Rugby league in New South Wales - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

has the highest spectator numbers of the various codes of football

Football

Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...

in New South Wales. It began in Australia in 1907, when the New South Wales Rugby League

New South Wales Rugby League

The New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...

was formed as a professional competition, following the rules of the Northern Rugby Football Union

Rugby Football League

The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...

in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Since then the state has been one of the major centres of the code; the headquarters of the Australian Rugby League

Australian Rugby League

The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...

are in Sydney

The premier state-level league is the New South Wales Cup, involving reserve teams from NSW and Canberra based NRL clubs as well as the first teams from other clubs.

History

Conducting its inaugural meeting in 1865, the now defunct Sydney Football Club holds the honour of being Australia's first rugby club. The inaugural Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

club competition was in 1874, competed by Balmain

Balmain

Balmain can refer to:Places:* Balmain, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia* Electoral district of Balmain, an electoral division in New South Wales, Australia* Balmain East, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia...

, Newington College

Newington College

Newington College is an independent, Uniting Church, day and boarding school for boys, located in Stanmore, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....

, Uni

Sydney University Football Club

Sydney University Football Club, founded in 1863 , is the oldest club now playing rugby union in Australia, and as such is nicknamed "The Birthplace of Australian Rugby" or simply "The Birthplace".The club are the current NSWRU Premiers.The club was a member of the inaugural Sydney club competition...

and The King's School

The King's School, Sydney

The King's School is an independent Anglican, day and boarding school for boys in North Parramatta in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831, it is Australia's oldest school and forms one of the nine "Great Public Schools" of New South Wales. Situated within a site, Gowan Brae,...

.

Arguments over the differences in the playing rules followed by each club or school led the formation of the Southern Rugby Football Union (later renamed as the New South Wales Rugby Union

New South Wales Rugby Union

The New South Wales Rugby Union is the organisation responsible for the sport of rugby union in most of the state of New South Wales, Australia...

).

By the 1890s Rugby football had taken hold in New South Wales, thwarting attempts by Victorian rules and soccer to gain the ascendancy. The game continued to grow becoming the most popular code of football in NSW until the issue of professionalism led to the schism in 1908 and the formation of the New South Wales Rugby Football League. The NSWRU lost many players including the great Dally Messenger

Dally Messenger

Herbert Henry "Dally" Messenger was an Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer, recognised as one of the greatest ever players in either code. Messenger, or 'The Master' as he was dubbed, represented his country in both rugby football codes, playing two rugby union tests and seven...

to the new sport of rugby league.

Governing body

The New South Wales Rugby League

New South Wales Rugby League

(NSWRL) is the governing body for rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League

Australian Rugby League

.

The New South Wales Country Rugby League

New South Wales Country Rugby League

-2011 Tier 2 Championships:-History:Newcastle was the first city outside Sydney to start a league competition, being involved in the Sydney Premiership in 1908-09 and then starting their own competition in 1910....

(NSWCRL) is the governing body for rugby league in areas of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

outside the Sydney metropolitan area

Sydney

and for the Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

(NRL) is Australia's top level competition for the sport of rugby league.

The headquarters of the National Rugby League

National Rugby League

(NRL) are in Sydney, which is home to 9 of the 16 National Rugby League

National Rugby League

(Sydney Roosters

Sydney Roosters

The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...

, South Sydney Rabbitohs

South Sydney Rabbitohs

The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...

, Parramatta Eels

Parramatta Eels

The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League...

, Cronulla Sharks

Cronulla Sharks

The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are Australian professional Rugby league team based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales...

, Wests Tigers

Wests Tigers

The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's mid-western suburbs. They have competed in the National Rugby League since they were formed at the end of the 1999 season as a joint-venture club between the Balmain Tigers and the Western Suburbs...

, Penrith Panthers

Penrith Panthers

The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan...

, Bulldogs and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...

), as well as being the northern home of the St George Illawarra Dragons

St George Illawarra Dragons

The St George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing the St. George and Illawarra regions. They have competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 as a joint venture between Sydney's historic St. George Dragons club and 1982 expansion club, the...

, which is half-based in Wollongong. A tenth team, the Newcastle Knights

Newcastle Knights

The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...

are located in Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

Club	Location	Home Ground(s)	First season
Bulldogs	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...	ANZ Stadium (11 games) (83,500)	1935 New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1935 The 1935 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the twenty-eighth season of Sydney's top-grade rugby league football club competition, Australia's first...
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...	Toyota Stadium (12 games) (22,500)	1967 New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1967 The 1967 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixtieth season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first...
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...	Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval is a sporting ground located within Brookvale Park at Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Warringah Council and is primarily used by the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles rugby league team... (10 games) (23,000) Bluetongue Stadium (2 games) (20,119)	1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1947 The 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the fortieth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football competition, Australia's first. The addition of two teams, Manly-Warringah and Parramatta, saw ten teams from across the city contest during the 1947 premiership, the first...
Newcastle Knights Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...	Newcastle Newcastle, New South Wales The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...	Energy Australia Stadium (12 games) (26,000)	1988 New South Wales Rugby League season 1988 The 1988 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership was the eighty-first season of professional rugby league football in Australia. This year saw the first expansion of the NSWRL competition outside the borders of New South Wales, with the addition of three new teams, the Brisbane Broncos, Gold...
Parramatta Eels Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League...	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...	Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium is a sports stadium situated in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia.The stadium is used primarily as the home ground of Australian National Rugby League club the Parramatta Eels... (10 games) (20,000) ANZ Stadium (2 games) (83,500)	1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1947 The 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the fortieth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football competition, Australia's first. The addition of two teams, Manly-Warringah and Parramatta, saw ten teams from across the city contest during the 1947 premiership, the first...
Penrith Panthers Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan...	Penrith	CUA Stadium (12 games) (21,000)	1967 New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1967 The 1967 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixtieth season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first...
St. George Illawarra Dragons	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... Wollongong	WIN Jubilee Oval (6 games) (22,000) WIN Stadium WIN Stadium Wollongong Showground is a rectangular multi-purpose stadium located in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium was officially opened in 1911. From 1982 until 1998 it played host to every home match for the Illawarra Steelers NRL team... (6 games) (22,000)	1999 National Rugby League season 1999 The 1999 NRL season was the 92nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be run by the National Rugby League. Seventeen teams competed for the NRL Premiership during the season which culminated in a grand final between the first grand final played at Stadium...
South Sydney Rabbitohs South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...	ANZ Stadium (10 games) (83,500) Bluetongue Stadium (1 game)(20,119) nib Stadium (1 game) (18,156)	1908
Sydney Roosters Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...	Sydney Football Stadium (11 games) (45,500) Bluetongue Stadium (1 game) (20,119)	1908
Wests Tigers Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's mid-western suburbs. They have competed in the National Rugby League since they were formed at the end of the 1999 season as a joint-venture club between the Balmain Tigers and the Western Suburbs...	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...	Campbelltown Stadium Campbelltown Stadium Campbelltown Stadium, formerly Orana Park and Campbelltown Sports Ground, is a rugby league stadium in Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia. It is the full time home ground for the Western Suburbs Magpies District Rugby League Football Club and is one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers... (4 games) (21,000) Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval is a football stadium in Leichhardt, New South Wales, Australia. It is a home ground for the Wests Tigers rugby league team. The stadium has a nominal capacity of 20,000, with recorded highest crowd figures of 23,000 in the 1981 KB Tooth final South Sydney Rabbitohs versus... (4 games) (23,000) Sydney Football Stadium (3 games) (45,500) Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian... (1 game) (44,002)	2000 National Rugby League season 2000 The 2000 NRL season was the 93rd season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the third to be run by the National Rugby League...

Competitions

For information about the New South Rugby League Premierships run from the inception of rugby league in Australia until the ARL Premierships, see New South Wales Rugby League premiership

New South Wales Rugby League premiership

The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League from 1908 until 1994, the premiership was the state's and later the country's elite rugby league competition...

.

The NSWRL currently administers the following major competitions throughout NSW.

New South Wales Cup

Bundaberg Red Cup

The Bundaberg Red Cup competition is conducted jointly with the NSW Country Rugby League. This competition comprises second tier clubs from the Sydney metropolitan area as well as the Central Coast and Illawarra districts.

Royal Agricultural Society Shield

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

New South Wales Rugby League

(NSWRL)'s first premiership trophy. It was presented to each year's premiership winning rugby league

Rugby league

team; the first to win three successive titles would take permanent ownership of the shield. The Eastern Suburbs

Sydney Roosters

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

Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales

The Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales is an Agricultural society based in New South Wales, Australia. They run many of the agricultural shows around New South Wales including the Sydney Royal Easter Show....

in its first year of competition.

Leading journalist Claude Corbett

Claude Corbett

Claude Gordon Corbett was a highly respected Australian sporting journalist who wrote, and was the sporting editor for Sydney's Sun newspaper in the early twentieth century. He also played first-grade rugby for St George, Newtown and Eastern Suburbs...

wrote in Sydney

Sydney

, Sun, newspaper on, May 1, 1914, "The Royal Agricultural Society Shield, which was presented at the inception of the League's

Rugby league

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

Dally Messenger

, 'as a token of appreciation of his captaincy."

In 1929 Jersey Flegg

Jersey Flegg

Henry Harry "Jersey" Flegg was an English-Australian rugby league identity. Both a player and administrator, he was a leading figure in the birth of the sport in Australia....

was appointed to the position of president 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

National Rugby League

competition.

Following Jersey Flegg's death in 1960, Bill Buckley

Bill Buckley (rugby league)

William George Buckley OBE was an Australian rugby league footballer and administrator.A front rower, Buckley played 75 first-grade matches for Newtown...

was made the NSWRFL's new president.

The NSWRFL had also commenced a very popular and successful mid-week competition in 1974, originally known as the Amco Cup

Amco Cup

The Amco Cup was a mid-week rugby league competition held in Australia between 1974 and 1989. The format was usually a straight knock-out, but various group formats were used between 1979 and 1982...

, 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 Humphries

Kevin Humphries

Kevin John Humphries is an Australian politician and National Party of Australia member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He has represented the Barwon since 24 March 2007...

, was instrumental in the establishment of the State of Origin

Rugby League State of Origin

State of Origin is an annual best of three series of rugby league football matches contested by the Maroons and the Blues, who represent the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales respectively...

series between teams representing the NSWRFL and Queensland Rugby League

Queensland Rugby League

The Queensland Rugby Football League is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League and selects the members of Queensland State of Origin teams....

(QRL). 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

Winfield Cup

The Winfield Cup was an Australian rugby league trophy awarded to the winner of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership's Grand Final from 1982 to 1994, and to the winner of the Australian Rugby League Grand Final in 1995...

. The two new inclusions were from the Australian Capital Territory - the Canberra Raiders

Canberra Raiders

The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership since 1982...

- as well as a team from the southern New South Wales region - the Illawarra Steelers

Illawarra Steelers

The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level Rugby League competition from 1982, when they, along with the Canberra Raiders, were admitted into the then New South Wales Rugby Football...

Winfield Cup

The magnificent Winfield Cup trophy remains a permanent symbol of one of the game's most successful eras. Cast in bronze by Alan Ingham, it was the game's ultimate prize for the duration of the Winfield sponsorship from 1982-95.

Based on John O’Gready's world famous photograph of Norm Provan (St George) and Arthur Summons (Wests) after the 1963 Grand Final, the trophy represented the premiership pinnacle for players in the Winfield Era. Its image of the big man and the little man encompasses many of the finer things about Rugby League – the mateship after battle, the satisfaction of the shared experience on the playing field – no matter how hard and tough the struggle has been, the message that Rugby League, for all its professionalism, is still a game.

The Winfield Cup captured these and many other enduring things about League in its primary image, “The Gladiators” and the famous trophy, like the JJ Giltinan Shield, remains an important part of the game's heritage.

The League's name was changed in 1984 to the New South Wales Rugby League and Ken Arthurson

Ken Arthurson

Kenneth Richard "Arko" Arthurson AM is an Australian rugby league football identity. Affectionately known as "The Godfather of Manly", he played, coached and was later an administrator at the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership...

became the new chairman. In 1988, two Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

teams joined the competition, with the inclusions of the Brisbane Broncos

Brisbane Broncos

The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...

and the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants

Gold Coast Chargers

Gold Coast were a professional Rugby league football club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from 1988 to 1994, the Australian Rugby League premiership from 1995 to 1997, and the National Rugby League premiership in 1998...

seeing the game move beyond the outer borders of New South Wales. At the same a team from the Hunter region of New South Wales was included, with the return of a Newcastle franchise. Their return was the end of an 81 year wait in the wilderness and this time around the franchise was badged the Newcastle Knights

Newcastle Knights

.

The Winfield Cup competition was handed over to the control of the Australian Rugby League

Australian Rugby League

for the 1995 season, with the inclusion of teams from North Queensland, Western Australia and New Zealand. This period of expansion created tremendous success for the competition and rugby league in general. Over 3 million fans attended competition matches in the 1995 season and this figure remains the record for a single season attendance until this day.

Representative

NSWRL manages the New South Wales State of Origin

Rugby League State of Origin

team as well the NSW Residents, Jim Beam Cup, under-19s, under-17s and under-16s and Indigenous rugby league teams. These teams traditionally play against teams from the Queensland Rugby League

Queensland Rugby League

.

City vs Country

City vs Country Origin

City vs Country is an annual Australian rugby league football match that takes place in New South Wales between City and Country representative sides. The City side represents the Sydney metropolitan area...

is an annual match that takes place between a City side selected by the NSWRL and a Country side selected by New South Wales Country Rugby League.It is played before the Rugby League State of Origin

Rugby League State of Origin

series and is often referred to as a selection trial for the New South Wales Blues

New South Wales Rugby League team

The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...

team.

The annual State of Origin

Rugby League State of Origin

series between the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons is the most popular sporting event in NSW. Sydney has hosted many State of Origin matches since the series began in 1980. The three game series are held in Sydney and Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

with the first and third games in one city and the second in the other. These rotate every year, so if two games are played in Sydney one year, then those games are played in Brisbane the next.

External links

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