The

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 ...

's Charity Shield match is an annual pre-season game between the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

and St. George Illawarra Dragons played before the start of the Premiership regular season. It has been regarded as the unofficial start to the

(NRL) season and has been in operation since 1982, with the exception of 2000 and 2001 when Souths were omitted from the NRL. Originally contested between South Sydney and

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

, and later by the St. George Illawarra Dragons when they formed a joint-venture with Illawarra in 1998 before the

1999 NRL season The 1999 NRL season was the 92nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be run by the National Rugby League. With the exclusion of the Adelaide Rams and Gold Coast Chargers, and the joint venture of the S ...

, the teams go head to head in an annual clash prior to the kickoff of the NRL season. Since its inception in 1982, the Charity Shield has been played on 42 occasions. Of these, the Dragons (St George and St George Illawarra) have won 18 times, while the Rabbitohs, South Sydney have triumphed outright on 19 occasions. South Sydney holds the shield having won the most recent match in February 2024. Broken down, St George played 17 matches, winning 11; while St George Illawarra, since their joint-venture in 1999, have played 25 matches, winning 7. The match has been broadcast on national television and is also now regularly screened live in the UK. The Charity Shield is for Souths Cares, Wollongong Hospital and St George Hospital.

Head To Head

Match results

Biggest wins

Most points scored in a game by a winning side

Most points scored in a game by a losing side

Most points scored in a game

Least points scored in a game

References

External links

Sydney competitions
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060826032627/http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/fanzone/viewnewsarticle.asp?ArticleID=1370 Rabbitohs South Sydney Rabbitohs {{Special NRL fixtures St. George Illawarra Dragons matches South Sydney Rabbitohs matches Rugby league competitions in New South Wales Rugby league trophies and awards Rugby league rivalries National Rugby League Rugby league in Sydney Recurring sporting events established in 1982 1982 establishments in Australia St. George Dragons Sports rivalries in Australia Charity events in Australia Charity football matches Charity sports events