Wellington Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of

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 ...

in the Greater Wellington region. It is responsible for the local competition of the same name, as well as its representative team, the

Wellington rugby league team The Wellington Rugby League Team (also known as the Wellington Orcas) are a rugby league team that represents the Wellington Rugby League in New Zealand Rugby League competitions. They currently compete in the National Competition. History 1 ...

Domestic Competition

The Senior WRL competition involves 9 teams in the Premier Grade with most fielding a Reserve Grade team also: *

Petone Panthers Petone (Māori: ''Pito-one''), a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. The Māori name means "end of the sand beach". Europeans first settled in Pe ...

(Lower Hutt) *

Porirua Vikings Wellington Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of Rugby league in the Greater Wellington region. It is responsible for the local competition of the same name, as well as its representative team, the Wellingto ...

(Porirua) *

Randwick Kingfishers Wellington Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of Rugby league in the Greater Wellington region. It is responsible for the local competition of the same name, as well as its representative team, the Wellingto ...

(Lower Hutt) *

St George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

(Porirua) *

Te Aroha Eels Wellington Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of Rugby league in the Wellington Region, Greater Wellington region. It is responsible for the local competition of the same name, as well as its representative t ...

(Lower Hutt) *

University Hunters A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

(Wellington City) *

Upper Hutt Tigers Wellington Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of Rugby league in the Greater Wellington region. It is responsible for the local competition of the same name, as well as its representative team, the Wellingto ...

(Upper Hutt) *

Wainuiomata Lions The Wainuiomata Lions are a New Zealand rugby league club based in Wainuiomata, Wellington. They compete in the Wellington Rugby League competition. In the early 1990s, prior to the creation Lion Red Cup national league competition based on ...

(Lower Hutt) * Whiti Te Rā (Otaki) * TOA Rugby league (Porirua) The 5 other clubs that aren't in the Senior WRL are: * Harbour City Eagles (Wellington City) * Kapiti Bears (Kapiti Coast) * Porirua City Phoenix (Porirua) * Titahi Bay Marlins (Porirua) * Trentham Titans (Upper Hutt) The winner is awarded the Appleton Shield, which has been in use since 1940. In 1912 four teams played for the Seigel Cup; Petone, Hutt, Athletic and Newtown. Petone won the first ever Wellington club competition.

History

Wellington played its first game on 24 August 1908 when they took on

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Victoria Park, Auckland Victoria Park is a park and sports ground in the Auckland city centre, New Zealand. It was opened in 1905 and named after the queen who had died four years earlier. It lies on reclaimed bay land in Freemans Bay, a suburb directly west of th ...

in the first provincial game of rugby league in New Zealand.John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers'', Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. During 1909, 1910 and 1911 Wellington continued to play a number of provincial games and, in 1909, defeated Auckland in Auckland, 22-19, the first of only five victories over Auckland in over 100 years.

Foundation

The Wellington Rugby League Association was officially formed on 23 May 1912 at the Trades Hall in Wellington when

1907-08 All Golds Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Mus ...

captain, Hercules Richard (Bumper) Wright presided over a meeting of 75 footballers and supporters, many of them prominent

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 ...

players in Wellington.History Of Wellington Rugby League Association
Wellington Rugby League The founding committee was chaired by W J Riorden and included Daniel Fraser.

Post War years

Will Appleton Sir William Appleton (3 September 1889 – 22 October 1958) was a New Zealand local body politician, advertising agent and leading company director. He was Mayor of Wellington for two terms from 1944 to 1950 after serving as a city councillor fr ...

was president of the Wellington Rugby Football League between 1940 and 1958 and presented the Appleton Shield, which is used to this day as the premier club trophy.

1990-1994 :Touring teams

In 1990 Wellington defeated the touring Great Britain side 30-22.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'' This is Wellington's only victory over a touring side.

1994-2000: Lion Red Cup

Between 1994 and 1996, Wellington was represented by the

Wellington City Dukes The Wellington City Dukes were a New Zealand rugby league club that represented Wellington City in the Lion Red Cup from 1994 to 1996. In 1997 one of the two Wellington Rugby League sides that competed in the Super League Challenge Cup was also ...

and

Hutt Valley Firehawks The Hutt Valley Firehawks were a New Zealand rugby league club that represented Hutt Valley in the Lion Red Cup from 1994 to 1996. In 1995 their nickname was shortened to "Hawks" and 1996 they were known as the Hutt Valley Dolphins.

in the

Lion Red Cup The Lion Red Cup was a New Zealand domestic rugby league competition that ran from 1994 to 1996 sponsored by brewers Lion Nathan. It was created due to the increase in public awareness of domestic rugby league due to the Auckland Warriors being a ...

. One player from the Dukes,

Earl Va'a Earl Va'a (born 1 May 1972)
Scrum.com is a former

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

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 ...

. Both teams folded along with the competition in 1996.

2000-2007: Bartercard Cup

Wellington initially had two sides in the Bartercard Cup competition - the

Porirua Pumas The Porirua Pumas were a team representing the Porirua region in New Zealand's Bartercard Cup Rugby league competition. The Pumas were one of two Wellington-based teams in the competition, the other being the Wainuiomata Lions. They were re ...

and the

, based in the city of Porirua and Lower Hutt suburb of Wainuiomata respectively. Results between the two were dissimilar - with Wainuiomata reaching the preliminary final in the first season, and Porirua coming last place in theirs. However, in 2002 it was decided that one team (later to be named the

Wellington Orcas The Wellington Rugby League Team (also known as the Wellington Orcas) are a rugby league team that represents the Wellington Rugby League in New Zealand Rugby League competitions. They currently compete in the National Competition. History ...

) was needed in the competition. They narrowly missed out on a finals spot in 2002, being on equal points but with a lower For and Against than the

Marist Richmond Brothers The Marist Richmond Brothers were a New Zealand rugby league franchise that played in the Bartercard Cup. They were a joint venture between two Auckland Rugby League clubs, the Richmond Bulldogs and the Marist Saints. In 2005 the competition was ...

. Unfortunately this was a high point for the franchise with the team never making the play-offs. In 2006, the then-unnamed Bartercard Cup franchises adopted the name of Wellington Orcas, after the unsuccessful NRL expansion bid.

2008-2009: Bartercard Premiership

The

Wellington Rugby League Wellington Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of Rugby league in the Greater Wellington region. It is responsible for the local competition of the same name, as well as its representative team, the Wellingto ...

were awarded a place in the new six-team National Provincial Competition as the region

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. The team plays its home matches at Porirua Park.

2010-present: NZRL National Competition

Wellington Rugby League was then placed in the

NZRL National Competition The NZRL Men's National Competition (previously called the National Zonal Competition) is the top-level rugby league competition run by the New Zealand Rugby League. In 2010 the competition replaced the Bartercard Premiership following a Sparc fun ...

as the replacement competition for the

Bartercard Premiership The NZRL Bartercard Premiership was a six-team rugby league competition that ran in 2008 and 2009. It replaced the now-defunct Bartercard Cup competition as the highest level of rugby league in New Zealand. Matches have been broadcast on SKY Netw ...

, known as the "

NRL Bid

In 2004, working with the Wellington Rugby League, a consortium called the Southern Orcas was involved in bidding for a

National Rugby League 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 ...

franchise to be based in the city. The franchise ultimately went to the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

who joined the

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 ...

for the 2007 season. In 2007 reports emerged that the consortium was looking at the possibility of joining

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

however nothing ever eventuated.RL CHIEF 'SCEPTICAL' OF ORCAS BID http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/07/04/08/RUGBYL_Orcas.html

Notable juniors competed in the NRL

Randwick Kingfishers *

Mose Masoe Mose Masoe (born 17 May 1989) is a former Samoa international rugby league footballer who last played as a for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Betfred Super League. He previously played for the Sydney Roosters, Penrith Panthers in the NRL and wa ...

Sika Manu Viliami Sikalamu "Sika" Manu (born 22 January 1987) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a forward for Tonga and New Zealand at international level, being a member of the World Cup winning Kiwi team who beat Australi ...

Ben Matulino Ben Andrew Matulino (born 3 January 1989) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s as a or . He played for the New Zealand Warriors and the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League, NRL, ...

Danny Levi Daniel "Danny" Levi (born 5 December 1996) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Canberra Raiders in the NRL. He has played for New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand, New Zealand Māori rugby league tea ...

* TJ Lewis Upper Hutt Tigers *

Nelson Asofa-Solomona Nelson Asofa-Solomona (born 29 February 1996) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Melbourne Storm in the NRL and New Zealand at international level. Asofa-Solomona won the 2017 NRL Grand Final and the ...

* Jordan Pereira Wellington Orcas *

Simon Mannering Simon Alexander Mannering (born 28 August 1986) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL. A New Zealand international second row forward, ...

(

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

) *

Jahrome Hughes Jahrome Hughes (born 8 October 1994) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Melbourne Storm in the NRL, and the New Zealand Māori and New Zealand at international level. He is a NRL premiership winning ...

(

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

)

References

External links

Wellington Rugby LeagueNew Zealand Rugby League
{{Authority control Rugby league in Wellington, Orcas Rugby league governing bodies in New Zealand