The Wellington Rugby League Team (also known as the Wellington Orcas) are a

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 that represents 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 ...

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

competitions. They currently compete in the National Competition.

History

1908–1988: Early years

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. The following All Golds played for Wellington in that first match:

Edward Tyne Edward "Hone" Tyne was a New Zealand rugby footballer who was part of the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain. Early life Tyne was a railway worker, working for the New Zealand Railways Department.John Haynes ''From A ...

, Hercules Richard Wright, Tom Cross, Conrad Byrne,

Daniel Gilchrist Daniel Gilchrist (1882–1964) was a New Zealand rugby footballer who was part of the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain. Early years Daniel Gilchrist was born in 1882 to Margaret Ann Strain Gilchrist and John Henders ...

, Daniel Fraser and James Barber. 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. In 1912 Wellington played in its first international match, losing to the touring New South Wales side, 45–13.History Of Wellington Rugby League Association
Wellington Rugby League They defeated Auckland 33–18 on 27 September 1913. It was not until 1988 that they were again victorious over an Auckland side. The 1913 side was: A.Anderson, B.Whitley, W.Kelly, A.House (Petone), G.Bradley (Athletic), K.George, J.Barber, Jim Parker (Petone), J.Spencer, T.Turner, A.Bensmann, L.Campbell (Newtown), W.Wilson (Athletic). Bench: H.McGuire, B.Childs.''Lion Red 1988 Rugby League Annual'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

, 1988. p.p.151-159 During the

1951 French rugby league tour of Australasia The 1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand was the first ever tour of Australasia by any French sports team in history. Puig Aubert captained the France national rugby league team who played 28 matches in total in both Austra ...

the Wellington side hosted a match against the tourists. During the

1988 Great Britain Lions tour The 1988 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 18th tour of Australasia and took place from May to July 1988. It started with a Test match against Papua New Guinea before the best-of-three series against Austr ...

, Wellington defeated the Britons 18 – 24 at

Porirua Park Jerry Collins Stadium is a multi-purpose sporting complex in Porirua, New Zealand. It currently serves as the home ground of rugby union club Northern United RFC and the Wellington Rugby League representative team, as well as the second home fo ...

before a crowd of 4,428.

1989–1990: Rugby League Cup

On several occasions Wellington has held the

Rugby League Cup The Rugby League Cup is a New Zealand rugby league trophy that is contested between districts on a challenge basis. The trophy used to be known as the Northern Union Challenge Cup. It is the oldest rugby league competition in New Zealand. Histo ...

(previously known as the

Northern Union Cup The Rugby League Cup is a New Zealand rugby league trophy that is contested between districts on a challenge basis. The trophy used to be known as the Northern Union Challenge Cup. It is the oldest rugby league competition in New Zealand. Histo ...

1910–1969) for interprovincial competition played on a challenge basis. Wellington won it off the West Coast in 1947 for the first time and held it for three years. Wellington held it last in 1990.

1990–1994: Great Britain Tour

In 1990 Wellington defeated the touring Great Britain side 30–22.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'' This was Wellington's first, and to date only, win over a touring side.

1994–1996: 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.

2002–2007: Bartercard Cup

In 2000 and 2001 the region was represented in the

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Zeala ...

by 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

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 ...

. However, in 2002 it was decided that one team 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. The Orca nickname was adopted for the 2006 season, adopting the name from the Southern Orcas consortium – a group attempting to gain an expansion

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 ...

competition licence that was instead granted to the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

group. Previously they were known as Wellington Franchise. Notable players included

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, ...

and

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, ...

. *Wellington were docked three points for registration infringements.

2008–2009: Bartercard Premiership

Wellington Rugby League were awarded a place in the new six-team National Provincial Competition. The team plays its home matches at Porirua Park.

2010–present: NZRL National Competition

Wellington was put 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 ...

after 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 ...

disbanded. Wellington were called the "Wellington Orcas" through the competition.

References

{{Rugby League in New Zealand New Zealand rugby league teams

Orcas The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white pat ...

1908 establishments in New Zealand