| Rugby league in the Australian Capital Territory | |
|---|---|
| Governing body | New South Wales Country Rugby League |
| Representative team | Australian Capital Territory |
| Registered players | 1,088 (2019) [1] |
| Clubs | 9 |
Club competitions | |
Audience records | |
| Single match | 26,476 (17 September 2010). NRL Canberra Raiders v Wests Tigers (Canberra Stadium, Canberra) |
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.
The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
The National Rugby League (NRL) is Australia's top-level competition for the sport of rugby league. [2]
The Canberra Raiders are Canberra's National Rugby League team, being admitted to the competition in 1982.
| Club | Location | Home Ground(s) | First season |
|---|---|---|---|
 Canberra Raiders | Canberra | GIO Stadium | 1982 |
The Canberra Rugby League competition is more commonly known as the Canberra Raiders Cup, covering the Australian Capital Territory and surrounding New South Wales towns Queanbeyan, Goulburn and Yass. The competition is run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League and players are eligible for selection in the Monaro Division of the CRL Divisional Championships.
ACT players are eligible to represent Country in the NSWRL City vs Country Origin in an annual match against a City side selected by the NSWRL. It is played before the Rugby League State of Origin series and is often referred to as a selection trial for the New South Wales Blues team.
They can also go onto play for New South Wales Blues in the State of Origin series against Queensland Maroons.
An Australian Capital Territories representative side took part in the early Affiliated States Championship.
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 (NRL) premiership since 1982. Over this period the club has won 3 premierships,. They have not won a grand final since 1994 and last played in a grand final in 2019. They have received 1 wooden spoon and had a total of 15 of its players selected to play for the Australia national rugby league team. The Raiders' current home ground is Canberra Stadium in Bruce, Australian Capital Territory. Previously, the team played home matches at Seiffert Oval in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, with the move to the AIS Stadium in Bruce taking place in 1990. The official symbol for the Canberra Raiders is the Viking. The Viking, also a mascot at Raiders' games, is known as Victor the Viking.
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.
Laurie William Daley AM, also known by the nicknames of "Lozza" and "Loz", is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and a former player who played as a centre and five-eighth in the 1980s and 1990s.
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. Also known as the Blues due to their sky blue jerseys, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against neighbouring state, the Queensland rugby league team. This annual event is a series of three games competing for the State of Origin shield. As of 2021, the team is coached by Brad Fittler and captained by James Tedesco.
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 NSW Cup was the Reserve Grade/Presidents Cup/First Division from 1908 until 2002, and the NSWRL Premier League from 2003 to 2007, the New South Wales Cup from 2008 to 2015, the Intrust Super Premiership NSW from 2016 to 2018, the Canterbury Cup NSW from 2019 to 2020. The New South Wales Cup, along with the Queensland Cup, acts as a feeder competition to the National Rugby League premiership.
Craig Bellamy is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Melbourne Storm in the NRL, and a former professional rugby league footballer. He is known as one of the greatest coaches in NRL history.
Craig Young is an Australian former representative rugby league footballer for the Australia national rugby league team, the New South Wales Blues and a stalwart player over 11 seasons from 1977 to 1988 with the St. George Dragons in the NSWRL premiership competition. He played as a prop-forward. His nickname was "Albert" after his middle name and/or the cartoon character Fat Albert.
City vs Country Origin was an annual Australian rugby league football match that took place in New South Wales between City and Country representative sides. The City side represented the Sydney metropolitan area. While technically it was Sydney vs. the rest of NSW, players from the Central Coast often represented City, but other players from the Central Coast represented Country. The Country side represented the rest of New South Wales.
Bradley Clyde is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s who, at the peak of his playing career was widely acknowledged as the best lock in the game. He represented both New South Wales, and played for the Australian national side, and played his club football in Australia for the Canberra Raiders and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, and in England for Leeds Rhinos.
Brett Mullins is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, and early 2000s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative back, he played his club football for Australian clubs the Canberra Raiders and Sydney Roosters, and for English club, the Leeds Rhinos. He was described as "one of the most exciting attacking weapons in rugby league."
The Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL), formed in 1934 and disbanded in 2019, was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in areas of New South Wales outside the Sydney metropolitan area until it merged with NSW Rugby League in 2019. The CRL was superseded by 6 NSWRL Country Divisions represented by 4 members of the nine-person NSWRL board. Despite its name, the CRL also governed rugby league in the Australian Capital Territory. Apart from selecting a Country Origin side to play in the annual City vs Country Origin game, the CRL administered many senior and junior competitions across the state.
The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne also participate. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales teams from Perth and Auckland also participated. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League. The competition includes both junior representative teams of NRL and NSW Cup clubs that do not field a team in the NRL competition.
The NSWRL Harold Matthews Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales between teams made up of players aged under 16. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The competition is made up of NSW-based clubs and includes both junior representative teams of the elite National Rugby League (NRL) and clubs that do not field teams in the NRL competition.
James McManus is a Scottish former professional rugby league footballer. A New South Wales State of Origin representative, he played for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League as a winger.
The 1994 NSWRL season was the eighty-seventh season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs, including 14 from within the borders of New South Wales plus two from Queensland, competed for the J J Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final match for the Winfield Cup trophy between the Canberra Raiders and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Sport in the Australian Capital Territory refers to the various sports played in the Australian Capital Territory. Teams represent the ACT in the national leagues of several sports, although the rugby league and rugby union teams receive far more local coverage than any of the other teams and are considered the main sports of the territory. The Australian Institute of Sport was set up in 1981, where many Olympic and other athletes are trained.
Rugby league, in New South Wales, is the most popular participation and spectator sport. It currently has the highest attendance and television audiences of the various codes of football in the state, far outstripping any other competitors. The state has over 400,000 active participants in the sport with a further 1 million playing the sport in schools, over 500 active clubs across the state, and 10 clubs in the national professional competition, the NRL.
Damien Cook is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL and Australia at international level.
Mitch Cornish is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League, as a five-eighth or halfback. He previously played for the Canberra Raiders.
Women's rugby league is a popular women's sports in Australia. The sport has a high level of participation in the country both recreational and professional. Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) is the national governing body of the sport in Australia, organising the Australian Women's Rugby League, the Australian women's national team, and the nine state governing bodies of the game, among other duties. Women's participation of modern rugby league has been recorded since the early 1920s. It has since become one of Australia's most popular women's team sports.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| National Federation | |
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see also: Sport in Australia |
