The Sydney University Rugby League Football Club is 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 11 ...

team currently playing in the Saturday Metro League competition. The

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

was represented in the

New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sou ...

from 1920 to 1937 as University, and also in the

NSWRL 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 ...

Second Division and Metropolitan League competitions from 1963 to 1976.

History

The movement at the

to be involved in the new game of

began in 1919 with a number of players (including seven University Blues from the 1918 season) viewing a game of the new code and deciding to switch codes. As put by

Herbert Vere Evatt Herbert Vere Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and ...

(a final year law student and later a politician, jurist and president of the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...

) at the time the reasons were: ::"Owing to the general dissatisfaction with the management of the Rugby Union during the 1919 football season, and the fact that University footballers were starting to realise that rugby league was a faster and cleaner game, several leading members of the football club, including seven 'blues' of the past season, took steps to introduce the league game into the University for the 1920 season. A special meeting of league supporters was held and decided to enter three teams, all members to play as strict amateurs."

Anti-rugby league prejudice

From the very beginning, the Students (or 'Varsity' as they were also known) struggled to gain acceptance by the University Sports Association who displayed great prejudice toward those who had left the rugby union side to play

. Indeed, players who participated in

matches were threatened with disqualification from ever playing rugby union at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

and the Sports Association forbid the club from training on the University Oval (forcing Varsity to train with

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 ...

at the Sydney Sports Ground). While public pressure forced the Association to relent, the club never once played a game at the University Oval during its involvement in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership.

1926 Grand Final

The highlight of the Students' 18 seasons in the NSWRL Premiership was their one and only finals appearance (having finished fourth in the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...

). To get to the Grand Final at the Sydney Agricultural Ground University had to defeat

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

which they did comfortably 29 - 3. In the Grand Final, however, they were defeated 5–11 by Souths in front of 20,000 people.

Withdrawal from the Premiership

Generally, the amateur students struggled to perform against the professional players of the other sides and University enjoyed very little success only winning 44 of its 226 games during its time in the Premiership (and only won 2 games after 1933). The club did not win a single match in 1935, continuing a losing streak that started in round 2, 1934 and which would run till round 14, 1936 and which marked the most consecutive losses in NSWRL/NRL premiership history at 42. This run of form, in addition to having spent 12 of its 18 seasons in last place prompted their decision to withdraw from the Premiership at the close of the 1937 season.

Life After the Premiership

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 11 ...

did not perish at the

and sides representing the university continued to play in various competitions. Most notably, Varsity played in the

Inter-District Competition, Second Division and Metropolitan League (predecessors to the

Jim Beam Cup Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim' ...

) between 1964 and 1976, finishing as Second Division runners-up in 1969 and 1971, both times to the leading side of the day

Wentworthville Wentworthville is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wentworthville is located 27 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. Wentworthville is split ...

Wills Cup

As runners-up in the 1969 Second Division, University (along with Wentworthville) were invited to compete in the NSWRL pre-season competition (the

Wills Cup The National One Day Cup was the national domestic List A (one-day) cricket competition in Pakistan. Due to frequent reorganisations by the Pakistan Cricket Board, at different times there have been one or more competitions involving teams repre ...

) in 1970. Despite the inclusion of mature players from other metropolitan University clubs and professional coaches, the sides were too inexperienced and light to compete with the senior club sides. University finished 13th (above last-placed Penrith) in the competition with 1 win from 4 games (their lone win, a close 19–17 victory, came against Wentworthville), with a points differential of -29.

University Shield Competition

In 1922 the University of Sydney Club presented the league with a shield for use as a trophy in a statewide High School Rugby League knockout competition. The competition became known as the 'University Shield' and is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious competitions in schoolboy rugby league. The University Shield has undergone various changes in format since its inception in 1922, the most notable of these having been the exclusion of specialised 'Sports High Schools' which dominated the competition between 1996 and 2006 in a spirit deemed 'untrue' to the traditional concept of the competition.

Sydney Shield

In December 2018, it was revealed that University would be competing in the

Sydney Shield The Sydney Shield is a rugby league football competition played in Sydney, New South Wales. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League. Clubs Seven teams are competing in the 2022 Sydney Shield. The season commenced on M ...

competition. At the end of the 2019

season, University finished 10th on the table. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, University were initially meant to compete in the 2021 Sydney Shield but pulled out for financial reasons.

University Shield Honour Board (1922-2007)

Players of Note

Australian Representative *

Ray Morris Ray Morris (1908-1933) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. A New South Wales representative three-quarter back, he played his club football in Sydney for Western Suburbs (with whom he won t ...

(1933/34 Kangaroo Tour) * Jim Craig New South Wales * Hubert "Butt" Finn * Jim McIntyre * A.S. Lane * Edmund "Feather" Hanrahan *

Harleigh Hanrahan Harleigh Hanrahan was an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played for Eastern Suburbs, University and South Sydney in the NSWRL competition. Playing career Hanrahan made his first gra ...

Clive Evatt Clive Raleigh Evatt (6 June 1900 – 15 September 1984) was an Australian politician, barrister and raconteur. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1939 until 1959. At various times he sat as a member of the Industr ...

Tom Linskey Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

* Tom Barry * Frank O'Rourke *

Ross McKinnon Ross McKinnon (1914-1962) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. Born in Oberon, New South Wales, he played for the University, Eastern Suburbs, New South Wales and for the Australian national side. Playing career McKinnon, who ...

Simon Rollin Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genu ...

* Rod O'Loan

Records

Club Records

Biggest Win *34 points, 42–8 against

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 ...

at Sydney Sports Ground on 15 July 1933. Biggest Loss *63 points, 0–63 against

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...

at Sydney Sports Ground on 17 April 1937. Most Consecutive Wins *5 matches, 8 May – 19 June 1926 Most Consecutive Loses *42 matches^, 28 April 1934 – 29 August 1936 ^ denotes premiership record

Club Honours

Premierships: (0) Runners-Up: (1) 1926 Minor Premierships: (0) Wooden Spoons: (10) 1921, 1923, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937

References

External links

* *
RL1908's University page
{{NSW Cup Rugby clubs established in 1920 1920 establishments in Australia University and college rugby league clubs Rugby league team Rugby league teams in Sydney University and college sports clubs in Australia