2016 Sam Figg for NSW Country Eagles v Western Sydney Rams

The New South Wales Country Eagles is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

football team competes in the

National Rugby Championship The National Rugby Championship, known as NRC, was an Australian rugby union competition. It was contested by eight teams, seven from Australia and one from Fiji. The tournament ran from 2014 until 2019 before being disbanded in 2020 following t ...

(NRC). The team was founded by a group of patrons associated with country rugby in New South Wales. The Eagles team plays home matches in regional centres of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

including

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

, and Tamworth.

Name and colours

The Country Eagles are named for the

wedge-tailed eagle The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...

, the largest bird of prey found in Australia. The team logo features a wedge-tailed eagle and, as the bird's feathers are mainly black with deep golden coloured highlights on the neck and wings, black and gold were adopted as the team's original colours. The logo and mascot, “Wedgie”, were chosen in consultation with the NSW Country Rugby Union to differentiate the team from the existing

Cockatoos A cockatoo is any of the 21 parrot species belonging to the family Cacatuidae, the only family in the superfamily Cacatuoidea. Along with the Psittacoidea (true parrots) and the Strigopoidea (large New Zealand parrots), they make up the ord ...

representative side. The Eagles colours, however, remain similar to the traditional black and gold (amber) colours worn by NSW Country.

Sponsorship

Elders Limited Elders Limited, formerly known as Elder, Stirling & Co., Elder Smith and Co. and Elder Smith & Co. Ltd, is an Australian agribusiness that provides agricultural goods and services to primary producers in Australia. History Early history (183 ...

formed a partnership with NSW Country Eagles in 2015, and has been the team's main front-of-jersey sponsor since 2016. The major naming sponsor of the Country Eagles for the 2014 and 2015 seasons was

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer w ...

(CSU).

History

The ARU announced in December 2013 that the National Rugby Championship (NRC) would commence in 2014. Expressions of interest were open to all parties, with the accepted bids announced in early 2014. A group of rugby patrons headed by businessmen Rick Hutchinson and Peter Tonkin (son of former Wallaby Arthur Tonkin) founded the bid for a New South Wales Country team. On 24 March 2014, it was announced that New South Wales Country would be in the new competition. The first general manager of the NSW Country Eagles, former

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

player James Grant, stated in 2014 that the team would be based in Sydney but travel to regional centres in New South Wales to play home games. Cities including Orange, Dubbo, Mudgee, Lismore, Tamworth, Moree, Armidale and Newcastle expressed an interest in staging matches. Originally it was thought that the NSW Country team for the NRC would be wholly composed of city-based players of country origin, but a goal of recruiting between four and eight players that were country-based was announced. In the early years of the competition. Sydney clubs Easts and Randwick had a direct link as feeder clubs for the NSW Country team in the NRC. Ahead of the 2016 season, the

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

club took a 25% stake in the team and provided many Eagles players from that season onwards.

Darren Coleman Darren Coleman (born 1973) is an Australian professional rugby union coach. He is currently head coach of the New South Wales Waratahs. Family and early life Coleman grew up in Kempsey on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, where he play ...

was appointed as the first head coach of NSW Country team in 2014. Coleman had previously guided Japanese team Toyota Shokki to

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

promotion for the 2013–14 season. Prior to that, he was also the assistant coach of the

Central Coast Rays Sydney is an Australian rugby union team that competes in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). Formerly known as Sydney Rays, the team is one of two sides from New South Wales in the competition; the other being the NSW Country Eagles. T ...

team which won the

ARC ARC may refer to: Business * Aircraft Radio Corporation, a major avionics manufacturer from the 1920s to the '50s * Airlines Reporting Corporation, an airline-owned company that provides ticket distribution, reporting, and settlement services * ...

in 2007. Coleman continued as head coach through to 2018.

Grounds

The NSW Country team plays its home matches in regional centres of New South Wales. In previous seasons, the team has also hosted some games in Sydney. The team has its training base at the

University of NSW The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public university, public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight (Australian universities), ...

in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, the same facility used by the Waratahs. The team has scheduled home matches at the following locations:

Current squad

The squad for the 2019 NRC season:

Records

Honours

**Runners-up:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

**Playoff appearances:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Horan-Little Shield **Season winners:

Season standings

National Rugby Championship :

Head coaches

* Robert Taylor (2019) *

(2014–2018)

Captains

Ned Hanigan Ned Hanigan (born 11 April 1995) is an Australian professional rugby union player who currently plays for the in the Super Rugby competition and the Australian Wallabies. His preferred positions are blindside flanker or lock. Early life and ...

(2019) *

Paddy Ryan Patrick Ryan (15 March 1851 – 14 December 1900) was an Irish American boxer, and became the bare-knuckle American heavyweight champion on May 30, 1880, after he won the title from Joe Goss. He retained the title until losing it to the exce ...

(2016–2018) *

Jono Lance Jono Lance (born 27 June 1990) is a professional rugby union footballer who previously played for Western Force in the Super Rugby AU competition. He usually plays at full-back, fly-half or centre. Early life Lance was born in Canberra, A ...

(2015) *

Matthew Carraro Matthew Carraro (born 4 August 1984) is an Australian former professional rugby union player. His usual positions were at centre or on the wing. Carraro played for the and in Super Rugby, as well as for Bath in England, and Montpellier and Tou ...

Cameron Treloar Cameron Treloar is an Australian rugby union player, formerly for Union Bordeaux Bègles in the Top 14. Career Cameron Treloar began his career with the New South Wales Waratahs in the Super 14 competition in 2005 before moving to the Queensla ...

(2014)

Squads

: : :

Gallery

File:NSW Country Eagles vs Greater Sydney Rams NRC Round 1 (4).jpg, NSW Country Eagles Round 1 File:NSW Country Eagles vs Greater Sydney Rams NRC Round 1 (5).jpg, NSW Country Eagles Coogee Oval File:NSW Country Eagles vs Greater Sydney Rams NRC Round 1 (1).jpg, NSW Country Eagles Coogee Oval File:NSW Country Eagles vs Greater Sydney Rams NRC Round 1 (2).jpg, NSW Country Eagles Coogee Oval

References

External links

NRC page
on .nswwaratahs.com.au