The New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union, or NSWSRU, is affiliated to the

New South Wales Rugby Union The New South Wales Rugby Union, or NSWRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. Within Australia it is considered t ...

and runs the competition affectionately known as "Subbies" rugby. There are around 7500 players and 55 clubs competing across 6 divisions, making "Subbies" the largest centrally administered rugby competition in the world. NSWSRU is truly the grassroots of rugby in Sydney. The major trophy in "Subbies" is the

Kentwell Cup The Kentwell Cup is the major trophy for the New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union (NSWSRU), colloquially known as the "Subbies" competition. It is awarded to the first grade premiers of the first division competition. The Kentwell Cup was origi ...

that is awarded to the first grade premiers of the first division competition. The NSWSRU selects representative sides to compete against New South Wales Country for the Maher-Ross Cup, and Queensland Suburban for the Barraclough Shield.

History

Football under rugby rules began to be played in the 1860s in Sydney's schools. Some of these former students wanted to go on playing and, along with an increasing population of new arrivals in Sydney, this led to the start of club football. After 1872, rugby football clubs grew rapidly in number.

The first 'Junior' clubs: 1872 to 1900

Sydney rugby in the early years was played by Senior teams and Junior teams (where Junior denoted the second tier, not the age of the players). The Senior competition was run by the Southern Rugby Union (SRU, later to become the

NSWRU The New South Wales Rugby Union, or NSWRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. Within Australia it is considered ...

) and had been in existence from 1874, but matches for Junior sides were arranged on an ''ad hoc'' basis until after the 1885 season. The SRU only began to involve itself in rugby for Junior teams in 1882, and only established a formal Junior competition in 1886. Some of the clubs in the original Junior competition were Petersham (who still exist in the Suburban competition today), Manly Federals, the Warrigals and Wentworth. Most of these clubs fielded one team and the competition received coverage in Sydney's newspapers under "Other matches". By 1896, in an early sign of what later led to the schism with rugby league, tensions emerged with suggestions that Senior clubs were trying to poach players with talent at Junior clubs using ‘incentives’ and that Junior players were being paid a match fee. A new branch of the NSWRU called the Metropolitan Rugby Union (MRU) was formed in 1897 to administer the Sydney competitions and re-organise the clubs along district lines. The previous Junior clubs and players were essentially merged into new district clubs. More than twenty Junior clubs, including foundation members of the union, vanished from the books in 1898.

City and Suburban Association formed in 1901

Most clubs that were disenfranchised in the move to district football between 1897 and 1900 simply went out of existence but a few, such as Petersham, continued playing matches between themselves beyond the control of the MRU and NSWRU. In 1901 the competition was formally organised under the City and Suburban Association, making it the earliest forerunner of today's Subbies rugby. To counter this new rebel association, the MRU created its own Borough competition in 1902. Several of the leading City and Suburban clubs switched to this competition but, with the start of rugby league in 1908, it did not continue. With the advent of the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, most rugby union clubs ceased playing altogether and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

had won ascendancy in New South Wales.

Post-war reformation in 1919

After the war was ended, the NSWRU established one competition for the 1919 season with divisions for both non-district and district clubs. The

Mosman Rugby Club Mosman Rugby Club (known as The Mosman Whales) is an Australian rugby union club. It is based is Mosman on the Lower North Shore of Sydney. Home games are played at Rawson Oval and Balmoral Oval. Mosman won the first Kentwell Cup in 1923 and ...

, as the winner of the Reserve Grade B division (effectively the first grade for non-district clubs), was presented with a cup donated by W.H. Kentwell in 1923. This began the long history of the

which is now awarded to the NSWSRU first grade premiers in first division. The

Burke Cup The New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union, or NSWSRU, is affiliated to the New South Wales Rugby Union and runs the competition affectionately known as "Subbies" rugby. There are around 7500 players and 55 clubs competing across 6 divisions, maki ...

, was first presented to the Mosman club's second grade winning side in 1924 by James A. Burke, and is now contested by NSWSRU second grade teams in first division.

Sub-Districts Rugby Union

The NSWRU formed a separate non-district club competition in 1929, which became the Metropolitan Sub-Districts Rugby Union in 1933. The

Whiddon Cup The New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union, or NSWSRU, is affiliated to the New South Wales Rugby Union and runs the competition affectionately known as "Subbies" rugby. There are around 7500 players and 55 clubs competing across 6 divisions, maki ...

was inaugurated in 1933 by Horace Whiddon of the Briars Club, and is now awarded to the NSWSRU third grade premiers. At the start of the war in 1939 the NSWRU decided to cancel representative games but continue with club competitions. This was an attempt to ward off a repeat of the setback caused by the cessation of rugby during the previous war. All sports were ravaged during the war. Players and officials died or were injured during battle or as prisoners of war but, as at least a restricted form of the game was continued, rugby union was able to be successfully revived in 1946. After the war, Subbies rugby grew strongly. In 1966 Petersham made history as being the first club to circle the world on a rugby tour. The Sydney Sub-Districts Rugby Union was established in 1971, and the Subbies competition was rearranged into three divisions.

New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union

In 1990, the Subbies became known as the New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union. The second division of the Sydney district competition was absorbed into Subbies in 1993 and 18 clubs contested the Kentwell Cup in that year.

Drummoyne Drummoyne is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Drummoyne is six kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative center for the local government area of the City of ...

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

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), ...

and Hornsby, Hawkesbury Agricultural College, Canterbury, Dundas Valley, Hawkesbury Valley are former district clubs that moved to Subbies. Most current clubs are based on a local community, links with schools, or voluntary groups. Old Ignatians, St Patricks, Barker Old Boys, Knox Rugby Club,

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

, Kings Old Boys, and Oakhill are or were formed from ex-students of schools. The Bronte and Manly Savers clubs are composed of members of

surf lifesaving Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted social movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries, inc ...

clubs. Promotion and relegation is based on club championship results down to third division.

Recent events

There have been problems in recent years fielding a 4th Division competition (clubs with 3 grade teams). 4th Division was disbanded after the 2008 season, where only six clubs participated, and was further weakened with the withdrawal of two of the 3rd grade teams. The 4th Division was resurrected in 2011, again with six clubs, but again was afflicted with the withdrawal of two 3rd grade teams, although a Halligan Cup team – Colleagues Convicts – stepped up into the grade. In 2012 the season was played without a 4th division competition again. The 4th Division competition was revived in 2014, but with it came the demise of the 5th Division (clubs with 2 teams). This means that clubs who were hoping to have 2 teams this year must either downsize to one team (Division 6) or hope for a 3rd grade team and push for the revived Division 4, making clubs either make players miss out on playing if unable to find a Halligan Cup fixture (lack of a 2nd grade) or trying to create a 3rd grade (possibly making players play 2 or more games of rugby).

Trophies

Cross Divisional *Champion Club – Cowboy Cup Cowboy Cup is competed by every team in Suburban Rugby. Each team, including Halligan Cup and Radford Cup competitions which are not included within divisional club championship competitions, earns points for the club. The winner of the Cowboy Cup is the club across all divisions who earn the most points throughout the season. First Division *Club Champion – Bruce Graham Shield *1st grade-

*2nd grade- Burke Cup *3rd grade- Whiddon Cup *4th grade- Judd Cup *5th grade- Sutherland Cup *Colts- Barbour Cup Second Division *Club Champion – Reliance Shield *1st grade Barraclough Cup *2nd grade Stockdale Cup *3rd grade Blunt Cup *4th grade Richardson Cup *Colts- Robertson Cup Third Division *Club Champion – Harris Shield *1st grade- Clark Cup *2nd grade- Farrant Cup *3rd grade- Campbell Cup *Colts (from 2017)- Nicholson Cup (prior to 2017, Nicholson Cup was contested by 3rd Division 4th Grade) Fourth Division *Club Champion – Herlihy Shield *1st grade- McLean Cup *2nd grade- Grose Cup Fifth Division – ''(reinstated 2017 after a four season absence)'' *1st grade- Jeffrey Cup Sixth Division *1st grade- Meldrum Cup Additional Cups *Halligan Cup – contested between extra teams (e.g. 2nd or 3rd Division 5th grade), organised by the clubs themselves. The winner is the leading team after the final round of Division 1. During 2012, 19 clubs took part in Halligan Cup fixtures. *Radford Cup – contested by 1st grade colts teams from 4th division and below, but is open to second grade colts teams from 1st and 2nd division clubs. In addition, it is open to Premiership clubs who have additional colts. *Under 85 kg Cup – mid-week competition played between teams where all players are 85 kg or less. The competition was played between 6 teams in 2012, but has not been contested since then. *Rugby Club Cup – contested between Under 19's teams associated with Suburban and Premiership clubs. Has not been played since 2007.

Clubs

For the 2021 season, clubs compete in the following divisions: ;First Division (8) ;Second Division (8) ;Third Division (8) ;Fourth Division (8) ;Fifth Division (8) ;Sixth Division (8) ;Halligan Cup ''(Clubs listed played 3 or more games in the competition during 2020. 31 teams entered the Halligan Cup competition during 2020)'' ;Radford Cup (colts teams) Notes:

Representative team

A representative NSW Suburban team is selected from players within the competition to play against other amateur representative sides. The Maher-Ross Cup is contested by NSW Suburban and NSW Country, and the Barraclough Shield is awarded to the winner of the interstate match between the NSW Suburban and Queensland Suburban teams. The Barraclough Shield was contested annually from 1966, until 2016.

Notes

Bibliography

* Hickie, Tom V: ''The Game for the Game Itself!: The Development of Sub-District Rugby in Sydney'', (1983) Sydney Sub-District Rugby Union. * * Mulford, John G: '' Guardians of the Game: The History of the New South Wales Rugby Union 1874-2004''. (2005) ABC Books. * Pollard, Jack: ''Australian Rugby: The game and the players''. (1994) Pan Macmillan.

External links

NSW Subbies websiteCompetition Draws, Results and Ladders

Club websites

{{Authority control Rugby union governing bodies in New South Wales 1933 establishments in Australia Sports organizations established in 1933