The Canterbury rugby league team (also known as the Canterbury Bulls) are 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 ...

team who represent the

Canterbury Rugby League Canterbury Rugby League is the regional body that administers rugby league in Canterbury, New Zealand. CRL manages local competitions from senior level down to age group competitions. Canterbury Rugby League also manages the Canterbury rugby le ...

. They currently compete in the

Albert Baskerville Trophy 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 f ...

. Their home ground is

Orangetheory Stadium Rugby League Park is a sports stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is currently known for sponsorship reasons as Apollo Projects Stadium, and non-commercially as Christchurch Stadium. The stadium was originally known as the Addington Sho ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

History

Early history

Canterbury played its first match on 7 September 1912 against

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

at the Show Grounds, losing 4–5.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987 The following weekend the hosted the touring

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 ...

side and lost 5–28. Included in the Canterbury team was captain

Charlie Pearce Charlie James Pearce was a New Zealand rugby footballer who was part of the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain. Early life Charlie Pearce was born on 28 January 1881. His parents were Charles Julius Pearce (1858-1 ...

, Jim Auld,

Abbie Shadbolt Albert "Abbie" Shadbolt (29 May 1887 – 13 July 1971) was a New Zealand rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played representative rugby league (RL) for New Zealand. Early life Albert Edward Shadbolt was born on 28 May 188 ...

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who had a major role in the creation of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, ...

Bill Bussell William Samuel Bussell (19 February 1887 – 7 June 1917) was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand. Bussell was killed in action during World War I. Personal life Bussell was the ...

and David McPhail. Canterbury's first win was in their third match, against

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

, with Canterbury winning 10–8 in Napier. Jim Auld and

scored tries and Shadbolt kicked two goals.

Touring teams

In 1955 Canterbury defeated the touring French side 24–12.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'' They defeated

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

18–10, in 1990.

The 1990s

The early nineties saw a Canterbury side that included many future stars. The side was coached by

Frank Endacott Frank Morris Endacott , also known by the nickname of "Happy Frank", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, and Coach (sport), coach. Background His son, Shane Endacott, Shane, also played rugby league. Playing career En ...

and included players such as

Quentin Pongia Quentin Lee Pongia (9 July 1970 – 18 May 2019) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand in the 1990s and 2000s. Background He was the grandson of fellow Kiwi international Jim Calder. His sister Megan Tahapeehi ...

Terry Hermansson Terry Brian Hermansson, is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. An international representative , he played club football in England, Australia and New Zealand. Playing career Hermansson was a Schoolboy Kiwi in 1982 and ma ...

, Mark Nixon,

Whetu Taewa Whetu Taewa (born 19 October 1970) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand six times between 1989 and 1996. Playing career New Zealand Whetu was born on the West Coast, New Zealand and started p ...

Aaron Whittaker Aaron Whittaker (born 9 July 1968) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative halfback, he played club football in Australia, England and New Zealand. Early years Whittaker grew up ...

Logan Edwards Samuel Logan Edwards (born 18 November 1968) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer. Domestic career Edwards played for the dominating Canterbury provincial side of the early 1990s alongside such talent as Quentin Pongia, Mike Dorreen ...

Brendon Tuuta Brendon Ephia Tuuta (born 29 April 1965) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer of Māori (Ngāti Mutunga) and Moriori descent. Tuuta played a variety of positions including and . He was known as "the baby-faced assassin" and had a r ...

and

Mike Dorreen Michael Thomas Dorreen (born 19 January 1967) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played at representative level for New Zealand and Canterbury, and at club level for Addington (of ...

. With the creation of the Lion Red Cup however, many moved franchises and eventually ended up in Australia or England. Canterbury defeated Auckland in the 1993 final, winning 36–12. 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 ...

, from 1994 to 1996,

was represented by the Christchurch City Shiners and the Canterbury Country Cardinals. When this was folded Canterbury reverted to having one representative team, initially called "the Reds". However eventually "the Bulls" was adopted as a nickname and this was used when 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 Ze ...

was formed.

Bartercard Cup

Between 2000 and 2007 the Bulls played in the now defunct Bartercard Cup. They won two Bartercard Cup trophies, in 2000 and 2003. In addition, they were defeated in the last seconds of the 2004 final. This makes them one of the most successful teams in the competition, alongside the

Mt Albert Lions The Mount Albert Lions are a rugby league club based in Mount Albert, New Zealand. The Lions home ground is at Fowlds Park. Their patron is the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark. In 2008 and 2009 Auckland Rugby League season, 2009 ...

. Out of the seven seasons they only missed the finals once, in 2002. The Bulls were the only team from the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

to ever compete in the Bartercard Cup and were the only club to compete in every season. During this time they were coached by Ged Stokes and Phil Prescott.

2006 results

They finished second in the 2006 season standings and defeated the

Waitakere Rangers The Waitakere Rangers were a team in the now defunct Bartercard Cup Rugby league competition in Sport in New Zealand, New Zealand. They represented five clubs based in Waitakere City including the Glenora Bears who previously represented the Cit ...

26–20 in the non-elimination Semi-final. This qualified them for the Qualifying Semi-final which they lost to the

Auckland Lions The Auckland Lions were a rugby league club that had teams in both the New Zealand Bartercard Cup and the NSWRL Premier League. They were mostly drawn from the Mt Albert Lions Rugby League club. Mt Albert had a proud tradition in Auckland and had ...

27–14 at

Western Springs Stadium Western Springs Stadium is a stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. Built within a natural amphitheatre, it is primarily used for rugby union matches during the winter and for speedway racing during the summer. It is also occasionally used for large ...

. They bounced back in the preliminary final, smashing the Tamaki Leopards 30–6 but could not defeat the Lions, losing the Grand Final 25–18.

2007 results

Before the start of the 2007 season legendary coach Philip Prescott retired and was replaced by former

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

prop Brent Stuart. The Bulls finished the regular season in 3rd place. The highlight of the season was a 72–8 thrashing of the

Waicoa Bay Stallions The Wai-Coa-Bay Stallions were a rugby league team that represent the Upper Central Zone of the New Zealand Rugby League. The Zone comprises four districts: Waikato, Coastline Rugby League, Bay of Plenty, and Gisborne Tairawhiti Rugby League. The ...

. The Bulls lost the Preliminary Final to

Harbour League Harbour League were a franchise in the now defunct Bartercard Cup rugby league competition in New Zealand. They represented Aucklands North Shore City. They were formed in 2006 to take over from the Hibiscus Coast Raiders and the North Harbour ...

Bartercard Premiership

In 2008 and 2009 they played in the

Bartercard Premiership The NZRL Bartercard Premiership was a six-team rugby league competition that ran in 2008 in sports, 2008 and 2009 in sports, 2009. It replaced the now-defunct Bartercard Cup competition as the highest level of rugby league in New Zealand. Matches h ...

where they made both grand finals. They finished minor premiers both years and defeated

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in the 2009 final.

Current

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

the team was replaced in national competitions by one represented the new South Island Zone.Geoff Longle
It's go the South Island, No Bull
''The Press'', 4 June 2010 Canterbury lost 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. Hist ...

on Queen's Birthday 2012, after holding it since 2009. In 2013 the Canterbury Bulls were added to the

, replacing the South Island Scorpions. Until 2016 the Bulls represented the entire South Island and were able to select players from the other South Island districts.

Rugby League Tour Matches

Since 1912, Canterbury had been a frequent stop for international touring rugby league teams.Canterbury vs Tourists - Rugby League Project
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References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canterbury Rugby League Team Rugby league teams in New Zealand Rugby league in the Canterbury Region 1912 establishments in New Zealand