S. G. Ball Cup

S. G. Ball Cup

Sport	Rugby league
Instituted	1965
Inaugural season	1965
Number of teams	16
Country	Australia
Premiers	Sydney (Easts) (5th title) (2025)
Most titles	Parramatta (14 titles)
Website	S. G. Ball Cup
Related competition	Harold Matthews Cup Laurie Daley Cup Mal Meninga Cup

The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of male players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne, and Auckland also participate. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales a team from Perth (West Coast) also participated. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, and includes both junior representative teams of NRL and NSWRL clubs that do not field a team in the NRL.

The S. G. Ball Cup is named after S. G. "George" Ball, one of the five people responsible for the formation of South Sydney, and who was club secretary for over fifty years.

Clubs

In 2025, 16 clubs fielded teams in the NSWRL S G Ball Cup.

• Balmain
• Canberra
• Canterbury
• Cronulla
• Illawarra
• Manly
• Melbourne
• Newcastle
• New Zealand (Auckland)
• North Sydney
• Parramatta
• Penrith
• Souths
• St George
• Sydney (Eastern Suburbs)
• Western Suburbs

In 2020, 18 clubs fielded teams in the NSWRL S G Ball Cup. After the sixth round on March 14 & 15, the 2020 competition was suspended and subsequently cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. ^[1] Three teams from 2020 that did not return in 2021 were:

• Central Coast
• West Coast
• New Zealand (Auckland), who returned to the competition in 2023.

Previous teams that participated in the SG Ball Cup include: Gold Coast (2008–09), Newtown (1970s, early 1980s & 2009), Western Sydney Academy of Sport (2007–17).

Melbourne Storm competed in the S.G. Ball Cup from 2009 to 2014, did not compete from 2015 to 2018, and competed as the Victoria Thunderbolts from 2020 to 2022. The club returned as the Melbourne Storm from the 2023 season.

S. G. Ball Cup Premiers

1965 to Current

Year	Premiers	Score	Runners up	Minor Premiers	Wooden Spoon	Notes
1965	Souths	5 – 4	Canterbury	Not applicable – Knock-Out Competition
1966	Parramatta	12 – 0	Souths	Parramatta	Norths
1967	Parramatta	7 – 2	Souths	Canterbury	Newtown
1968	Parramatta	7 – 4	Souths	Parramatta	Norths	[2]
1969	Souths	13 – 3	Penrith	Souths	Newtown	[3]
1970	St George	12 – 10	Parramatta	Souths	Easts	[4]
1971	Wests	7 – 3	Souths	Souths	Newtown	[5]
1972	Canterbury	13 – 8	Parramatta	Parramatta	Norths	[6]
1973	Parramatta	19 – 10	Penrith	Penrith	Norths	[7]
1974	Souths	12 – 8	Balmain	Balmain	Norths
1975	Souths	13 – 2	St George	Parramatta	Newtown
1976	Souths	28 – 3	Wests	Souths	Norths
1977	Penrith	5 – 2	Parramatta			[8]
1978	Canterbury	14 – 0	Penrith	12 teams split into 2 zones of 6 teams. Semi-Finals were: Zone 1 1st-place vs Zone 2 2nd-place, Zone 2 1st-place vs Zone 1 2nd-place.		[9]
1979	Souths	8 – 0	Balmain			[10]
1980	Souths	23 – 10	Balmain			[11]
1981	Penrith	18 – 9	Balmain			[12]
1982	Balmain	25 – 16	Newtown	Cronulla	Easts	[13] [14]
1983	Parramatta	30 – 0	Wests	Wests	Newtown
1984	St George	18 – 16	Parramatta	Parramatta	Wests	[15]
1985	Parramatta	32 – 12	St George	Canterbury	Wests
1986	Souths	16 – 8	Parramatta	Souths
1987	Parramatta	32 – 10	Canberra	Parramatta	Easts	[16] [17]
1988	Parramatta	20 – 10	Penrith			[18]
1989	Illawarra	32 – 22	Penrith	Illawarra	Easts	[19]
1990	Newcastle	23 – 10	Manly	Newcastle	Easts
1991	Parramatta	32 – 6	Manly	Manly	Easts	[20] [21]
1992	St George	20 – 0	Canterbury	St George	Easts
1993	Parramatta	28 – 20	St George			[22]
1994	Souths	22 – 20	Newcastle			[23] [24]
1995	Canberra	36 – 6	Penrith	Canberra		[25]
1996	Illawarra	8 – 0	Parramatta	Illawarra	Canterbury	[26]
1997	Sydney City (Easts)	11 – 10	Newcastle	Newcastle		[27]
1998	Souths	20 – 16	Manly	Illawarra	Canterbury
1999	Parramatta	38 – 6	Illawarra	Parramatta	St George	[28] [29]
2000	Penrith	28 – 24	Illawarra	Newcastle	Wests	[30] [31]
2001	Newcastle	34 – 26	Penrith	Parramatta	St George
2002	Wests	18 – 16	Parramatta	Illawarra	Manly
2003	Canberra	16 – 4	Parramatta	Parramatta	St George	[32] [33]
2004	Newcastle	42 – 16	Souths	Sydney (Easts)	Norths
2005	Canberra	34 – 12	Illawarra	Parramatta	Norths
2006	Penrith	18 – 16	Souths	Parramatta	Norths
2007	Parramatta	22 – 12	Penrith	Penrith	Western Sydney (A)
2008	Sydney (Easts)	38 – 20	Parramatta	Canterbury	Norths
2009	Canterbury	42 – 16	Melbourne	St George	Wests
2010	Sydney (Easts)	28 – 24	Parramatta	Cronulla	Central Coast
2011	Newcastle	25 – 24	Canterbury	Wests	Western Sydney (A)
2012	Balmain	42 – 20	Canberra	Balmain	Western Sydney (A)
2013	Balmain	14 – 6	Penrith	Penrith	West Coast
2014	Sydney (Easts)	34 – 30 (iet)	Penrith	Parramatta	West Coast
2015	Cronulla	24 – 16	Souths	Canberra	Norths
2016	Penrith	25 – 10	Illawarra	Newcastle	West Coast
2017	Parramatta	30 – 22	Cronulla	Cronulla	West Coast
2018	Penrith	25 – 14	Canterbury	Sydney (Easts)	West Coast
2019	Illawarra	34 – 23	Manly	Manly	West Coast
2020	Season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [34]
2021	Canberra	18 – 14	Illawarra	Sydney (Easts)	Norths	[35]
2022	Penrith	22 – 20	Sydney (Easts)	Sydney (Easts)	Victoria (Melbourne)	[36]
2023	Parramatta	28 – 22	Newcastle	Canberra	Melbourne	[37]
2024	St George	40 – 18	Canterbury	Sydney (Easts)	Balmain	[38] [39]
2025	Sydney (Easts)	33 – 26 (aet)	Parramatta	Parramatta	Norths	[40]

• U16/s from 1965 until 2005
• U18/s from 2006 until 2020
• U19/s from 2021 onwards

Premiership Tally

No.	Club	Seasons
0	Manly	0
0	Norths	0
1	Parramatta	14 (1966, 1967, 1968, 1973, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2007, 2017, 2023)
2	South Sydney	10 (1965, 1969, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1986, 1994, 1998)
3	Penrith	7 (1977, 1981, 2000, 2006, 2016, 2018, 2022)
4	Sydney (Eastern Suburbs)	5 (1997, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2025)
5	Canberra	4 (1995, 2003, 2005, 2021)
5	Newcastle	4 (1990, 2001, 2004, 2011)
5	St George	4 (1970, 1984, 1992, 2024)
8	Canterbury	3 (1972, 1978, 2009)
8	Balmain	3 (1982, 2012, 2013)
8	Illawarra	3 (1989, 1996, 2019)
11	Western Suburbs	2 (1971, 2002)
12	Cronulla	1 (2015)

Bold means the team is currently taking part in the competition.

See also

• Harold Matthews Cup
• Laurie Daley Cup
• Mal Meninga Cup
• Tarsha Gale Cup
• Rugby League Competitions in Australia
• Rugby League Competitions in New South Wales
• Rugby League Competitions in New Zealand

References

1. "NSWRL cancels nine competitions for 2020 season". NSWRL. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
2. New South Wales Rugby Football League. "Souths, Parramatta Share Junior Cup Honours". The Rugby League News. 49 (26 (June 22, 1968)). Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League. Retrieved 8 September 2020– via Trove.
3. New South Wales Rugby Football League. "Souths Take Junior Cups". The Rugby League News. 50 (22 (June 21, 1969)). Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League. Retrieved 8 September 2020– via Trove.
4. New South Wales Rugby Football League. "JUNIOR FINALS". The Rugby League News. 51 (26 (June 27, 1970)). Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League. Retrieved 8 September 2020– via Trove.
5. New South Wales Rugby Football League. "Junior Stars Called Up". The Rugby League News. 52 (24 (July 3, 1971)). Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League. Retrieved 8 September 2020– via Trove.
6. New South Wales Rugby Football League. "The Juniors - A Goal-Kicking Discovery". The Rugby League News. 53 (23 (June 24, 1972)). Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League. Retrieved 8 September 2020– via Trove.
7. New South Wales Rugby Football League. "Cup to Balmain". The Rugby League News. 54 (24 (June 23, 1973)). Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League. Retrieved 8 September 2020– via Trove.
8. Pask, Tony. Ross, Barry; Gerard, Geoff (eds.). "Penrith's Bright Future". Big League. 58 (18). Flemington, NSW: Forsyth Publications on behalf of New South Wales Rugby League: 11.
9. "Junior Representative Finals". Big League. 59 (13): 39. 17 May 1978.
10. "Junior Representative Finals". Big League. 60 (16): 33. 6 June 1979.
11. "Junior Representative Finals". Big League. 61 (14): 37. 28 May 1980.
12. "Junior Representative Finals". Big League. 62 (15): 42. 3 June 1981.
13. "S.G. Ball Competition". Big League. 63 (10): 40. 28 April 1982.
14. "Junior Rep Finals Results". Big League. 63 (12): 38. 12 May 1982.
15. "Sports results, details". The Canberra Times . Canberra: National Library of Australia. 17 June 1984. p. 30. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
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17. "Junior Raiders fail at the last hurdle". The Canberra Times . Canberra: National Library of Australia. 9 June 1987. p. 22. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
18. "Times Sport". The Canberra Times . Canberra: National Library of Australia. 14 June 1988. p. 27. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
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22. "Sport". The Canberra Times . Canberra: National Library of Australia. 6 June 1993. p. 12. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
23. "Siren Scores". The Canberra Times . Canberra: National Library of Australia. 5 June 1994. p. 12. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
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26. Gandon, Mike (7 September 1996). "Junior seize the day - Grand final glory for Steelers". Illawarra Mercury. p. 68.
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29. Middleton, David (2000). Rugby League 2000. Sydney: Harper Sports. p. 253. ISBN   0732265576.
30. Murray, Dave (1 May 2000). "Penrith youngsters snatch SG Ball grand final - Steelers gallant in defeat". Illawarra Mercury. p. 19.
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32. "Monday Scoreboard - Part 2 - Netball-Water Polo". Daily Telegraph. News Limited. 19 May 2003. p. 48.
33. "Ball final goes to Raiders". Canberra Times. Fairfax. 18 May 2003. p. 61.
34. "NSWRL cancels nine competitions for 2020 season". New South Wales Rugby League. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
35. McEnally, Andrew (1 May 2021). "Raiders hold off Steelers in hard fought UNE SG Ball Cup Grand Final win". NSWRL. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
36. Honeysett, Stuart (30 April 2022). "Panthers stage stunning fightback to claim SG Ball Cup premiership". NSWRL. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
37. McDonald, Margie (29 April 2023). "Eels able to outlast determined Knights". NSWRL. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
38. Micallef, Tayla (27 April 2024). "Dragons break 32-year drought". NSWRL. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
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40. McDonald, Margie (3 May 2025). "Roosters pull a premiership from the fire in a SG Ball Cup thriller". NSWRL. Retrieved 4 May 2025.