The

Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales The Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales was founded on 5 July 1822, when a group of Sydney's leading citizens formed the Agricultural Society of NSW, and is "a not-for-profit organisation committed to supporting agricultural developmen ...

Challenge Shield, or RAS Shield was the

New South Wales Rugby Football League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

's first premiership trophy. It was presented to each year's premiership winning

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 ...

team, and was won by South Sydney, Newtown and Eastern Suburbs. The first club to win three successive titles would take permanent ownership of the shield. The

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

club achieved this feat winning premierships in 1911, 1912 and 1913. The hand crafted black mahogany shield embossed with silver was donated to the NSWRFL by the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales in its first year of competition. Leading journalist

Claude Corbett Claude Gordon Corbett (1885–1944) was an Australian sporting journalist and was the sporting editor for Sydney's ''Sun'' newspaper in the early twentieth century. Early life Claude Corbett was born in Waterloo, New South Wales in 1885 an ...

wrote in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Sun, newspaper on, 1 May 1914,

'' The Royal Agricultural Society Shield, which was presented at the inception of the League's first grade competition has been won outright by Eastern Suburbs, who upset all calculations by winning the premiership three years in succession. The club has presented the shield to their captain,
Dally Messenger Herbert Henry Messenger, nicknamed "Dally" and sometimes "The Master" (12 April 1883 – 24 November 1959) was one of Australasia's first professional rugby footballers, recognised as one of the greatest-ever players in either code. He played f ...
, 'as a token of appreciation of his captaincy.''

The shield was passed on from generation to generation in the Messenger family until in 2005, Dally Messenger III handed it over to the

National Museum of Australia The National Museum of Australia, in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''National Muse ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. The shield is now part of the National Museum of Australia's National Historical Collection.Royal Agricultural Society Shield at the National Museum of Australia
/ref> Its association with the genesis of rugby league in Australia, and its connection to the game's first great star, make it one of the most important rugby league treasures held in a public collection in Australia.

References

External links

RL1908.com - Rugby League History
{{Sydney Roosters Rugby league trophies and awards Sydney Roosters

See also

References

External links