Rugby league in Tasmania | |
---|---|
Governing body | NRL Tasmania |
First played | 1954, Hobart, Tasmania |
Registered players | None in Rugby League 7,662 (including variants) [1] |
Audience records | |
Single match | 11,752 (2012 NRL Trial, Melbourne Storm V Brisbane Broncos At North Hobart Oval) |
Rugby league is a spectator sport in Tasmania, administered by the Tasmanian Rugby League. Prior to folding in 2015, the Tasmanian Rugby League Premiership was the highest tier of the sport in Tasmania. There are no rugby league competitions currently operating in Tasmania.
In the 1950s a rugby league competition was created which continued operating until the early 1960s. In the 1990s, two unsuccessful attempts were made to establish a rugby league competition.
The Tasmanian Rugby League was founded at a meeting at Heathorn's Hotel, Hobart on 2 December 1953 and the first competition was held in 1954 with teams including Bellerive (Eastern Shore), Taroona, Newtown and Canterbury. Players were initially recruited from Hobart Rugby Union teams and the first matches were played on 3 April 1954 at the South St Grounds, Bellerive. The first premiership was won by Taroona. [2] [3]
The first interstate match was played against Victoria on 12 June 1954 with Tasmania winning 18-8. [4]
By the mid 1990s the Tasmanian Rugby League was running a statewide competition [5] [ unreliable source? ] which included Seven Hobart teams:
and two regional teams:
The Tasmanian Rugby League also ran a Northern Tasmanian vs Southern Tasmanian competition during this period. Ben McKinnon from the Launceston Clippers is the only player to have won the statewide best + fairest on two occasions both in his debut season in 1995 and then again in 1997.
Due to dwindling player numbers the competition contracted to four Hobart teams during the early 2000s and midway through the 2003–04 season the senior amateur competition folded as a result of rising public liability insurance costs.
In late 2009 a new senior competition was established through the efforts of local 7HO FM Radio Personality Jason 'Wolfie' Wolfgram (President 09/10), and in conjunction with ARL Rugby League Development Officer, Graham McNaney. The decision to re-establish the competition followed a public forum at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Hobart on Thursday 25 June 2009.
NRL Tasmania (formerly and colloquially known as the Tasmanian Rugby League) is the governing body for rugby league in Tasmania.
Sport | Rugby league |
---|---|
Inaugural season | 2009 |
Ceased | 2014–15 |
Number of teams | 10 |
Holders | South Hobart Storm (2013-14) |
Most titles | Hobart Tigers (3 titles) |
The Tasmanian Rugby League Premiership was reborn in 2009. Over its course, the competition consisted of 10 teams at various times:
The competition folded midway through the 2014–15 season, and there have been no attempts to re-form it since.
Team information | |
---|---|
Nickname | Thunder |
Governing body | NRL Tasmania |
Home stadium | North Hobart Oval |
First game | |
Tasmania 18–8 Victoria 12 June 1954, New Town Oval |
Tasmania Rugby League Team is the representative team of the Tasmanian Rugby League. They have competed in many competitions since their first game in 1954, most notably in the Affiliated States Championship (sometimes combined with South Australia).
Australian Rules is traditionally the most popular football code in Tasmania, due to the state's close proximity to Victoria.
According to WIN Television, the 2014 NRL season generated an average television audience of 10,000 Tasmanians on Fridays and Sundays.
The two premier events in Australian rugby league, the NRL Grand Final and State of Origin, attract television audiences in excess of 40,000 Tasmanians. [6]
Trial matches played in the state have attracted crowds of 3,000, 11,752, and 6,823 respectively.
NRL club Melbourne Storm have played three NRL trial matches in Hobart as Tasmania falls within their franchise area.
Date | Game | Ground | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|
7/2/98 | Melbourne Storm vs Adelaide Rams | North Hobart Oval | 3,000 |
18/2/12 | Melbourne Storm vs Brisbane Broncos | North Hobart Oval | 11,752 |
18/2/17 | Melbourne Storm vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | North Hobart Oval | 6,823 |
Bellerive Oval is a cricket and an Australian rules football ground located in Bellerive, a suburb on the eastern shore of Hobart, Tasmania. Holding 20,000 people, it is the 2nd largest capacity stadium in Tasmania, behind Utas stadium which holds 21,000 people. It is the only venue in Tasmania which hosts international cricket matches.
The Tasmania men's cricket team, nicknamed the Tigers, represents the Australian state of Tasmania in cricket. They compete annually in the Australian domestic senior men's cricket season, which consists of the first-class Sheffield Shield and the limited overs Matador BBQs One-Day Cup.
The Tasmanian Devils was an Australian rules football club based in Tasmania that competed in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Soccer in Tasmania describes the sport of soccer being played and watched by people in the state of Tasmania in Australia.
Football Tasmania (FT) is the governing body for soccer in the Australian state of Tasmania. The federation oversees competitions across Tasmania, Tasmanian representative teams, and development of the sport in the state. The federation was known as the Tasmanian Soccer Association until 1996, when it was renamed to Soccer Tasmania. In line with national changes in March 2006, it became Football Federation Tasmania. In February 2019, the organisation became simply Football Tasmania.
The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the Tasmanian Football League (TFL) (formerly known as the Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL) and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian rules football league in Tasmania, Australia.
North Hobart Oval is a sports venue in North Hobart, Tasmania. Formerly used primarily for Australian rules football widely regarded as the traditional home of Australian football in Tasmania. However since the 1950s it has also become one of the main soccer venues in Tasmania.
Australian rules football has been played in Tasmania since the late 1860s. It draws the largest audience for any football code in the state. A 2018 study of internet traffic showed that 79% of Tasmanians are interested in Australian rules football, the highest rate in the country.
NRL Tasmania is the organisation responsible for administering the game of rugby league in the Australian state of Tasmania. Tasmania is an affiliated State of the overall Australian governing body, the Australian Rugby League.
The New Norfolk District Football Club, nicknamed The Eagles, is an Australian rules football club currently playing in the Southern Football League, in Tasmania, Australia.
Sport is a significant aspect of the culture on the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Outside general recreational activities such as walking, gym or bushwalking, the most popular sports in Tasmania are swimming, athletics/track and field, cycling/mountain biking, golf and Australian rules football. Netball ranks as the most popular team sport for female participation, while cricket leads among male participants. The most widely played team sport is soccer, with an estimated 36,773 Tasmanians, comprising 6.8% of the state’s population, participating annually.
The Tasmanian Rugby Union, or TRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within the state of Tasmania in Australia. The TRU was established in 1933. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia.
The Sandy Bay Football Club was an Australian rules football club based in Sandy Bay, Tasmania. The team participated in the Tasmanian Football League from 1945 to 1997.
A-League expansion in Tasmania has been proposed since the establishment of the A-League in 2005. Before the introduction of the league, Football Federation Australia (FFA) chairman Frank Lowy said he hoped to expand the competition into cities such as Hobart and Launceston, among others.
The Tasmanian State Premiership was an Australian rules football tournament which was contested at the conclusion of the season, initially between the reigning Tasmanian Football League (TFL/TANFL) and Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA) premiers, and then from 1950 also by the NWFU premiers, to determine an overall premier team for the state of Tasmania. The state premiership was contested 57 times between 1909 and 1978.
Launceston Rugby Union Football Club is a Rugby Union club in Tasmania. Established in 1998, the club is a member of the Tasmanian Rugby Union and Tasmanian Rugby Union Juniors, affiliated with the Australian Rugby Union and plays in the Tasmanian Statewide League.
The 2009 AFL Tasmania TSL premiership season was an Australian rules football competition, staged across Tasmania, Australia over eighteen roster rounds and six finals series matches between 4 April and 19 September 2009.
Statewide Australian rules football competition has been played in Tasmania, Australia under the umbrella of the Tasmanian Football League from 1986–1998, Football Tasmania from 1999–2000 until the competition was disbanded in December 2000 and AFL Tasmania from 2009 when a new ten-club competition, this time known as the Tasmanian State League, was formed.
The 2018 AFL Tasmania TSL premiership season is an Australian rules football competition staged across Tasmania, Australia over twenty-one home and away rounds and six finals series matches between 30 March and 15 September.
The Tasmania Devils is an Australian rules football club that competes in the Talent League Boys and Talent League Girls competitions. The team is made up of footballers based in Tasmania aged between 17 and 19 years of age, and competes against other representative teams based in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, as part of the Australian Football League's (AFL) talent pathway systems for male and female players.