The Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL), formed in 1934 and disbanded in 2019, was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in areas of New South Wales outside the Sydney metropolitan area until it merged with NSW Rugby League in 2019. The CRL was superseded by 6 NSWRL Country Divisions represented by 4 members of the nine-person NSWRL board. Despite its name, the CRL also governed rugby league in the Australian Capital Territory. Apart from selecting a Country Origin side to play in the annual City vs Country Origin game, the CRL administered many senior and junior competitions across the state.
History
In New South Wales, Newcastle was the first city outside Sydney to start a league competition, despite being involved in the Sydney Premiership in 1908–09 and then starting their own competition in 1910.
On 11 February 1911, the Hunter District Rugby Football League (HDRFL) was established at a large meeting in Maitland, thus becoming the first branch of the New South Wales Rugby League in "the bush" (i.e. outside the urban centres of Sydney and Newcastle). The HDRFL territory encompassed a lower part of the Hunter Valley from Singleton down to the Maitland district and towns on the nearby coalfields (the major ones being Cessnock, Kurri Kurri and Weston). Competition games were scheduled to kick off on 13 May but were pushed back to 20 May when clubs complained they had not had enough time to practice the new code. In the first senior-grade games played, West Maitland defeated Kurri Kurri (12–0) and Cessnock defeated Morpeth (23–0) in a double-header on the enclosed Albion Ground at Maitland.
On 13 May 1911, another branch of the NSWRL was established in the Wollongong area, the Illawarra Rugby League.ILLAWARRA RUGBY LEAGUE HISTORY A Goldfields' League was formed in West Wyalong, and games were played in Tamworth, Aberdeen, and along the South Coast. The game was introduced to Orange in 1912 and spread quickly through the western districts. In 1913 branch leagues were formed at Bathurst, Dubbo, Nowra and Tamworth.
In 1920, the NSWRL set up a Country Committee. NSW Country was divided into six sections: South Coast, Northern Districts, Central Northern Districts, Western Districts, Southern, and North Coast. The group system was introduced in 1922, with neighbouring towns being organised into 12 groups.
The Country Rugby League (CRL) was officially formed in 1934, "subject to the NSW Rugby League still being the paramount institution." In 1939 a dispute arose between the CRL and the NSWRL. The CRL wanted a new administration structure, an equal partnership in which the NSWRL looked after league in Sydney, and the CRL looked after it in the bush. When their proposal was rejected the CRL broke away from the NSWRL for a week, but returned to the fold with a promise that a committee would be set up to sort things out. Eventually the CRL gave in on the grounds that it was in no one's best interests to have the game divided during World War II.
The NSWRL and CRL have since cooperated in the running of rugby league in NSW, including various 'joint ventures' such as the Ron Massey Cup which features three teams from areas under the control of the CRL.
On 24 August 2018, the NSWRL and CRL announced that they had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to begin formal discussions in relation to a possible merger of the two organisations, and a single body governing all rugby league in the state for the first time in more than 80 years. In 19 October 2019 the organisations merged after the NSWRL agreed a new constitution and the CRL, over a year ahead of time.
Representative
The CRL selected the Country New South Wales rugby league team from its inception in 2011. The first City versus Country match (advertised as such by the NSWRL in the Sydney Morning Herald of 10/6/1911) was played at the Sydney Agricultural Ground on that same Saturday. City won 29–8 with a team composed exclusively of players from the Newcastle ("Northern") and the Hunter competitions.
The first NSW Country team to tour was a squad of 17 players (12 from Newcastle and 5 from Hunter) that was unbeaten in four matches. The team played three matches in Queensland between 5/8/1911 and 12/8/1911, defeating Queensland twice and a Queensland Country representative side once. They then travelled to Sydney to play the Sydney Metropolitan team, again winning 31–24.Cessnock Rugby League Football – The Early Years; Mark Bennis; 2011
Both sides were originally made up of the best players playing in the Country Rugby League and the Sydney-based NSWRL Premiership. However, the increasing drain of players from rural areas to the NSWRL clubs led to the City side becoming increasingly dominant and the Country side uncompetitive.
On 21 November 2016, the NRL announced that the City versus Country annual match would be scrapped, with the 2017 match to be the final edition. The fixture would be revived without NRL participation in 2021, with players selected entirely from NSWRL competitions.
The first ever country divisional match (described as such in the Maitland Daily Mercury of 31/7/1911) was played at Newcastle on 29/7/1911 between Newcastle and Hunter, the home side winning 29–14.
Regions The CRL administered the following senior competitions:
Region 1 – East Coast Dolphins Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (Group 1 and 18's Merger)* Group 2 Rugby League (Northern Mid North Coast)* Group 3 Rugby League (Southern Mid North Coast)* Hastings League (Mid North Coast Second Tier)
Region 2 – Greater Northern Tigers Group 4 Rugby League (Western New England)* Group 19 Rugby League (New England)* Group 21 Rugby League (Hunter)*
Region 3 – Bidgee Bulls (Riverina & Monaro Colts) Canberra Division Rugby League George Tooke Shield Group 9 Rugby League (Wagga Wagga and Districts)* Group 16 Rugby League (Far South Coast)* Group 17 Rugby League (Western Riverina Community Cup) Group 20 Rugby League (Griffith and Districts)*
Region 4 – Western Rams Group 10 (Central West)* Group 11 (Dubbo and Districts)* Group 14 Rugby League (Castlereagh Cup) Barwon Darling Rugby League Outback Rugby League (Outback RL) Woodbridge Cup (Central West Division 2) Mid-West Cup (Central West Division 3)
Region 5 – Greater Southern Illawarra Division Rugby League* Group 6 Rugby League (Macarthur & Southern Highlands)* Group 7 Rugby League (South Coast & Southern Highlands)*
Region 6 – Newcastle & Central Coast Central Coast Division Rugby League* Newcastle Division Rugby League* Newcastle & Hunter Rugby League
* = Top-level Country leagues; Premiers eligible for Clayton Cup as best regional team in the state.
Major leagues in bold.
NRL Victoria Competitions Involving NSW Teams Goulburn Murray Rugby League Sunraysia-Riverlands Rugby League
Disbanded Groups Group 1 Rugby League – merged with Group 18 to form Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (still hold junior competitions) Group 5 Rugby League – now forms part of Group 19 Group 8 Rugby League – merged with Group 19 (Canberra) in 1980 to form ACTRL and CDRL, which formed Canberra Rugby League in 1982 Group 13 Rugby League – now part of the Group 9 Rugby League in Region 3 (Bidgee Bulls) Group 18 Rugby League – merged with Group 1 to form Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (still holds junior competitions) Group 19 Rugby League (1950-1970) - Southern Tablelands, merged into Group 16 in c.1978-79 Group 19 Rugby League (1974-1979) - Canberra district, merged with Group 8 in 1980 to form ACTRL and CDRL, which formed Canberra Division in 1982 Sunraysia-Riverlands Rugby League (reformed briefly as a singular side in 1997 in Group 12, later reformed by the Victorian Rugby League).
Team of the Century In 2008, rugby league football's centenary year in Australia, the Country Rugby League named its 'Team of the Century': Clive Churchill (Central Newcastle) Brian Carlson (North Newcastle) Eddie Lumsden (Kurri Kurri) Michael Cronin (Gerringong) Graeme Langlands (Wollongong) Bob Fulton (Wests Wollongong) Andrew Johns (Cessnock) Steve Roach (Wests Wollongong) Ian Walsh (Condobolin) Glenn Lazarus (Queanbeyan Blues) Herb Narvo (North Newcastle) Bradley Clyde (Belconnen United) Wally Prigg (Wests Newcastle/Centrals Newcastle)
Junior competitions Andrew Johns Cup – named after Andrew Johns, made up of players aged under 16 from NSW-based clubs and includes both junior regional representative teams and junior teams of National Rugby League (NRL). Laurie Daley Cup – named after Laurie Daley, the competition includes both junior representative teams from regional rugby league clubs and junior teams of National Rugby League clubs, made up players under 18.
Player of the Year Award
Year Player Club 1965 Laurie Moraschi Griffith 1966 Terry Pannowitz Maitland 1967 Allan Thomson Newcastle 1968 Allan Thomson Newcastle 1969 John Cootes Newcastle 1970 Les Hutchings Condobolin 1971 Dick Jeffrey Glen Innes 1972 Brian Burke Maitland 1973 John Donnelly Gunnedah 1974 Mick Cronin Gerringong 1975 Steve Hewson Queanbeyan 1976 Peter Kennedy Forbes 1977 Barry Pearson Illawarra 1978 Ray Brown Griffith 1979 Pat Smith Maitland 1980 Perry Haddock Erina 1981 Terry Regan Cessnock 1982 Willie Tarry Cessnock 1983 Paul Field Cootamundra 1984 Ross Gibson Wyong 1985 Peter Hawthorne Griffith 1986 Neil Moy Parkes 1987 Steve Walters Lakes United 1988 Chris Cumming Aberdeen 1989 Mark Ryan Moree 1990 Paul Danes Wagga Wagga 1991 Richard Jones South Newcastle 1992 Trevor Crow South Newcastle 1993 Warren Douch Erina 1994 Brian Quinton Kurri Kurri 1995 Jamy Forbes Cessnock 1996 Brett Gallard Orange 1997 Darren Leaney Bellingen 1998 Paul Skovgaard Western Suburbs Newcastle 1999 Troy Clear Belconnen 2000 Jarrod O'Doherty Western Suburbs Newcastle 2001 Jamie O'Connor Burleigh Heads 2002 Ryan Dagwell Newcastle 2003 John Johnson Scone 2004 Phil Stonham Queanbeyan 2005 Chris Bailey Northern Blues 2006 Darren Jackson & Dean Amos Cobar / Northern Blues 2007 David McLean Berkeley 2008 Grant Wooden Wagga Wagga 2009 Grant Wooden Wagga Wagga 2010 Mitch Williams Wyong 2011 Jimmy Grehan Wests Illawarra 2012 Todd Maloney Umina 2013 Rory O'Brien & Riley Brown Collegians Illawarra / Cessnock 2014 Chris Adams Cessnock 2015 Jarrod Thompson Collegians Illawarra 2016 Chris Adams Lakes United 2017 Tori Freeman-Quay Belconnen 2018 Caleb Ziebell Cudgen 2019 Cameron Vazzoler Illawarra South Coast
See also List of CRL clubs
References
External links
Rugby League clubs in New South Wales