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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 Wellington rugby league team.


Domestic Competition

The Senior WRL competition involves 9 teams in the Premier Grade with most fielding a Reserve Grade team also: * Petone Panthers (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 (Lower Hutt) * St George Dragons (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 (Wellington City) *
Upper Hutt Tigers 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 ...
(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 at Victoria Park, Auckland 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 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 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 and Hutt Valley Firehawks in the Lion Red Cup. One player from the Dukes, Earl Va'a, later went on to represent Samoa in Rugby union. 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 and the
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 ...
, 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 1 ...
) 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. 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 were awarded a place in the new six-team National Provincial Competition as the region Wellington. 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, known as 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 1 ...
".


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 franchise to be based in the city. The franchise ultimately went to the Gold Coast 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 *
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 * Jordan Pereira Wellington Orcas * Simon Mannering ( New Zealand Warriors) *
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)


References


External links


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