The National Rugby League (NRL) is the top
league
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
of professional
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 ...
clubs in
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
. Run by the
Australian Rugby League Commission
The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...
, however, there has not been a league-wide
Reserve Grade competition since 1988, when the former New South Wales Rugby League expanded interstate to make the first attempt at a national competition, with the NRL Reserve Grade competition being shut down at the end of the 2002 season.
As a result, NRL-listed players who are not selected in their senior teams are made eligible to play in one of the second-tier state leagues: the
New South Wales Cup
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 ...
or the
Queensland Cup
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...
. The system used to accommodate NRL-listed players within these leagues varies considerably from state to state.
Current affiliations
In the
2022 season, the sixteen National Rugby League clubs will have the following reserves arrangements.
* Currently the only
NSW Cup
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 reserv ...
&
QLD Cup teams not affiliated with an
NRL
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
club is Queensland Cup team
PNG Hunters
The Papua New Guinea Hunters (PNG Hunters) are a professional rugby league football club based in Papua New Guinea. They were formed in December 2013 and currently compete in the Queensland Rugby League, currently called the Hostplus Cup, a se ...
, based in
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Ze ...
and most recently the
North Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...
.
Participating clubs by season
Bold=NSW Cup
Underline=Qld Cup
See also
*
NSWRL Reserve Grade (1908 - 2002)
Notes
References
External links
{{Portal bar, Sports, Australia
National Rugby League
New South Wales Cup
Queensland Cup
Rugby league in Australia