Australian rugby league premiers

The Australian rugby league premiers are the winners of the First Grade competition in Australian rugby league, which is currently the National Rugby League.

Contents

History

The first season of rugby league in New South Wales was held in 1908 and run by the New South Wales Rugby Football League. The premiership was formed as a breakaway competition from the amateur rugby union competition that existed in the Sydney district at the time, with which players had fallen out of heart with due to increased revenue from the game not being reflected in player allowments. At the end of the 1908 season, South Sydney became the first team to win the premiership.

During the 1980s, the competition began to spread out interstate. Starting from 1995, the competition began to be run by the Australian Rugby League. In 1997, a rival competition created by News Limited known as Super League was formed and run alongside the Australian Rugby League premiership, in which a number of teams defected to. Later that year, an agreement was made between the two parties following massive financial losses to merge into a new competition, known as the National Rugby League. Each of these seasons is considered to represent one continuous line of competition dating back from the first season in 1908.

South Sydney, with 20 titles, have been crowned premiers more times than any other team, despite not having won since 1971. They are followed by St. George (15), who managed to tally a record 11 premierships in a row between 1956 and 1966. The Sydney Roosters, formerly known as Eastern Suburbs, are third with 12 titles. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are yet to win a premiership after 44 seasons - longer than any other club in the history of the game (Parramatta's maiden premiership came in its 35th season in 1981).

List of Premierhips

1908-1994 - New South Wales Rugby League

Season Winners Runners-up Score Minor Premiers
1908 South Sydney Eastern Suburbs 14-12 South Sydney
1909 South Sydney[1] Balmain Forfeit South Sydney
1910 Newtown South Sydney 4-4 Newtown
1911 Eastern Suburbs Glebe 11-8 Glebe
1912 Eastern Suburbs Glebe Eastern Suburbs
1913 Eastern Suburbs Newtown Eastern Suburbs
1914 South Sydney Newtown South Sydney
1915 Balmain Glebe Balmain
1916 Balmain South Sydney Balmain
1917 Balmain South Sydney Balmain
1918 South Sydney Western Suburbs South Sydney
1919 Balmain Eastern Suburbs Balmain
1920 Balmain South Sydney Balmain
1921 North Sydney Eastern Suburbs North Sydney
1922 North Sydney Glebe 35-3 North Sydney
1923 Eastern Suburbs South Sydney 15-12 Eastern Suburbs
1924 Balmain South Sydney 3-0 Balmain
1925 South Sydney Western Suburbs South Sydney
1926 South Sydney University 11-5 South Sydney
1927 South Sydney St. George 20-11 South Sydney
1928 South Sydney Eastern Suburbs 26-5 St. George
1929 South Sydney Newtown 30-10 South Sydney
1930 Western Suburbs St. George Western Suburbs
1931 South Sydney Eastern Suburbs 12-7 Eastern Suburbs
1932 South Sydney Western Suburbs 23-8 South Sydney
1933 Newtown St. George 18-5 Newtown
1934 Western Suburbs Eastern Suburbs 15-12 Eastern Suburbs
1935 Eastern Suburbs South Sydney 19-3 Eastern Suburbs
1936 Eastern Suburbs Balmain 32-12 Eastern Suburbs
1937 Eastern Suburbs South Sydney Eastern Suburbs
1938 Canterbury-Bankstown Eastern Suburbs 19-6 Canterbury-Bankstown
1939 Balmain South Sydney 33-4 Balmain
1940 Eastern Suburbs Canterbury-Bankstown 24-14 Eastern Suburbs
1941 St. George Eastern Suburbs 31-14 Eastern Suburbs
1942 Canterbury-Bankstown St. George 11-9 Canterbury-Bankstown
1943 Newtown North Sydney 34-7 Newtown
1944 Balmain Newtown 12-8 Newtown
1945 Eastern Suburbs Balmain 22-18 Eastern Suburbs
1946 Balmain St. George 13-12 St. George
1947 Balmain Canterbury-Bankstown 13-9 Canterbury-Bankstown
1948 Western Suburbs Balmain 8-5 Western Suburbs
1949 St. George South Sydney 19-12 South Sydney
1950 South Sydney Western Suburbs 21-15 South Sydney
1951 South Sydney Manly-Warringah 42-14 South Sydney
1952 Western Suburbs South Sydney 22-12 Western Suburbs
1953 South Sydney St. George 31-12 South Sydney
1954 South Sydney Newtown 23-15 Newtown
1955 South Sydney Newtown 12-11 Newtown
1956 St. George Balmain 18-12 St. George
1957 St. George Manly-Warringah 31-9 St. George
1958 St. George Western Suburbs 20-9 St. George
1959 St. George Manly-Warringah 20-0 St. George
1960 St. George Eastern Suburbs 31-6 St. George
1961 St. George Western Suburbs 22-0 Western Suburbs
1962 St. George Western Suburbs 9-6 St. George
1963 St. George Western Suburbs 8-3 St. George
1964 St. George Balmain 11-6 St. George
1965 St. George South Sydney 12-8 St. George
1966 St. George Balmain 23-4 St. George
1967 South Sydney Canterbury-Bankstown 12-10 St. George
1968 South Sydney Manly-Warringah 13-9 South Sydney
1969 Balmain South Sydney 11-2 South Sydney
1970 South Sydney Manly-Warringah 23-12 South Sydney
1971 South Sydney St. George 16-10 Manly-Warringah
1972 Manly-Warringah Eastern Suburbs 19-14 Manly-Warringah
1973 Manly-Warringah Cronulla-Sutherland 10-7 Manly-Warringah
1974 Eastern Suburbs Canterbury-Bankstown 19-4 Eastern Suburbs
1975 Eastern Suburbs St. George 38-0 Eastern Suburbs
1976 Manly-Warringah Parramatta 13-10 Manly-Warringah
1977 St. George[2] Parramatta 22-0 Parramatta
1978 Manly-Warringah[2] Cronulla-Sutherland 16-0 Western Suburbs
1979 St. George Canterbury-Bankstown 17-13 St. George
1980 Canterbury-Bankstown Eastern Suburbs 18-4 Eastern Suburbs
1981 Parramatta Newtown 20-11 Eastern Suburbs
1982 Parramatta Manly-Warringah 21-8 Parramatta
1983 Parramatta Manly-Warringah 18-6 Manly-Warringah
1984 Canterbury-Bankstown Parramatta 6-4 Canterbury-Bankstown
1985 Canterbury-Bankstown St. George 7-6 St. George
1986 Parramatta Canterbury-Bankstown 4-2 Parramatta
1987 Manly-Warringah Canberra 18-8 Manly-Warringah
1988 Canterbury-Bankstown Balmain 24-12 Cronulla-Sutherland
1989 Canberra Balmain 19-14 South Sydney
1990 Canberra Penrith 18-14 Canberra
1991 Penrith Canberra 19-12 Penrith
1992 Brisbane St. George 28-8 Brisbane
1993 Brisbane St. George 14-6 Canterbury-Bankstown
1994 Canberra Canterbury-Bankstown 36-12 Canterbury-Bankstown

1995-1997 - Australian Rugby League

Season Winners Runners-up Score Minor Premiers
1995 Sydney Bulldogs[3] Manly-Warringah 17-4 Manly-Warringah
1996 Manly-Warringah St. George 20-8 Manly-Warringah
1997 Newcastle Manly-Warringah 22-16 Manly-Warringah

1997 - Super League

Season Winners Runners-up Score Minor Premiers
1997 Brisbane Cronulla-Sutherland 26-8 Brisbane

1998-present - National Rugby League

Season Winners Runners-up Score Minor Premiers
1998 Brisbane Canterbury 38-12 Brisbane
1999 Melbourne St. George Illawarra 20-18 Cronulla-Sutherland
2000 Brisbane Sydney 14-6 Brisbane
2001 Newcastle Parramatta 30-24 Parramatta
2002 Sydney[4] New Zealand 30-8 New Zealand
2003 Penrith Sydney 18-6 Penrith
2004 Canterbury[3] Sydney 16-13 Sydney
2005 Wests Tigers North Queensland 30-16 Parramatta
2006 Brisbane Melbourne 15-8 Melbourne1
2007 Melbourne1 Manly-Warringah 34-8 Melbourne1
2008 Manly-Warringah Melbourne 40-0 Melbourne1
2009 Melbourne1 Parramatta 23-16 St. George Illawarra
2010 St. George Illawarra Sydney 32-8 St. George Illawarra
2011 Manly-Warringah New Zealand 24-10 Melbourne

1 The Melbourne Storm were stripped of these titles due to gross long-term salary cap breaches.

Premiership Tally

Titles Club Seasons
20 South Sydney Rabbitohs 1908, 1909, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971
15 St. George Dragons 1941, 1949, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1977, 1979,
12 Eastern Suburbs / Sydney Roosters 1911, 1912, 1913, 1923, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1940, 1945, 1974, 1975, 2002
11 Balmain Tigers 1915, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1924, 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1969
8 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 1938, 1942, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1995, 2004
8 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 1972, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1987, 1996, 2008, 2011
6 Brisbane Broncos 1992, 1993, 1997 SL, 1998, 2000, 2006
4 Parramatta Eels 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986
4 Western Suburbs Magpies 1930, 1934, 1948, 1952
3 Canberra Raiders 1989, 1990, 1994
3 Newtown Jets 1910, 1933, 1943
2 Newcastle Knights 1997 ARL, 2001
2 North Sydney Bears 1921, 1922
2 Penrith Panthers 1991, 2003
1 Melbourne Storm 1999, 2007, 2009
1 St. George Illawarra Dragons 2010
1 Wests Tigers 2005

Notes

  1. a Balmain failed to turn up for the Final and hence they were declared to have forfeited the match to South Sydney.
  2. a b The Premiers were decided in a Grand Final replay after the first match was tied.
  3. a b Bulldogs were known as Canterbury-Bankstown until 1994 and from 1996–1999, and as Sydney Bulldogs in 1995.
  4. a Sydney Roosters were known as Eastern Suburbs until 1994 and as Sydney City Roosters from 1995-1999.

References

See also