The National Rugby League (NRL) is the top league of professional rugby league clubs in Australasia. Run by the Australian Rugby League Commission, however, there has not been a league-wide Reserve Grade competition since 1988, when the former New South Wales Rugby League expanded interstate to make the first attempt at a national competition, with the NRL Reserve Grade competition being shut down at the end of the 2002 season.
As a result, NRL-listed players who are not selected in their senior teams are made eligible to play in one of the second-tier state leagues: the New South Wales Cup or the Queensland Cup. The system used to accommodate NRL-listed players within these leagues varies considerably from state to state.
In the 2024 season, the seventeen National Rugby League clubs will have the following reserves arrangements. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
PNG Hunters in the Queensland Cup are currently the only club in either state-based competition without an NRL affiliation.Bold=NSW Cup
Underline=Qld Cup
The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the premier rugby league competition in Australia. North Sydney is based on Sydney's Lower North Shore, and has played at North Sydney Oval since 1910. There have been on-going bids to resurrect the club in the NRL as either The Bears, based in Perth and Sydney, or as the Central Coast Bears, based at Gosford.
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fifteen teams, thirteen of which are based in Queensland, with one based in New South Wales and one in Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
The Central Queensland Capras are a semi-professional rugby league football club primarily based in Rockhampton, Queensland and representing Central Queensland. They play in the Hostplus Cup in Queensland, which is a second-tier competition in Australia. Since 2023, they are one of the feeder clubs for the Dolphins in the Australian National Rugby League.
The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve grade competition, and is now the premier open age competition in the state. The New South Wales Cup, along with the Queensland Cup, acts as a feeder competition to the National Rugby League premiership. The competition is the oldest continuous rugby league competition in the Australia.
Graham Ernest Murray was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.
James Maloney is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and current assistant coach for the North Queensland Cowboys.
The FOGS Colts Challenge is an 11-team rugby league competition run by the QRL. It is the highest level of junior rugby league in Brisbane before players move into senior rugby. FOGS in an acronym for Former Origin Greats.
David Taylor, also nicknamed "Coal Train", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a second-row and prop in the NRL and the Super League in the 2000s and 2010s.
Rory Kostjasyn is a former Ireland international rugby league footballer. He played in the National Rugby League (NRL) for the Melbourne Storm and North Queensland Cowboys, with whom he was a member of their 2015 NRL premiership and 2016 World Club Challenge winning sides. An Ireland international and New South Wales Country representative, he played at hooker, but could also fill in at lock, and five-eighth. Kostjasyn currently works in the Newcastle Knights coaching department and previously coached their Canterbury Cup NSW team.
Arana Taumata is a New Zealand rugby league footballer, primarily in the five-eighth position.
Rugby league in Queensland is the most watched winter sport in the state and the second most participated football code after soccer. Rugby league was introduced in 1908 and within just a few years it surpassed rugby union there to become the most popular football code as players switched to play professionally in the Queensland Rugby League. In the 1920s, Queenslanders began leaving to play professionally in the New South Wales Rugby League which became a more popular competition. However Queensland maintained a strong rugby league culture, with the state continuing to perform well in interstate rugby league. The later advent of the State of Origin series ensured that players would return to represent their state.
Will Smith is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a five-eighth, fullback and hooker for Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League (NRL).
Tautau Moga is a Free agent Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a centre and winger in the National Rugby League (NRL).
Lachlan Burr is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer who last played as a lock and prop for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL.
John Olive is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Newtown Jets in the Canterbury Cup NSW as a centre and wing.
Luke Page is a former Papua New Guinea international rugby league footballer who last played as a prop for the Burleigh Bears in the Queensland Cup.
Kyle Laybutt is a Papua New Guinea international rugby league footballer who plays as a lock, centre, five-eighth, halfback and hooker for the Sunshine Coast Falcons in the Qld Cup.
Reece Robson is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL).
Murray Taulagi is an Australia international rugby league footballer who plays as a winger or centre for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL).
The Dolphins are a professional rugby league football team, based in the Redcliffe Peninsula area of the City of Moreton Bay, that competes in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL).
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