| General Information | |
|---|---|
| First Season | 2009 |
| Current Season | 2011 |
| Website | nswrl.com.au] |
| 2011 Season | |
| Premiers | Cabramatta |
| Runners-Up | Mount Pritchard |
| Minor Premiers | Cabramatta |
| Wooden spoon | Bankstown |
The Bundaberg Red Cup (formerly known as Jim Beam Cup) is a semi-professional development level rugby league competition in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, run jointly by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and the Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL). The competition is run concurrently with the National Rugby League (NRL). It currently comprises 8 teams drawn from both the Sydney metropolitan area and The Entrance district. The competition is named after its major sponsor, Bundaberg Rum.
The competition is an expanded version of the former Metropolitan Cup and Second Division competitions. The competition was renamed the Bundaberg Red Cup after the 2008 season (last Jim Beam Cup season), after Bundaberg replaced former sponsor Jim Beam.[1]
The reigning premiers are the Cabramatta Two Blues, after defeating local rivals Mount Pritchard in the 2011 grandfinal at St. Mary's stadiuam on Sunday 4th October, 2011. The Two Blues came from behind on the score board to win 28-20 giving the Cabramatta club their first senior state level championsip in the club's long hisory.
| Year | Premiers | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Cabramatta Two Blues | Mounties |
| 2010 | Wentworthville Magpies | Sydney Bulls |
| 2009 | Wentworthville Magpies | Cabramatta Two Blues |
Radio Coverage can be heard on Hawkesbury Radio 89.9FM with Peter Jolly and Shane Skeen.
Contents |
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | + | - | +/- | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Cabramatta | 21 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 768 | 295 | +473 | 36 |
| 2. | Mounties | 21 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 728 | 324 | +354 | 36 |
| 3. | The Entrance | 21 | 16 | 0 | 5 | 596 | 350 | +246 | 32 |
| 4. | Wentworthville | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 573 | 572 | +1 | 22 |
| 5. | Windsor | 21 | 9 | 0 | 12 | 524 | 542 | -18 | 18 |
| 6. | Kingsgrove | 21 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 372 | 820 | -448 | 10 |
| 7. | Sydney Bulls | 21 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 322 | 463 | -141 | 8 |
| 8. | Bankstown | 21 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 318 | 785 | -467 | 6 |
The Bundaberg Red Cup is the latest in a succession Sydney-based second tier, semi-professional Rugby League competitions.
The a second tier senior Rugby League competition in Sydney was the Inter-District Competition established in 1963 by the NSWRL. It was renamed the Second Division in 1964. Like succeeding competitions the Second Division had a high turnover of participating clubs. The 'promotion' of two of the two biggest clubs Penrith Panthers (1966 champions) and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, at the conclusion of the 1966 season did not help the long-term stability of the competition.
During this period Wentworthville ("The Magpies") was the most successful club, competing in every grand final of the Second Division, winning a total of 8 premierships (including 5 in a row between 1967–1971). Due to their domination of the competition 'Wenty' was widely considered the best candidate for promotion to the NSWRL Premiership when two positions were made available for the 1967 competition. Due to their proximity to Parramatta, where a Premiership club was established in 1947, the Magpies were overlooked.
| Year | Premiers |
|---|---|
| 1963 | Kingsford |
| 1964 | Wentworthville |
| 1965 | Wentworthville |
| 1966 | Penrith |
| 1967 | Wentworthville |
| 1968 | Wentworthville |
| 1969 | Wentworthville |
| 1970 | Wentworthville |
| 1971 | Wentworthville |
| 1972 | Ryde-Eastwood |
| 1973 | Wentworthville |
The Second Division was reorganised in 1974 and renamed the Metropolitan League. It was dominated by the Ryde-Eastwood club. In the absence of Wentworthville, who competed in the Illawarra Rugby League competition, Ryde-Eastwood won all three Metropolitan League titles. The Metropolitan League was dismantled in 1976 and with it the idea of a second tier competition.
| Year | Premiers |
|---|---|
| 1974 | Ryde-Eastwood |
| 1975 | Ryde-Eastwood |
| 1976 | Ryde-Eastwood |
The concept of the second tier competition was resurrected in 1990 with the establishment of the Metropolitan Cup. Many teams that were involved in the former Second Division and Metropolitan League were included in the new competition, including Ryde-Eastwood and Wentworthville. Other teams in the new competition included Guildford Owls, Mount Pritchard, Bankstown Greyhounds, Western Suburbs Magpies and the Hills District Bulls. The Newtown Jets, who had been exiled from the New South Wales Rugby League premiership at the close of the 1983 season, were also granted admission into the competition in 1991 and became a successful club in their second life, winning 4 premierships (including 3 in a row between 1995–1997).Other teams who competed in the cup over the years included St. Marys Saints, West Wollongong Red Devils, Moorebank Rams (Bulldogs), UTS Roosters, Windsor Wolves,Cabramatta Blues, Sydney Bulls and the Kellyville Bushrangers
The final Metropolitan Cup was contested in 2002 and was won by a newly formed club, the Sydney Bulls, defeating Ryde-Eastwood in the last grand final of the Metropolitan Cup.
| Year | Premiers |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Ryde-Eastwood Hawks |
| 1991 | Guildford Owls |
| 1992 | Newtown Jets |
| 1993 | St Mary's Saints |
| 1994 | St Mary's Saints |
| 1995 | Newtown Jets |
| 1996 | Newtown Jets |
| 1997 | Newtown Jets |
| 1998 | Wentworthville Magpies |
| 1999 | Wentworthville Magpies |
| 2000 | Ryde-Eastwood Hawks |
| 2001 | St Mary's Saints |
| 2002 | Sydney Bulls |
The Jim Beam Cup was established in 2003 as part of another overall restructure of the NSWRL competitions operating in the levels below the NRL. The Jim Beam Cup was intended to lay the foundations of a semi-professional 'State League' competition (similar to the Queensland Cup) and included four non-Sydney teams from the Central Coast (Erina Eagles, The Entrance Tigers, Ourimbah Magpies, and Woy Woy Roosters.) With the inclusion of these clubs (who field teams in the Central Coast Division of the CRL) the Jim Beam Cup became a cooperative effort between the NSWRL and the CRL.
Radio Coverage was heard on Hawkesbury Radio 89.9FM with Peter Jolly and Shane Skeen.
| Year | Premiers | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | The Entrance Tigers | Wentworthville Magpies |
| 2004 | Sydney Bulls | The Entrance Tigers |
| 2005 | Windsor Wolves | Sydney Bulls |
| 2006 | Sydney Bulls | Newtown Jets |
| 2007 | The Entrance Tigers | Sydney Bulls |
| 2008 | Windsor Wolves | Sydney Bulls |
The 2009 Grand Final was a closely fought battle between Minor Premiers Wentworthville Magpies and Cabramatta Two Blues, with Wentworthville coming out victorious by 24-20 in the game at Leichhardt Oval.
| Year | Premiers | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Wentworthville Magpies | Cabramatta Two Blues |
| 2010 | Wentworthville Magpies | Sydney Bulls |
| 2011 | Cabramatta Two Blues | Mounties |
Since its establishment in 2003 the competition has both expanded and contracted in terms of numbers of side competing. Aside from the original expansion of the Sydney-based competition into the Central Coast, the Bundaberg Red Cup has continued to expand throughout Sydney, moving away from its Western Sydney base in 2005 with the inclusion of two Northern Sydney sides: the Asquith Magpies and Belrose Eagles.
In 2007, 12 clubs competed for the Jim Beam Cup. New clubs Shellharbour, Chester Hill, Seven Hills and Mount Pritchard competed for the first time. Newtown Jets dropped out of the competition to concentrate on their club's 2007 NSWRL Premier League campaign.
In terms of geographical spread four clubs were based in the Parramatta District (Wentworthville, Seven Hills, Cabramatta and Mount Pritchard), two on the Central Coast of NSW (Erina and The Entrance) and Canterbury-Bankstown (Chester Hill and Sydney Bulls) and one each in Penrith (Windsor Wolves), Manly-Warringah (Belrose), Illawarra (Shellharbour) and North Sydney (Asquith).
In 2008, for the first time, an interstate team entered the competition, a Western Australia Rugby League representative side known as the WA Reds, with a view to developing the game in the state in order to secure a future NRL franchise in 2011 - 2012.[2] Also joining the competition for 2008 will be the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks and the Campbelltown Eagles. Seven Hills Demons has also announced they will no longer field a team in the Jim Beam Cup in Season. 2008.[3] The Entrance Tigers, who have just claimed the 2007 Title have unfortunately pulled of the Jim Beam Cup due to the restrictions placed on gambling and smoking in clubs and pubs.[4] The Asquith Magpies have also withdrawn from the competition.
A number of teams left the competitions in 2009 and 2010, including teams from Belrose, Chester Hill, Cronulla, Erina, Shellharbour and Western Australia. The Campbelltown Eagles left at the end of 2010.
In 2011, the Kingsgrove Colts joined the competition, based in the St George catchment area. As of Round 6, the Sydney Bulls left the competition to due financial difficulties.
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