Rugby League Cup

The Rugby League Cup is a New Zealand rugby league trophy that is contested between districts on a challenge basis. The trophy used to be known as the Northern Union Cup.^[1] Auckland are the current holders of the Cup after they defeated Canterbury in a one off match on 4 June 2012.

History

The cup was made in Bradford and donated to Auckland for inter-provincial competition by the touring 1910 Great Britain Lions.^[2] The cup was first contested in 1911, when Auckland successfully defended it four times.^[3]

Past winners

Year by year

Year	Champions
1910	Auckland
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921	Auckland
1922	South Auckland
1923	South Auckland
1924	South Auckland
1925	South Auckland Auckland
1926	Auckland
1927	Auckland South Auckland
1928	South Auckland Auckland (June^[2])
1929	Auckland
1930	South Auckland
1931	North Auckland
1932	South Auckland
1933	West Coast
1934	West Coast Canterbury (18 August^[4])
1935	Canterbury
1936	Canterbury West Coast
1937	West Coast
1938	West Coast

Year	Champions
World War II
1946	West Coast
1947	West Coast Wellington^[5]
1948	Wellington^[5]
1949	Wellington^[5]
1950	Auckland
1951	Auckland
1952	Auckland Wellington Auckland
1953	Auckland
1954	Auckland
1955	Auckland West Coast Auckland
1956	Auckland
1957
1958
1959
1960	Auckland^[1] West Coast Auckland^[1]
1961	Auckland^[1]
1962	Auckland Canterbury West Coast^[1]
1963	West Coast Canterbury^[1]
1964	Canterbury Auckland^[1]
1965	Auckland^[1]
1966	Auckland^[1]
1967	Auckland
1968	Auckland West Coast Canterbury
1969	Renamed Rugby League Cup.^[5] Canterbury West Coast
1970	West Coast Canterbury

Year	Champions
1971	Canterbury Wellington West Coast
1972	West Coast
1973	West Coast
1974	West Coast Canterbury
1975	Canterbury Taranaki Waikato
1976	Waikato
1977	Taranaki
1978	Taranaki
1979	Taranaki
1980	Wellington Canterbury
1981	Canterbury
1982	Canterbury Wellington
1983	Wellington
1984	Wellington
1985	Wellington Taranaki^[6] Canterbury
1986	Canterbury Auckland
1987	Auckland
1988
1989
1990	Auckland Canterbury (29 April^[7]) Wellington
1991	Wellington Auckland Canterbury
1992	Canterbury Wellington (17 May^[8]) Canterbury

Year	Champions
1993	Canterbury^[9]
1994	Canterbury
1995	Canterbury Auckland
1996	Auckland
1997	Auckland Canterbury (June^[10]) Waikato (12 October^[10])
1998	Waikato
1999	Waikato Taranaki (24 April^[6])
2000	Taranaki Coastline^[11]
2001	Coastline^[11] Tasman^[12]
2002	Tasman Otago (8 September^[13])
2003	Otago
2004	Otago
2005	Gisborne Tairawhiti
2006	Gisborne Tairawhiti
2007	Gisborne Tairawhiti Hawke's Bay (15 September)^[3] Canterbury
2008	Canterbury Auckland (28 September)^[14]
2009	Auckland Canterbury (23 August)^[15]^[16]
2010	Canterbury
2011	Canterbury
2012	Auckland (4 June)^[17]^[18]

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Rugby League Football An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. 1966
↑ 2.0 2.1 Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4, p.39.
↑ 3.0 3.1 Bay crowned cup kings Hawke's Bay Today, 17 September 2007
↑ Coffey, John. Canterbury XIII, Christchurch, 1987.
↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 History Of Wellington Rugby League Association Wellington Rugby League
↑ 6.0 6.1 Sharks put bite on Waikato Cougars Taranaki Daily News, 26 April 1999
↑ Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1990 New Zealand Rugby League, 1990.
↑ Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1992 New Zealand Rugby League, 1992. p.130
↑ Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1993, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1993. p.137
↑ 10.0 10.1 Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4, p.317.
↑ 11.0 11.1 "Rugby League: Orcas give Mariners incentive for Challenge Cup". The New Zealand Herald. The Daily Post. 22 August 2001. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
↑ Orcas fired up to retain league cup The Nelson Mail, 7 September 2002
↑ Otago snatches cup from muddled Orcas The Nelson Mail, 10 September 2002
↑ Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4, p.357.
↑ Bulls regain league cup The Press, 24 August 2009
↑ Geoff Longley It's go the South Island, No Bull The Press, 4 June 2010
↑ League cup match returns to spiritual home in June The Press, 17 March 2012
↑ Auckland spoil Bulls coach's finale The Press, 5 June 2012

External links

Rugby league in New Zealand

Federations	New Zealand Rugby League

Representative teams	Men's ("Kiwis") Women's ("Kiwi Ferns") Junior Māori Residents

New Zealand Kiwis	Players Coaches Matches

Zones	Northern Auckland Counties-Manukau Upper Central Mid-Central Wellington Southern

Districts	Auckland (team) Bay of Plenty (team) Canterbury (team) Coastline (team) Gisborne Tairawhiti (team) Manawatu (team) Northland (team) Otago (team) Southland (team) Hawke's Bay (team) Taranaki (team) Tasman (team) Waikato (team) Wellington (team) West Coast (team)

Australian competition teams	New Zealand Warriors (NRL) Auckland Vulcans (defunct) Auckland Lions (defunct)

Competitions	National Competition Rugby League Cup Bartercard Premiership (defunct) Bartercard Cup (defunct) Lion Red Cup (defunct)

New Zealand domestic seasons	1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017