Ron Massey Cup

Ron Massey Cup
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2015 Ron Massey Cup

Ron Massey Cup Logo (Since 2013)
Formerly Inter-District/Second Division, The Metropolitan League, Metropolitan Cup, Jim Beam Cup, Bundaberg Red Cup
Sport Rugby League
Founded 1963
Owner(s) NRL, NSWRL
CEO David Trodden
Director Nick Politis, Deborah Healey
President Dr George Peponis OAM
Inaugural season 1963
No. of teams 12
Countries Australia, New Zealand
Most recent champion(s) The Entrance Tigers
Most titles Wentworthville Magpies (14)
TV partner(s) Fox Sports
Sponsor(s) VB
Related competitions New South Wales Cup
Official website nswrl.com.au

The Ron Massey Cup (formerly known as the Bundaberg Red Cup and 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 12 teams drawn from both the Sydney metropolitan area and The Entrance district. The competition is named after Ron Massey, a former rugby league coach.

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 (the last Jim Beam Cup season), after Bundaberg replaced former sponsor Jim Beam.[1] For the 2013 season, the competition was rebranded as the Ron Massey Cup, when Bundaberg Rum withdrew their sponsorship.

Current 2013 Ladder

    		 Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
    1. Mount Pritchard Mounties 11 10 0 1 0 398 192 +206 20
    2. Wentworthville Magpies 11 8 0 3 0 377 182 +195 16
    3. Cabramatta Two Blues 11 8 0 3 0 378 206 +172 16
    4. The Entrance Tigers 10 7 0 3 0 326 208 +118 14
    5. Auburn Warriors 11 7 0 4 0 328 250 +40 14
    6. Windsor Wolves 10 5 0 5 0 294 230 +64 10
    7. Asquith Magpies 11 5 0 6 0 328 322 +6 10
    8. Blacktown Workers 11 5 0 6 0 312 348 -36 10
    9. Burwood North-Ryde United 11 4 0 7 0 274 302 -28 8
    10. Western Suburbs Magpies 11 3 0 8 0 232 395 -163 6
    11. Guildford Owls 11 3 0 8 0 270 440 -170 6
    12. Kingsgrove Colts 11 0 0 11 0 138 580 -442 0

    Standings accurate as of 16 June 2013.[2]

    History

    The Ron Massey Cup is the latest in a succession Sydney-based second tier, semi-professional Rugby League competitions.

    Inter-District/Second Division (1963 - 1973)

    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 Metropolitan League (1974 - 1976)

    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 Metropolitan Cup (1990 - 2002)

    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 Runners up
    1990 Ryde-Eastwood Hawks Hills District Bulls
    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

    Jim Beam Cup (2003-2008)

    The Jim Beam Cup, 2008

    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

    Bundaberg Red Cup (2009 - 2012)

    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 Mount Pritchard Mounties
    2012 Wentworthville Magpies The Entrance Tigers

    Ron Massey Cup (2013 - ?)

    During the 2012/13 offseason it was announced that Bundaberg Rum had withdrawn their sponsorship, and the competition would be renamed as the Ron Massey Cup, after the great Parramatta assistant coach.

    Year Premiers Runners-up
    2013 Wentworthville Magpies Mount Pritchard Mounties
    2014 The Entrance Tigers Mount Pritchard Mounties

    Teams

    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.

    2003

    2003 saw the inauguration of the new Jim Beam Cup. It featured eight teams from Sydney and four from the Central Coast.

    2004

    The St Mary's-Penrith Cougars left to focus on their NSW Premier League side, and were replaced by the Cabramatta Two-Blues.

    2005

    2005

    2007

    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 clubs 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).

    2008

    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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] The Asquith Magpies have also withdrawn from the competition.

    2009

    2010

    2011

    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.

    2012

    2013

    The Asquith Magpies returned, replacing the St Johns Eagles. The Guildford Owls made their return, and the Western Suburbs Magpies made their return following the merger of the NSW Cup entities.

    Former Teams

    References

    1. ↑ Massoud, Josh (14 November 2008). "Row over Jim Beam, Bundaberg Rum sponsorship". The Herald Sun (Melbourne: News Limited).
    2. ↑ http://www.nswrl.com.au/default.aspx?s=brc-ladder
    3. ↑ Read, Brent (22 May 2008). "WA eyes return as Sydney clubs battle". The Australian (Sydney: News Limited). Retrieved 22 May 2008.
    4. ↑ "WA Wins Bid for National Team: The Journey to the NRL Begins". WA Rugby League. Retrieved 15 December 2006.
    5. ↑ "The Entrance Withdraw from the 2008 Jim Beam Cup".

    External links