The Washington D.C. Slayers were a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

football team based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

who last played in the

USA Rugby League The USA Rugby League (formally the US Association of Rugby League, Inc.) is the national governing body for rugby league in the United States. The organization is responsible for running the domestic club competitions and the United State ...

. They played their home games at Duke Ellington Field near Georgetown Hospital. The Slayers, along with the

Connecticut Wildcats Rugby league has been played in the United States by club teams since the 1970s. In that time a number of amateur and semi-professional clubs have been established and ended up going defunct. American National Rugby League *Aston Bulls (1998� ...

, were established in 2003 as

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

s of the

American National Rugby League The American National Rugby League (AMNRL) was the national governing body for rugby league in the United States from 1997 to 2014. The organization was responsible for running the domestic club competitions and the United States national rug ...

(AMNRL). They played in the AMNRL for eight seasons, from 2003 to 2010, making it to the league playoffs six times and advancing to the semi-finals in their inaugural season. In 2011 they became one of seven teams to depart from the AMNRL to form the new USA Rugby League.

History

The team was founded in 2003 by B.J. Chetham who sponsored the team's early foundation after learning that Rugby League was being played in Pennsylvania. Going to visit Pennsylvania to watch the New Zealand Kiwis play the US National Team the Tomahawks,B.J. through David Niu, President of the American National Rugby League, helped find keen players to organise a club in Washington, D.C. On making contact with Martin O'Donoghue, who had played on the

United States National team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

, the first club meeting was held with fellow New Zealanders, Americans, Australians, and British players living in the D.C and surrounding areas. Martin was involved in the early development of The Slayers, along with the

Norwalk, Connecticut Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...

, joined the league as

s for the 2003 season. At this time most players were recruited from

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

clubs from across the greater Washington area, and many of them were personal friends of O'Donoghue, who served as the team's first coach. The Slayers went to the league playoffs in their inaugural year, advancing to the semi-finals before being defeated by the Connecticut Wildcats. They went to the playoffs again in 2004, but in the beginning of a trend that would follow the team through the 2000s, were knocked out in the first round by the team that would go on to win the Grand Final. After the season founder O'Donoghue left the United States. The team nearly collapsed, as only eight players committed to play for 2005, less than the thirteen needed on the field. Nevertheless, these eight completed every game of the season. The team was able to rebuild the following year, and advanced to the playoffs in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010, though never making it past the first round.

USARL

On January 12, 2011, the Slayers became one of seven teams to leave the AMNRL to form the new

. On February 18, it was announced that players and staff from the

Fairfax Eagles The Northern Virginia Eagles were a rugby league team based in Manassas, Virginia, U.S. The club currently plays in the USA Rugby League (USARL). From 2007 to 2011 they were known as the Fairfax Eagles and were based in nearby Fairfax, Virginia. ...

, another Washington-based team that ceased operations before the season, would join the Slayers to form a stronger club. The league began play in Summer 2011. The Slayers finished the inaugural regular season in second place, their best ever finish, before being defeated by the

Philadelphia Fight The Philadelphia Fight are a semi professional rugby league team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. They currently compete in the USA Rugby League, having formerly competed in the now defunct AMNRL. They play their home games at A. ...

in the playoffs. In the 2012 preseason the Slayers played against Jamaican team Hurricanes Rugby League in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

in the first ever international club match on Jamaican soil, losing 66–29.

USARL season summaries

Logo and colors

For their inaugural

season the club adopted the colors of red, white and blue but the home uniforms are predominantly red, while the away uniforms are predominantly white. They have a team partnership with the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

of Australia's

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

(NRL).

Home and practice fields

The Slayers' home field is Duke Ellington Field near

Georgetown University Hospital MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...

in Washington. Their practice field is Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park downtown.

Statistics and records

* AMNRL Championship titles: 0 * USARL Championship titles: 0 :: Biggest winning margin Biggest losing margin Most points for the club

References

External links

Slayers Official Homepage
{{Authority control American National Rugby League teams Rugby clubs established in 2003 USA Rugby League teams Sports clubs and teams in Washington, D.C. Defunct sports clubs and teams in Washington, D.C. Defunct rugby league teams in the United States