Harold Matthews Cup

The NSWRL Harold Matthews Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales between teams made up of players aged under 16. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The competition is made up of NSW-based clubs and includes both junior representative teams of the elite National Rugby League (NRL) and clubs that do not field teams in the NRL competition.

The competition is named after Harold Matthews, a Balmain Tigers secretary who later was appointed as manager of the Australian Test squad and later went on to become secretary of the NSWRL and ARL. The competition was run as a knock-out tournament until 1991. From the 1992 onwards, the format has been a number of home-and-away rounds in which all teams compete, followed by a finals series.

The clubs

In 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, 15 clubs fielded teams in the NSWRL UNE Harold Matthews Cup. The New Zealand Warriors joined the competition in 2024, having previously fielded teams in the older age S.G. Ball Cup. The Melbourne Storm re-joined the Harold Matthews Cup in 2024, having previously fielded a team in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Balmain Tigers Canberra Raiders Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Central Coast Roosters Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Illawarra Steelers Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Melbourne Storm Newcastle Knights New Zealand Warriors (Auckland Warriors) North Sydney Bears Parramatta Eels Penrith Panthers South Sydney Rabbitohs St George Dragons Sydney Roosters (Eastern Suburbs Roosters) Western Suburbs Magpies Central Coast and Sydney both compete as the Roosters. Typically, Sydney compete in navy blue jerseys with red and white chevrons, whilst the Central Coast compete in white jerseys with red and navy blue chevrons.

In the 1970s and early 1980s the Harold Matthews Cup was played in a carnival format over three to five successive days. Teams from the country groups and regions competed alongside representative teams from the NSWRL clubs of Sydney. The competition later changed to a partial round-robin format.

Former teams in the Harold Matthews Cup include: Gold Coast Titans (2009), South-Western Sydney Academy of Sport (2008–16) and Western Sydney Academy of Sport (2007–17).

After the sixth round on 14 & 15 March, the 2020 competition was suspended and subsequently cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.

Harold Matthews Cup Premiers Knock-Out Tournament Year Age Premiers Runners up Report1970 Parramatta Eels1971 Parramatta Eels1972 Parramatta Eels1973 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks1974 South Sydney Rabbitohs Parramatta Eels1975 Parramatta Eels Illawarra (CRL)1976 U14 Parramatta Eels1977 U14 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks1978 U14 Canberra Rugby League (CRL) Parramatta Eels 1979 U14 Penrith Panthers1980 U14 Group 12 (CRL) Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 1981 U14 Parramatta Eels1982 U14 Parramatta Eels1983 U14 Group 6 Rugby League (CRL) Penrith Panthers 1984 U14 Canberra Raiders Central Coast 1985 U14 Penrith Panthers1986 U15 Parramatta Eels Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 1987U15 Illawarra Steelers Penrith Panthers 1988U15 Parramatta Eels Penrith Panthers 1989U15 Penrith Panthers Parramatta Eels 1990U15 Parramatta Eels Gold Coast Seagulls1991U15 Gold Coast Seagulls Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Regular season and finals From 1992 to 2002 and again since 2004, the Harold Matthews Cup has been run as a regular season a series of home-and-away matches followed by a final series. The number of rounds in the regular season is limited, with the limit being less than the number of teams. This means that each team plays some but not all of their opponents in the competition. Year Age Premiers Score Runners up Minor Premiers Wooden Spoon Report1992U15 Newcastle Knights South Sydney Rabbitohs South Sydney Rabbitohs Eastern Suburbs Roosters 1993U15 Canberra Raiders Parramatta Eels Balmain Tigers Eastern Suburbs Roosters 1994U15 Parramatta Eels Penrith Panthers 1995U15 Canberra Raiders Parramatta Eels 1996U15 Illawarra Steelers Newcastle Knights Newcastle Knights Sydney Roosters 1997U16 Parramatta Eels North Sydney Bears Parramatta Eels 1998U16 Parramatta Eels Illawarra Steelers Parramatta Eels St. George Dragons 1999U16 Parramatta Eels South Sydney Rabbitohs Parramatta Eels Balmain Tigers 2000U16 Newcastle Knights Penrith Panthers Newcastle Knights Sydney Roosters 2001U16 Cronulla Sharks Penrith Panthers Parramatta Eels Sydney Roosters 2002U16 Penrith Panthers Newcastle Knights Penrith Panthers Manly Sea Eagles 2003U15 Parramatta Eels St George Dragons 2004U16 Parramatta Eels Penrith Panthers Parramatta Eels Wests Magpies 2005U16 Penrith Panthers Illawarra Steelers Illawarra Steelers Newcastle Knights 2006U16 Penrith Panthers Canterbury Bulldogs Canterbury Bulldogs North Sydney Bears 2007U16 Canterbury Bulldogs Penrith Panthers Canterbury Bulldogs North Sydney Bears 2008U16 Parramatta Eels Penrith Panthers Penrith Panthers South-West Academy 2009U16 Canterbury Bulldogs Parramatta Eels Canterbury Bulldogs South-West Academy 2010U16 Penrith Panthers Parramatta Eels Parramatta Eels South-West Academy 2011U16 Canterbury Bulldogs Illawarra Steelers Illawarra Steelers North Sydney Bears 2012U16 Parramatta Eels Newcastle Knights South Sydney Rabbitohs Sydney Roosters 2013U16 Parramatta Eels South Sydney Rabbitohs South Sydney Rabbitohs South-West Academy 2014U16 Newcastle Knights Penrith Panthers Newcastle Knights North Sydney Bears 2015U16 Cronulla Sharks Parramatta Eels Parramatta Eels Sydney Roosters 2016U16 Parramatta Eels Newcastle Knights Parramatta Eels South-West Academy 2017U16 Newcastle Knights Manly Sea Eagles Newcastle Knights Wests Magpies 2018 U16 Manly Sea Eagles Parramatta Eels Penrith Panthers North Sydney Bears 2019 U16 Newcastle Knights Canterbury Bulldogs Newcastle Knights St George Dragons 2020U16Season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021U17 Manly Sea Eagles Parramatta Eels Manly Sea Eagles Canberra Raiders 2022U17 Wests Magpies Cronulla Sharks Wests Magpies Central Coast Roosters 2023U17 Canterbury Bulldogs Newcastle Knights Penrith Panthers Manly Sea Eagles2024U17 New Zealand Warriors Wests Magpies Canterbury Bulldogs Balmain Tigers 2025 U17 New Zealand Warriors Newcastle Knights Illawarra Steelers Melbourne Storm 2026 U17 Newcastle Knights Sydney Roosters Newcastle Knights Central Coast Roosters

Premiership Tally No.ClubSeasons1 Parramatta Eels20 (1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2016)2 Penrith Panthers7 (1979, 1985, 1989, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010)3 Newcastle Knights6 (1992, 2000, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2026)4 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs4 (2007, 2009, 2011, 2023)4 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks4 (1973, 1977, 2001, 2015)6 Canberra Raiders3 (1984, 1993, 1995)7 Illawarra Steelers2 (1987, 1996)7 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles2 (2018, 2021)7 New Zealand Warriors2 (2024, 2025)10 South Sydney Rabbitohs1 (1974)10Canberra Rugby League (CRL)1 (1978)10Group 12 (Central Coast, CRL)1 (1980)10Group 6 (CRL)1 (1983)10 Gold Coast Seagulls1 (1991)10 Western Suburbs Magpies1 (2022) Bold means that the team is still currently playing in the competition.

Harold Matthews Cup

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