The Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL), formed in 1934 and disbanded in 2019, was the governing body for the sport of

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 in areas of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

outside the

Sydney metropolitan area Greater Sydney is the most populous metropolitan area in Australia and Oceania. Located in the state of New South Wales, it encompasses the City of Sydney (the state capital), its neighbouring local government areas and surrounding regions. It ...

until it merged with NSW Rugby League in 2019. The CRL was superseded by 6 NSWRL Country Divisions represented by 4 members of the nine-person NSWRL board. Despite its name, the CRL also governed rugby league in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

. Apart from selecting a Country Origin side to play in the annual

City vs Country Origin City vs Country Origin was an annual Australian rugby league football match that took place in New South Wales between City and Country representative sides. The City side represented the Sydney metropolitan area. While technically it was Syd ...

game, the CRL administered many senior and junior competitions across the state.

History

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

was the first city outside

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to start a league competition, despite being involved in the Sydney Premiership in 1908–09 and then starting their own

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

in 1910. On 11 February 1911, the Hunter District Rugby Football League (HDRFL) was established at a large meeting in Maitland, thus becoming the first branch of the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in rugby league in New South Wales, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Co ...

in "the bush" (i.e. outside the urban centres of Sydney and Newcastle). The HDRFL territory encompassed a lower part of the

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its ...

from

Singleton Singleton may refer to: Sciences, technology Mathematics * Singleton (mathematics), a set with exactly one element * Singleton field, used in conformal field theory Computing * Singleton pattern, a design pattern that allows only one instance ...

down to the Maitland district and towns on the nearby coalfields (the major ones being Cessnock,

Kurri Kurri Kurri Kurri is a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Cessnock LGA. At the , its population was 6,174. Kurri Kurri is the largest town in a group of towns and hamlets, including Stanford Merthyr, Pelaw Main, We ...

and

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

). Competition games were scheduled to kick off on 13 May but were pushed back to 20 May when clubs complained they had not had enough time to practice the new code. In the first senior-grade games played, West Maitland defeated

(12–0) and Cessnock defeated Morpeth (23–0) in a double-header on the enclosed Albion Ground at Maitland. On 13 May 1911, another branch of the NSWRL was established in the Wollongong area, the

Illawarra Rugby League The Illawarra Rugby League is a rugby league competition in Wollongong, NSW. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1911 with five clubs (Dapto, Helensburgh, Mount Keira, Unanderra and Wollongong). The area p ...

. A Goldfields' League was formed in

West Wyalong West Wyalong is the main town of the Bland Shire in the northern Riverina region of western New South Wales, Australia. In the 2021 Census, West Wyalong's population was 3,037. Located west of Sydney as well as being above sea level, it i ...

, and games were played in Tamworth,

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, and along the South Coast. The game was introduced to

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

in 1912 and spread quickly through the western districts. In 1913 branch leagues were formed at Bathurst,

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

Nowra Nowra () is a city in the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated po ...

and Tamworth. In 1920, the NSWRL set up a Country Committee. NSW Country was divided into six sections: South Coast, Northern Districts, Central Northern Districts, Western Districts, Southern, and North Coast. The group system was introduced in 1922, with neighbouring towns being organised into 12 groups. The Country Rugby League (CRL) was officially formed in 1934, "subject to the NSW Rugby League still being the paramount institution." In 1939 a dispute arose between the CRL and the NSWRL. The CRL wanted a new administration structure, an equal partnership in which the NSWRL looked after league in Sydney, and the CRL looked after it in the bush. When their proposal was rejected the CRL broke away from the NSWRL for a week, but returned to the fold with a promise that a committee would be set up to sort things out. Eventually the CRL gave in on the grounds that it was in no one's best interests to have the game divided during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The NSWRL and CRL have since cooperated in the running of rugby league in NSW, including various 'joint ventures' such as the

Ron Massey Cup The Ron Massey Cup (formerly known as the Bundaberg Red Cup and Jim Beam Cup) is a semi-professional development level rugby league competition in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, run jointly by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and the ...

which features three teams from areas under the control of the CRL. On 24 August 2018, the NSWRL and CRL announced that they had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to begin formal discussions in relation to a possible merger of the two organisations, and a single body governing all rugby league in the state for the first time in more than 80 years. In 19 October 2019 the organisations merged after the NSWRL agreed a new constitution and the CRL, over a year ahead of time.

Representative

The CRL selected the

Country New South Wales rugby league team The Country New South Wales rugby league team is a representative 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 ...

from its inception in 2011. The first City versus Country match (advertised as such by the NSWRL in the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' of 10/6/1911) was played at the Sydney Agricultural Ground on that same Saturday.

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

won 29–8 with a team composed exclusively of players from the Newcastle ("Northern") and the Hunter competitions. The first NSW Country team to tour was a squad of 17 players (12 from Newcastle and 5 from Hunter) that was unbeaten in four matches. The team played three matches in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

between 5/8/1911 and 12/8/1911, defeating

twice and a Queensland Country representative side once. They then travelled to Sydney to play the Sydney Metropolitan team, again winning 31–24.Cessnock Rugby League Football – The Early Years; Mark Bennis; 2011 Both sides were originally made up of the best players playing in the Country Rugby League and the Sydney-based

NSWRL 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 Sout ...

. However, the increasing drain of players from rural areas to the NSWRL clubs led to the City side becoming increasingly dominant and the Country side uncompetitive. On 21 November 2016, the

NRL 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 ...

announced that the City versus Country annual match would be scrapped, with the 2017 match to be the final edition. The fixture would be revived without NRL participation in 2021, with players selected entirely from NSWRL competitions. The first ever country divisional match (described as such in the

Maitland Daily Mercury The ''Maitland Mercury'' is Australia's third oldest regional newspaper, preceded only by the ''Geelong Advertiser'' (estab. 1840) and the ''Launceston Examiner'' (estab. 1842). The ''Maitland Mercury'' was established in 1843 when it was called ...

of 31/7/1911) was played at Newcastle on 29/7/1911 between

and Hunter, the home side winning 29–14.

Regions

The CRL administered the following senior competitions:

Region 1 – East Coast Dolphins

Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League The Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL) is a rugby league competition run in the far north of New South Wales, Australia. It is run under the auspices of the New South Wales Country Rugby League, Country Rugby League. The league formed ...

(Group 1 and 18's Merger)* *

Group 2 Rugby League Group 2 is a rugby league competition on the north coast of New South Wales Since 1966, run under the auspices of the New South Wales Country Rugby League, Country Rugby League. The Group 2 area runs from Grafton, New South Wales, Grafton in the ...

(Northern

Mid North Coast The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region, situated 416km north of Sydney, covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens at Hawks Nest to as far ...

)* *

Group 3 Rugby League Group 3 is a rugby league competition on the north coast of New South Wales, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. The Group 3 area runs from Kempsey in the north to Forster in the south. History The league began in 1946, with T ...

(Southern Mid North Coast)* *

Hastings League The Hastings District Rugby League is a community rugby league competition. It features amateur teams from smaller towns around the Mid-North Coast and runs as a community competition similar to the Barwon Darling Rugby League and the Western ...

(Mid North Coast Second Tier)

Region 2 – Greater Northern Tigers

Group 4 Rugby League Group 4 is a rugby league competition in the New England and north west area of New South Wales, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. Structure The Group runs a first grade, reserve grade, league tag and under 18s competitions. All ...

(Western New England)* *

Group 19 Rugby League The New England Group 19 Rugby League competition is a Rugby league competition which is run under the auspices of the New South Wales Rugby League, NSWRL, which absorbed the New South Wales Country Rugby League, NSWCRL in 2019. It is based in ...

(

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

)* *

Group 21 Rugby League Group 21 Rugby League is a local rugby league competition, run under the control of the Country Rugby League. It covers the Upper Hunter area of New South Wales, and has three divisions, first grade, reserves and Under 18s. For sponsorship reaso ...

(

Hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

Region 3 – Bidgee Bulls (Riverina & Monaro Colts)

* Canberra Division Rugby League ** George Tooke Shield *

Group 9 Rugby League Group 9 is a rugby league competition based in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, and surrounding areas. The competition is played in six grades, with these being Under 16s, Under 18s, Women's Tackle, Women's League tag, League-Tag, Reser ...

(

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

and Districts)* *

Group 16 Rugby League Group 16 is a rugby league competition on the south coast of New South Wales, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. The Group 16 district covers the area from Batemans Bay down the Sapphire Coast to Eden, and inland across the Sou ...

(Far South Coast)* *

Group 17 Rugby League Group 17 is a rugby league competition based in the Riverina and Central West regions of New South Wales, Australia. The competition collapsed in 2006 and reformed in 2018 as the Western Riverina Community Cup with six teams. It is currently s ...

(Western Riverina Community Cup) *

Group 20 Rugby League Group 20 is a rugby league competition in the region of Griffith, New South Wales, Australia. The competition is played in six grades, with these being Under 16s, Under 18s, Women's League-Tag, Women's Tackle, Reserve Grade and First Grade. Cu ...

(

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Ridge, ...

and Districts)*

Region 4 – Western Rams

Group 10 Group 10, numbered by current IUPAC style, is the group of chemical elements in the periodic table that consists of nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), and darmstadtium (Ds). All are d-block transition metals. All known isotopes of dar ...

(Central West)* * Group 11 (

and Districts)* *

Group 14 Rugby League The Castlereagh League (also known as the Castlereagh Cup and Group 14) is a rugby league competition in western New South Wales, Australia, run under the auspices of the New South Wales Country Rugby League, Country Rugby League. For all intent ...

(Castlereagh Cup) *

Barwon Darling Rugby League The Group 15 Rugby League, now known as Barwon Darling Rugby League Cup is a rugby league competition in Far North West NSW. The competition has six teams from across Western NSW, with another currently in recess. History Group 15 was a rug ...

Outback Rugby League The Outback Rugby League Cup is a NSW Rugby League (NSWRL) Group Competition which is based in Broken Hill in the far west of New South Wales and surrounding districts such as Wilcannia and Menindee. The competition folded in 1998 but was reviv ...

(Outback RL) *

Woodbridge Cup The Woodbridge Cup is a rugby league competition run by the New South Wales Country Rugby League. It encompasses smaller senior clubs in the Mid-West and Central West of the state. The neighbouring Mid-West Cup competition's remaining clubs mer ...

(Central West Division 2) * Mid-West Cup (Central West Division 3)

Region 5 – Greater Southern

* Illawarra Division Rugby League* *

Group 6 Rugby League The Macarthur Conference Rugby League is a senior Rugby league competition in New South Wales, Australia, administered by the New South Wales Rugby League. Formerly known as Group 6 Rugby League, the competition was, until 2019, run under the a ...

(

Macarthur MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to: Arts and media * INSS MacArthur, a fictional starship featured in the science fiction novel ''The Mote in God's Eye'' * ''MacArthur'' (1977 film), a movie biography of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur * ' ...

& Southern Highlands)* *

Group 7 Rugby League South Coast Group 7 Rugby League (or Group 7 Rugby League for simplicity) is the divisional boundary drawn from the Southern Illawarra and South Coast regions (from the suburb of Warilla south to Ulladulla) of New South Wales, Australia and is ...

( South Coast & Southern Highlands)*

Region 6 – Newcastle & Central Coast

Central Coast Division Rugby League Rugby League Central Coast is a rugby league competition based on the Central Coast, New South Wales, Central Coast of New South Wales between Sydney and Newcastle, Australia, Newcastle. The competition was founded in 1947 as a junior competit ...

* * Newcastle Division Rugby League* *

Newcastle & Hunter Rugby League Newcastle & Hunter Community Rugby League is the governing body of second tier rugby league in the Newcastle and Hunter region. Formed in 2006 after a merger between the Maitland & Coalfields Rugby League and Lower Hunter Rugby League Competitio ...

* = Top-level Country leagues; Premiers eligible for

Clayton Cup The Clayton Cup is a trophy that was awarded by the New South Wales Country Rugby League, Country Rugby League to the NSW country rugby league team with the best overall record for that season. To be eligible, the team must win the highest level o ...

as best regional team in the state. Major leagues in bold.

NRL Victoria NRL Victoria (abbreviated as NRLVic, and formerly the Victorian Rugby League) is responsible for administering the game of rugby league in Victoria, Australia. Victoria is an Affiliated State of the overall Australian governing body the National ...
Competitions Involving NSW Teams

Goulburn Murray Rugby League The Goulburn Murray Premiership is a rugby league competition on the border of New South Wales and Victoria, Australia. Initially the competition was established in 1991 as the Goulburn Murray Rugby League by the Country Rugby League and the Vic ...

* Sunraysia-Riverlands Rugby League

Disbanded Groups

Group 1 Rugby League Group 1 Rugby League was a rugby league competition held in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. The group, however, still runs a junior rugby league competition. When the ...

– merged with Group 18 to form Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (still hold junior competitions) * Group 5 Rugby League – now forms part of Group 19 *

Group 8 Rugby League The Canberra Region Rugby League competition is more commonly known as the Canberra Raiders Cup, covering the Australian Capital Territory and surrounding New South Wales towns Queanbeyan, Goulburn, New South Wales, Goulburn and Yass, New South W ...

– merged with Group 19 (Canberra) in 1980 to form ACTRL and CDRL, which formed

Canberra Rugby League The Canberra Region Rugby League competition is more commonly known as the Canberra Raiders Cup, covering the Australian Capital Territory and surrounding New South Wales towns Queanbeyan, Goulburn, New South Wales, Goulburn and Yass, New South W ...

in 1982 *

Group 13 Rugby League The Group 13 Rugby league Competition is a defunct New South Wales Country Rugby League group competition which was run under the auspices of the Club Rugby League. It was disbanded after the 1991 Season. It covered an area comprising the southe ...

– now part of the Group 9 Rugby League in Region 3 (Bidgee Bulls) *

Group 18 Rugby League Group 18 is the name of a junior rugby league competition on the far north coast of New South Wales, Australia. Currently, the group has no senior competition. Prior to 2005, there was a joint Gold Coast-Group 18 competition which fielded tea ...

– merged with Group 1 to form Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (still holds junior competitions) * Group 19 Rugby League (1950-1970) - Southern Tablelands, merged into Group 16 in c.1978-79 * Group 19 Rugby League (1974-1979) - Canberra district, merged with Group 8 in 1980 to form ACTRL and CDRL, which formed Canberra Division in 1982 * Sunraysia-Riverlands Rugby League (reformed briefly as a singular side in 1997 in Group 12, later reformed by the

Victorian Rugby League NRL Victoria (abbreviated as NRLVic, and formerly the Victorian Rugby League) is responsible for administering the game of rugby league in Victoria, Australia. Victoria is an Affiliated State of the overall Australian governing body the National ...

Team of the Century

In 2008, rugby league football's centenary year in Australia, the Country Rugby League named its 'Team of the Century': #

Clive Churchill Clive Bernard Churchill Order of Australia, AM (21 January 1927 – 9 August 1985) was an Australians, Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian Kangaroos, Australian international and Ne ...

(Central Newcastle) #

Brian Carlson Brian Patrick Carlson (12 February 1933 – 14 April 1987) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a & utility back for the Australia national team. He played in 17 Tests and 6 World C ...

(North Newcastle) #

Eddie Lumsden Edmund Lumsden (28 September 1936 – 6 October 2019) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer. He was a with the St. George Dragons during their eleven-year premiership winning run from 1956 to 1966, playing in and winning ...

(Kurri Kurri) #

Michael Cronin Michael or Mick Cronin may refer to: Sports * Mick Cronin (hurler) (1902–1982), Irish hurler * Mick Cronin (footballer) (1911–1979), Australian rules football player, umpire and television commentator *Mick Cronin (rugby league) (born 1951), Au ...

(Gerringong) #

Graeme Langlands Graeme Frank Langlands, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE, (2 September 1941 – 20 January 2018), also known by the nickname of "Changa", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played from the 19 ...

(Wollongong) #

Bob Fulton Robert Fulton (1 December 1947 – 23 May 2021), also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and commentated on the game with great success at the highest ...

(Wests Wollongong) #

Andrew Johns Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974), also known by the nickname Joey, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is considered one of the greatest rugby league players of all time. Johns ...

(Cessnock) # Steve Roach (Wests Wollongong) # Ian Walsh (Condobolin) #

Glenn Lazarus Glenn Patrick Lazarus (born 11 December 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and a former Australian Senator. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative , Lazarus won premi ...

(Queanbeyan Blues) #

Herb Narvo Hermann Olaf Frances "Herb" Narvo (19 August 1912 – 28 July 1958) was an Australian rugby league footballer and boxer of the 1930s and 1940s. He was a national representative rugby league player and national heavyweight boxing champion. He ...

(North Newcastle) # Bradley Clyde (Belconnen United) # Wally Prigg (Wests Newcastle/Centrals Newcastle)

Junior competitions

* Andrew Johns Cup – named after

, made up of players aged under 16 from NSW-based clubs and includes both junior regional representative teams and junior teams of

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). * Laurie Daley Cup – named after

Laurie Daley Laurie William Daley AM (born 20 October 1969), also known by the nicknames of "Lozza" and "Loz", is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and a former player who played as a and in the late 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. ...

, the competition includes both junior representative teams from regional rugby league clubs and junior teams of

clubs, made up players under 18.

Player of the Year Award

References

External links

*
Rugby League clubs in New South Wales
{{Authority control Rugby league governing bodies in New South Wales Rugby league in the Australian Capital Territory Rug 1934 establishments in Australia Sports organizations established in 1934 2019 disestablishments in Australia Sports organizations disestablished in 2019