The Australian Universities Rugby League is the body responsible for the development and growth of Rugby League throughout the tertiary level of education within Australia.
It selects the Australian team to compete in University World Cups.
Its members are the New South Wales Tertiary Student Rugby League and the Universities Rugby League Queensland who run the state competitions in their respective states.
The NSW Tertiary Student Rugby League is an affiliated body of the New South Wales Rugby League, established to promote the development of Rugby League within Universities, TAFE and other Tertiary Institutes within the state of NSW.
The Universities Rugby League Queensland is an affiliated body of the Queensland Rugby League, established to promote the development of Rugby League within Universities, TAFE and other Tertiary Institutes within the state of Queensland.
The TSRL runs a nine team competition between New South Wales and Canberra Universities.
| University | Nickname |
|---|---|
| Australian Defence Force Academy | Knights |
| Australian National University | Grizzlies |
| University of Canberra | Cows |
| University of Western Sydney (Nepean campus) | Cumberland Beavers |
| University of Western Sydney (Macarthur campus) | Panthers |
| Newcastle University | Seahorses |
| University of Western Sydney (Nirimba campus) | Polecats |
| Railcorp Apprentices | n/a |
| University of Technology Sydney | Tigers |
The URLQ runs a six team competition featuring the following universities.
| University | Nickname |
|---|---|
| Griffith University (Brisbane campus) | Dragons |
| Griffith University (Gold Coast campus) | Panthers |
| Griffith University (Logan campus) | Steamrollers |
| Queensland University of Technology | Trouts |
| University of Queensland (Gatton campus) | Bulls |
| University of Queensland (St Lucia campus) | Hounds |
| University of Southern Queensland | Ironbarks |
The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) until 1984. From 1908 to 1994, the NSWRL ran Sydney's, then New South Wales', and eventually Australia's top-level rugby league club competition from their headquarters on Phillip Street, Sydney. The organisation is responsible for administering the New South Wales rugby league team.
Super League was an Australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in Australia and New Zealand for one season in 1997. Along with Super League of Europe, it was created by News Corporation during the Super League war which arose following an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the pay television rights to rugby league in Australia. After two years of legal battles the competition was played for a single season in 1997 alongside the rival Australian Rugby League (ARL) competition before the two merged in 1998 to form the National Rugby League (NRL).
The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the Rugby League Imperial Board, the International Rugby League Board and latterly the Rugby League International Federation, the IRL is responsible for the Laws of the Game, the development, organisation and governance of rugby leagues internationally, and for the sport's major international tournaments; most notably the Rugby League World Cup.
Sydney Uni Rugby League Club is a rugby league team currently playing in the NSW Tertiary Student Rugby League and the Sydney Shield competitions. There used to be a team representing the University of Sydney who played in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership from 1920–1937, then in the NSWRL Second Division and Metropolitan League competitions from 1963 to 1976.
Rugby league football in Australia has been one of the country's most popular sports since it started being played there in 1908. It is the dominant winter football code in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. In 2009, it was the most watched sport on Australian television eclipsing the AFL nationally for the first time with an aggregate audience of 128.5 million viewers. The elite club competition is the National Rugby League (NRL), which features ten teams from New South Wales, three teams from Queensland, and one team each from Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand.
Rugby league in New Zealand dates to the beginning of the sport in England.
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 from 1908 until 1994, the premiership was the state's elite rugby league competition.
Rugby union is a popular football code within Australia with a history dating back to 1864. Although traditionally most popular in Australia's rugby football strongholds of New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT, it is played throughout the nation.
Wales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales.
Group 4 is a rugby league competition in the New England and north west area of New South Wales, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League.
The "Barassi Line" is an imaginary line in Australia which divides areas where Australian rules football is more popular than rugby league and rugby union and vice versa. It was first used by historian Ian Turner in his "1978 Ron Barassi Memorial Lecture". Crowd figures, media coverage, and participation rates are heavily skewed in favour of the code that is most dominant on either side of the line.
The Australian rugby league premiers are the winners of the top grade competition in Australian rugby league, which is currently the National Rugby League.
Sydney Uni Sport and Fitness (SUSF) is the University of Sydney's sporting body. SUSF currently manages and administers more than 40 sport and recreation clubs, also organising sporting and recreation events, and offering student and non-student members a comprehensive range of sporting facilities. SUSF also provides sport scholarships and other support to student athletes.
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament, contested by national teams of the Rugby League International Federation, which was first held in France in 1954, the first World Cup in either rugby code. The idea of a rugby league World Cup tournament was first mooted in the 1930s with the French proposal to hold a tournament in 1931, and again in 1951. The fifteen tournaments held to date have been at intervals ranging from two to eight years, and have featured a number of formats. So far three nations have won the competition. Australia, France and New Zealand are the only teams to have played in all tournaments. Since 2000, the RLIF has also organised World Cups for women, students and other categories. The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was held in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea which was won by Australia.
The 2008 NRL season was the 101st season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. For the second year, sixteen teams competed for the 2008 Telstra Premiership title. The season commenced with the first matches played on 14 March and ended with the Grand Final, played on 5 October. The premiership was won by the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles who set the record for the highest Grand Final victory in Australia's rugby league history.
The Tertiary Student Rugby League World Cup, also known as the University Rugby League World Cup, first took place in 1986 in New Zealand, when the then five test nations each entered a side in what was the first non-first grade World Cup hosted by the Rugby League International Federation.
Rugby league has the highest spectator numbers of the various codes of football in New South Wales. It began in Australia in 1907, when the New South Wales Rugby League was formed as a professional competition, following the rules of the Northern Rugby Football Union in England. Since then the state has been one of the major centres of the code; the headquarters of the Australian Rugby League are in New South Wales' largest city, 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.
Rugby league is one of the most popular codes of football in the Australian Capital Territory. The Canberra Raiders of the National Rugby League became the Territory's first professional sports team when they were established in 1982. For decades before that rugby league clubs in the area had been competing and providing footballers for representative sides that played against domestic and foreign teams.
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