Balmain Eastern Suburbs1937 Eastern SuburbsN/A South SydneyN/A1938 Canterbury19–6 Eastern Suburbs Canterbury1939 Balmain33–4 South Sydney Balmain1940 Eastern Suburbs24–14 Canterbury Eastern Suburbs1941 St. George31–14 Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs1942 Canterbury11–9 St. George Canterbury1943 Newtown34–7 North Sydney Newtown1944 Balmain12–8 Newtown Newtown1945 Eastern Suburbs22–18 Balmain Eastern Suburbs1946 Balmain13–12 St. George St. George1947 Balmain13–9 Canterbury Canterbury1948 Western Suburbs8–5 Balmain Western Suburbs1949 St. George19–12 South Sydney South Sydney1950 South Sydney21–15 Western Suburbs South Sydney1951 South Sydney42–14 Manly South Sydney1952 Western Suburbs22–12 South Sydney Western Suburbs1953 South Sydney31–12 St. George South Sydney1954 South Sydney23–15 Newtown Newtown1955 South Sydney12–11 Newtown Newtown1956 St. George18–12 Balmain St. George1957 St. George31–9 Manly St. George1958 St. George20–9 Western Suburbs St. George1959 St. George20–0 Manly St. George1960 St. George31–6 Eastern Suburbs St. George1961 St. George22–0 Western Suburbs Western Suburbs1962 St. George9–6 Western Suburbs St. George1963 St. George8–3 Western Suburbs St. George1964 St. George11–6 Balmain St. George1965 St. George12–8 South Sydney St. George1966 St. George23–4 Balmain St. George1967 South Sydney12–10 Canterbury St. George1968 South Sydney13–9 Manly South Sydney1969 Balmain11–2 South Sydney South Sydney1970 South Sydney23–12 Manly South Sydney1971 South Sydney16–10 St. George Manly1972 Manly19–14 Eastern Suburbs Manly1973 Manly10–7 Cronulla Manly1974 Eastern Suburbs19–4 Canterbury Eastern Suburbs1975 Eastern Suburbs38–0 St. George Eastern Suburbs1976 Manly13–10 Parramatta Manly1977 St. George9–922–0 Parramatta Parramatta1978 Manly11–1116–0 Cronulla Western Suburbs1979 St. George17–13 Canterbury St. George1980 Canterbury18–4 Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs1981 Parramatta20–11 Newtown Eastern Suburbs1982 Parramatta21–8 Manly Parramatta1983 Parramatta18–6 Manly Manly1984 Canterbury6–4 Parramatta Canterbury1985 Canterbury7–6 St George St George1986 Parramatta4–2 Canterbury Parramatta1987 Manly18–8 Canberra Manly1988 Canterbury24–12 Balmain Cronulla1989 Canberra19–14 Balmain South Sydney1990 Canberra18–14 Penrith Canberra1991 Penrith19–12 Canberra Penrith1992 Brisbane28–8 St George Brisbane1993 Brisbane14–6 St George Canterbury1994 Canberra36–12 Canterbury Canterbury 1909: Balmain refused to play the final in protest to the game being held as a curtain-raiser to a Kangaroos v Wallabies match.South Sydney played, kicked off, scored and were declared premiers. Many contend though that a 'gentlemans agreement' was reached to postpone the game to the following weekend – and the action undertaken by South Sydney in starting the match sparked a fierce and bitter rivalry between the clubs that continued for many decades. 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, South Sydney 22. 1977–78: Drawn games requiring a replay. 1989: The score was tied 14 all at normal full-time – extra time was played to decide the winner.
Results (senior grade) TeamWinsLossesYears wonYears lost South Sydney20131908, 1909, 1914, 1918, 1925,1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931,1932, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954,1955, 1967, 1968, 1970, 19711910, 1916, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1924,