History of the NRL
1998: Inception

The National Rugby League is the result of a joint venture between two competitions which co-existed in the season of 1997 - the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and Super League. The Australian Rugby League competition ran from 1995 to 1997 and was the direct successor to the New South Wales Rugby League competition, which ran from 1908 to 1994. This competition consisted only of teams from metropolitan Sydney until 1982 when teams were added from Brisbane (1988), Canberra (1982), Gold Coast (1988) Illawarra (1982) and Newcastle (1988). With further expansion to Auckland, North Queensland, South Queensland and Perth (all in 1995) the ARL assumed control of the competition.

Super League was a competition run by News Corporation in 1997. It included teams from Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Canberra, North Queensland, Sydney and Perth.With twenty-two teams playing in two competitions in 1997 crowd attendances and corporate sponsorships were spread very thinly, and many teams found themselves in financial difficulty. On September 23, 1997 the ARL announced that it was forming a new company to control the competition in 1998 and invited Super League clubs to participate. On October 7 Rupert Murdoch announced that he was confident that there would be a single competition in 1998 and in the following months the National Rugby League, jointly owned by the ARL and News Limited, was formed.

1999-2002: Rationalisation
One condition of the peace agreement between the ARL and News Limited was that there would be a 14 team competition in 2000. This led to the creation of merged teams and the lockdown of the South Sydney Rabbitohs for the year 2000. This move was highly controversial and on 11 November 2001 80,000 marched in protest at their continued exclusion. South Sydney challenged the decision in the Federal Court claiming that the NRL agreement was exclusionary, intended to unfairly exclude South Sydney, and breached the Trade Practices Act. Justice Paul Finn ruled that the agreement did not specifically exclude any club and dismissed the Rabbitohs claims for re-instatement into the national competition. Souths appealed this decision and were re-admitted into the competition in 2002. In 2001, Australia's largest telecommunications provider Telstra became naming rights sponsor of the NRL, with the competition's name becoming the NRL Telstra Premiership.

2003-2005: Record Popularity
In 2005, the NRL reached record levels of popularity. Crowd average records were broken in 2003, 2004 and 2005, [1] and from 2004 to 2005 there was a 39% increase in sponsorship, a 41% increase in merchandise royalties and a 12% increase in playing participation.

Combined history
Although much structural re-organisation occurred 1995-1998, the NSWRL, ARL, Super League and the NRL are, by convention, considered to be a single continuous competition, from the first competition in 1908 to present.

For example, the Brisbane Broncos have won five titles, two were in the NSWRL, one in Super League, and two in the present day NRL. Each of the these premierships carry an equal status, and do not need to be qualified. Playing records, such as points scored, do not differentiate between the various incarnations of the top level competiton.

Having said that, the NRL tends to refer to merged entities St George Illawarra Dragons and Wests Tigers as having been established in 1999 and 2000 respectively, rather than viewing their histories as a continuation (which would see them established in 1921 and 1908 respectively).

The NRL Trophy itself features a depiction of a famous photo, that of Norm Provan and Arthur Summons after the 1963 NSWRL Grand Final.

How the NRL works

The draw
The fifteen NRL teams play each other in a rotating roster that lasts for twenty-six rounds, typically from the beginning of March through to September. This is known as the regular season. The teams are divided into three groups of ostensibly equal strength, based on the previous year's standings. Each team plays the other teams within their group once (4 games), and the teams outside their group twice (20 games), for a total of 24 games and 2 byes. This system has varied from year to year since 1988, due to frequent changes in the number of teams participating.

The rounds
There is one round every weekend. Seven games occur in each round, usually on Friday night (7:30pm local time), Saturday (5:30 pm and two games at 7:30pm local time) and Sunday (2:30pm and two games at 3:00pm local time) during the regular season, with one team receiving the bye. However, for two rounds during the season, three teams have the bye in the same round, at State of Origin time. Players involved in Origin games (held mid-week) cannot participate in club matches on the weekend before - teams who have supplied the bulk of players to the State of Origin series in the previous season will receive a bye at this time.

Points and ladder
The winner of each game per round is awarded two points on the League Ladder. The team with the bye is also awarded two points automatically. If a game is drawn between the two teams, each team is awarded one point each. (However, drawn matches are first subject to the golden point process, introduced in 2003.).

At the end of the regular season, the eight teams with the highest point totals on the ladder qualify for the finals. In the event of two or more teams sharing the same competition points, the finishing order is decided by points differential i.e. points scored during games minus points conceded.

Prior to 1995, however, a team could not be excluded from the finals system by points differential alone, in these cases, a mid-week playoff (or, if required, series of playoffs, such as in 1960) was held to determine the finalists.

Finals series
Currently the NRL is using the McIntyre Final Eight System, this has also varied over the years. This consists of a number of knockout and sudden-death games over four weeks between the top eight teams in August and September until there are only two teams remaining. In the first week, the top four seeds play at their respective home grounds. From Week Two onwards, all final matches are scheduled to be played in Sydney, however, some matches have been moved in special circumstances, to some controversy. The top two then play in the Grand Final, which has always taken place in Sydney on a Sunday in late September, or early October.

Since 1999 the Grand Final has been contested at Telstra Stadium, the primary athletics venue during the 2000 Olympic Games held in Sydney. From 1988 to 1998 the Grand Final was held at Sydney Football Stadium, and until 1987 was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground for around eighty years.

New South Wales Rugby League premiership
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was a rugby league competition run between 1908 and 1997. From 1995-1997 the controlling body was the Australian Rugby League

Teams Participating clubs in the top level NSWRL:
Annandale, 1910-1920.
Balmain Tigers, 1908-1997.
Brisbane Broncos, 1988-1996.
Canberra Raiders, 1982-1996.
Canterbury Bulldogs, 1935-1996.
Cronulla Sharks, 1967-1996.
Cumberland, 1908.
Sydney Roosters, 1908-1997.
Glebe, 1908-1929.
Gold Coast Chargers, 1988-1997.
Illawarra Steelers, 1982-1997.
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, 1947-1997.
Newcastle Knights, 1988-1997.
Newcastle, 1908-1909.
Newtown Jets, 1908-1983.
North Sydney Bears, 1908-1997.
North Queensland Cowboys, 1995-1996.
Parramatta Eels, 1947-1997.
Penrith Panthers, 1967-1996.
South Queensland Crushers, 1995-1997.
South Sydney Rabbitohs, 1908-1997.
St. George Dragons, 1921-1997.
University, 1920-1937.
New Zealand Warriors, 1995-1996.
Western Reds, 1995-1996
Western Suburbs Magpies, 1908-1997

Past Premiers NSWRL and Scores
1908: Souths def. Easts 14-12
1909: Souths def. Balmain on forfeit
1910: Newtown drw. Souths 4-4
1911: Easts def. Glebe 11-8
1912: Easts
1913: Easts
1914: Souths
1915: Balmain
1916: Balmain def. Souths 5-3
1917: Balmain
1918: Souths
1919: Balmain
1920: Balmain
1921: Norths
1922: Norths def. Glebe 35-3
1923: Easts def. Souths 15-12
1924: Balmain def. Souths 3-0
1925: Souths
1926: Souths def. University 11-5
1927: Souths def. St. George 20-11
1928: Souths def. Easts 26-5
1929: Souths def. Newtown 30-10
1930: Wests def. St. George 27-2
1931: Souths def. Easts 12-7
1932: Souths def. Wests 19-12
1933: Newtown def. St. George 18-5
1934: Wests def. Easts 15-12
1935: Easts def. Souths 19-3
1936: Easts def. Balmain 32-12
1937: Easts
1938: Canterbury def. Easts 19-6
1939: Balmain def. Souths 33-4
1940: Easts def. Canterbury 24-14
1941: St. George def. Easts 31-14
1942: Canterbury def. St. George 11-9
1943: Newtown def. Norths 34-7
1944: Balmain def. Newtown 12-8
1945: Easts def. Balmain 22-18
1946: Balmain def. St. George 13-12
1947: Balmain def. Canterbury 13-9
1948: Wests def. Balmain 8-5
1949: St. George def. Souths 19-12
1950: Souths def. Wests 21-15
1951: Souths def. Manly 42-14
1952: Wests def. Souths 22-12
1953: Souths def. St. George 31-12
1954: Souths def. Newtown 23-15
1955: Souths def. Newtown 12-11
1956: St. George def. Balmain 18-12
1957: St. George def. Manly 31-9
1958: St. George def. Wests 20-9
1959: St. George def. Manly 20-0
1960: St. George def. Easts 31-6
1961: St. George def. Wests 22-0
1962: St. George def. Wests 9-6
1963: St. George def. Wests 8-3
1964: St. George def. Balmain 11-6
1965: St. George def. Souths 12-8
1966: St. George def. Balmain 23-4
1967: Souths def. Canterbury 12-10
1968: Souths def. Manly 13-9
1969: Balmain def. Souths 11-2
1970: Souths def. Manly 23-12
1971: Souths def. St. George 16-10
1972: Manly def. Easts 19-14
1973: Manly def. Cronulla 10-7
1974: Easts def. Canterbury 19-4
1975: Easts def. St. George 38-0
1976: Manly def. Parramatta 13-10
1977: St. George drw. Parramatta 9-9, St. George def. Parramatta 22-0 (replay)
1978: Manly drw. Cronulla 11-11, Manly def. Cronulla 16-0 (replay)
1979: St. George def. Canterbury 17-13
1980: Canterbury def. Easts 18-4
1981: Parramatta def. Newtown 20-11
1982: Parramatta def. Manly 21-8
1983: Parramatta def. Manly 18-6
1984: Canterbury def. Parramatta 6-4
1985: Canterbury def. St. George 7-6
1986: Parramatta def. Canterbury 4-2
1987: Manly def. Canberra 18-8
1988: Canterbury def. Balmain 24-12
1989: Canberra def. Balmain 19-14
1990: Canberra def. Penrith 18-14
1991: Penrith def. Canberra 19-12
1992: Brisbane def. St. George 28-8
1993: Brisbane def. St. George 14-6
1994: Canberra def. Canterbury 36-12

ARL
1995: Canterbury def. Manly 17-4
1996: Manly def. St. George 20-8
1997: Newcastle def. Manly 22-16