The Hunter Wildfires, also known as the Hunter Rugby Club, or simply NHRU Wildfires, are an Australian

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club based in the

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 ...

city of

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

. The club currently plays in the semi-professional competition the Shute Shield where they have been since the 2020 season. Formerly in the Shute Shield between 1995 and 1999, the Wildfires returned to the competition following various issues stemming from the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The Hunter Wildfires made their debut against Warringah on 1 April 1995 at Pittwater Park,

Warriewood Warriewood is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Warriewood is located 26 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Warriewood is pa ...

. The team lost 57–8, conceding nine tries. are the only team in the Shute Shield competition that is based outside of the

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 ...

area. Established in 1869, the club has since become a representative club for Newcastle and the surrounding area. The Wildfires were given final approval to re-join the Shute Shield on 25 June 2020, after both the Newcastle and Hunter Rugby Union (NHRU) board and the local clubs approved of the decision. The club has never won a premiership.

Notes

References

External links

Club website
{{Authority control Rugby clubs established in 1869 Rugby union teams in New South Wales 1869 establishments in Australia