The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior

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 competition played predominantly in

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 ...

, between teams made up of male players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne, and Auckland also participate. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales a team from Perth ( West Coast) also participated. The competition is administered by 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 ...

, and includes both junior representative teams of

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 ...

and

NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission.It was registered on 21 ...

clubs that do not field a team in the

. The S. G. Ball Cup is named after S. G. "George" Ball, one of the five people responsible for the formation of South Sydney, and who was club secretary for over fifty years.

Clubs

In 2025, 16 clubs fielded teams in the NSWRL S G Ball Cup. * Balmain *

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

* Cronulla *

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

* Manly *

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

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 ...

* New Zealand (Auckland) *

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

* Penrith * Souths *

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 R ...

* Sydney (Eastern Suburbs) * Western Suburbs In 2020, 18 clubs fielded teams in the NSWRL S G Ball Cup. After the sixth round on March 14 & 15, the 2020 competition was suspended and subsequently cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case in Aust ...

. Three teams from 2020 that did not return in 2021 were: * Central Coast * West Coast * New Zealand (Auckland), who returned to the competition in 2023. Previous teams that participated in the SG Ball Cup include: Gold Coast (2008–09), Newtown (1970s, early 1980s & 2009), Western Sydney Academy of Sport (2007–17). Melbourne Storm competed in the S.G. Ball Cup from 2009 to 2014, did not compete from 2015 to 2018, and competed as the Victoria Thunderbolts from 2020 to 2022. The club returned as the Melbourne Storm from the 2023 season.

S. G. Ball Cup Premiers

1965 to Current

* U16/s from 1965 until 2005 * U18/s from 2006 until 2020 * U19/s from 2021 onwards

Premiership Tally

Bold means the team is currently taking part in the competition.

References

{{Rugby League in New South Wales Rugby league competitions in New South Wales Recurring sporting events established in 1965 1965 establishments in Australia Sports leagues established in 1965 Junior rugby league

Clubs

S. G. Ball Cup Premiers

1965 to Current

Premiership Tally

See also

References