This is a complete list of teams that have competed in the first-grade competition in Australia that began with the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRL) competition in 1908. The NSWRL competition ran until the end of the 1994 season where the Australian Rugby League (ARL) took over and ran the competition until 1997. However a rival competition was being planned and the only season of the rival Super League competition (SL) was held in 1997. The two competitions were brought together and formed the National Rugby League (NRL) in 1998 which still runs today.
Therefore, the first-grade competition of rugby league in Australia has run for 105 years, this year being the 106th season.
There have been thirty-three teams which have competed in all of the first-grade competitions since 1908, of which sixteen remain in this competition. There were nine foundation clubs, which all began in 1908, however over the next eighty years, the NSWRL only ever expanded into the Sydney region which included eight new teams while five teams were demised. This changed in 1982 when a Wollongong club and a Canberra based team was allowed and in 1988 until 1998, teams from outside New South Wales (NSW) began to enter the premiership. With the Super League war, the two competitions, the ARL and SL, had twenty-two teams competing in the 1997 season. As part of the agreement for the NRL, the competition would be forced to reduce to only fourteen teams in 2000.
Currently in 2012, there are sixteen teams. There are ten teams from the state of NSW, three from Queensland, one from the Australian Capital Territory, one from Victoria and one from the neighbouring country New Zealand. Of all thirty three teams, the majority have come from Sydney where seventeen clubs have called home. The other teams have had three come from the NSW town of Newcastle and five have come from Queensland, one from Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, as well as one from New Zealand.
| Team | Based | Admission date | Seasons participated | P |
R |
M |
W |
W% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glebe Dirty Reds | Sydney | 9 January 1908 | 1908-1929 (22 seasons) | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 56% |
| Newtown Jets | Sydney | 14 January 1908 | 1908-1983 (76 seasons) | 3 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 47% |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | Sydney | 17 January 1908 | 1908-1999, 2002-2012 (103 seasons) | 20 | 13 | 17 | 8 | 53% |
| Balmain Tigers | Sydney | 23 January 1908 | 1908-1999 (92 seasons) | 11 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 53% |
| Eastern Suburbs / Sydney Roosters | Sydney | 24 January 1908 | 1908-2012 (105 seasons) | 12 | 14 | 16 | 4 | 54% |
| Western Suburbs Magpies | Sydney | 4 February 1908 | 1908-1999 (92 seasons) | 4 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 45% |
| North Sydney Bears | Sydney | 7 February 1908 | 1908-1999 (92 seasons) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 43% |
| Newcastle Rebels | Newcastle | 10 April 1908 | 1908-1909 (2 seasons) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45% |
| Cumberland | Sydney | 21 April 1908 | 1908 (1 season) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13% |
| Annandale Dales | Sydney | 10 April 1910 | 1910-1920 (11 seasons) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18% |
| University | Sydney | February 1920 | 1920-1937 (18 seasons) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 20% |
| St. George Dragons | Sydney | 13 October 1920 | 1921-1998 (78 seasons) | 15 | 12 | 15 | 3 | 61% |
| Canterbury Bulldogs | Sydney | 25 September 1934 | 1935-2012 (78 seasons) | 8 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 54% |
| Parramatta Eels | Sydney | 4 November 1946 | 1947-2012 (66 seasons) | 4 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 48% |
| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Sydney | 4 November 1946 | 1947-2012 (63 seasons) | 7 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 59% |
| Cronulla Sharks | Sydney | 4 July 1966 | 1967-2012 (46 seasons) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 50% |
| Penrith Panthers | Penrith | 4 July 1966 | 1967-2012 (46 seasons) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 42% |
| Illawarra Steelers | Wollongong | 13 December 1980 | 1982-1998 (17 seasons) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 40% |
| Canberra Raiders | Canberra | 30 March 1981 | 1982-2012 (31 seasons) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 54% |
| Brisbane Broncos | Brisbane | 5 April 1987 | 1988-2012 (25 seasons) | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 65% |
| Newcastle Knights | Newcastle | 5 April 1987 | 1988-2012 (25 seasons) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 53% |
| Gold Coast Giants/Seagulls/Chargers | Gold Coast / Tweed Heads | April 1987 | 1988-1998 (11 seasons) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 23% |
| Auckland/New Zealand Warriors | Auckland | 18 May 1992 | 1995-2012 (18 seasons) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 47% |
| North Queensland Cowboys | Townsville | 30 November 1992 | 1995-2012 (18 seasons) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 37% |
| Western Reds/Perth Reds | Perth | 30 November 1992 | 1995-1997 (3 seasons) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40% |
| South Queensland Crushers | Brisbane | 30 November 1992 | 1995-1997 (3 seasons) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21% |
| Hunter Mariners | Newcastle | 28 April 1995 | 1997 (1 season) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39% |
| Adelaide Rams | Adelaide | 13 December 1995 | 1997-1998 (2 seasons) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32% |
| Melbourne Storm | Melbourne | 23 June 1997 | 1998-2012 (15 seasons) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 61% |
| St. George Illawarra Dragons (joint-venture) | Sydney, Wollongong | 23 September 1998 | 1999-2012 (14 seasons) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 52% |
| Wests Tigers (joint-venture) | Sydney | 27 July 1999 | 2000-2012 (13 seasons) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43% |
| Northern Eagles | Sydney, Gosford | 2000 | 2000-2002 (3 seasons) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40% |
| Gold Coast Titans | Gold Coast | 22 September 2005 | 2007-2012 (6 seasons) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44% |
Key:
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