Australia
National Rugby League (NRL) is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL competition (sometimes referred to as the Telstra Premiership for sponsorship purposes) is contested by 16 teams, 15 based in Australia and one based in New Zealand, and is the Southern Hemisphere's elite rugby league championship.
Cowboys vs Sea Eagles
Match scheduled:
Date: 29-05-2010
Time: 09:30 until 11:30
- Round #12 - NRL Telstra Premiership 2010
A total of twenty-three clubs have played in the National Rugby League since its first season in 1998. For a list of all clubs past and present see National Rugby League Teams. For a complete list of all teams no longer competing in the NRL see here
Eleven clubs have been members of the National Rugby League for every season since its inception in 1998. This group includes Brisbane, Bulldogs, Canberra, Cronulla, Melbourne, New Zealand, Newcastle, North Queensland, Parramatta, Penrith and Roosters.
[edit] Foundation clubs
Two current NRL teams have existed since the 1908 foundation of the NSWRL, the predecessor of the NRL. These teams are the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Sydney Roosters (founded as 'Eastern Suburbs'). The Wests Tigers team resulted from a merger between the Western Suburbs Magpies and the Balmain Tigers, both of which were foundation clubs which played in the first grade competition between 1908 and 1999. Despite fielding a join-venture team in the NRL, Western Suburbs and Balmain remain independent clubs and field their own teams in lower-level competitions.
The North Sydney Bears were also a foundation club of the NSWRL in 1908 though are currently playing in the NSW Cup instead of the top level of Rugby League. This was after a failed merger with arch rivals the Manly Warringah Sea-Eagles in 2000 which they ran under the banner of the now defunct Northern Eagles. The North Sydney Bears have proposed readmission to the NRL for the 2013 season which they will be called the Central Coast Bears and play their home games at Gosford where they built their homeground Graham Park.[citation needed]
Former top-grade side Newtown Jets were also a foundation club, but were forced out of the competition after the 1983 season for financial reasons. They now field a team in the NSW Cup.[5]
There also existed Newcastle (who withdrew after 1909 to start a local premiership) and Glebe (also known as "The Dirty Reds" because their colour was maroon) who were removed from the NSWRL premiership in 1929 for "unsporting behaviour" [6]. 23 days after the kickoff on April 20, 1908, another team entered from Cumberland. They only ever won one game as they won the wooden spoon in 1908 and did not participate after that.
[edit] List of Premiers
- For the list of NSWRL premiers 1908 - 1994 see - New South Wales Rugby League premiership
- For the list of ARL premiers 1995 - 1997 see - Australian Rugby League
- For the Super League premier 1997 see - Super League (Australia) season 1997
