The Country New South Wales rugby league team is a representative rugby league football team. Between 1987 and 2017 there were two tiers: the Origin team that consisted of professional players who originated from clubs of the Country Rugby League and a representative team of amateur and semi-professional players. The Country Origin team played annually in the City vs Country Origin competition against the City New South Wales rugby league team, which was made up of players originating from Sydney. This match was discontinued in 2017.
The representative team has played in a number of formats over the years: quad and tri series, annual fixtures and tour matches. The most recent change is the introduction of an Under 23 age limit to the top representative team. The Country Rugby League was absorbed by the New South Wales Rugby League at the end of 2019. The NSWRL continued to run competitions for country regions in February and March 2020 until they were curtailed by lockdown restrictions. This suggests that a NSW Country representative side will be reinstated in the future.
Men's Open Age Country Team The following players werre selected in the Country squad for the 2022 Open Age Men's match against City at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday, 15 May 2022. The team is coached by Terry Campese. J# Position Player Club Region 1 Oliver Regan Ballina Seagulls Northern Rivers Titans 2 Dillon Rota Goulburn City Bulldogs Monaro Colts 3 Mitchell Andrews Forbes Magpies Western Rams 4 Kayne Brennan Gerringong Lions Illawarra South Coast Dragons 5 Donte Efaraimo Albion Park-Oak Flats Eagles Illawarra South Coast Dragons 6 Jake Brisbane Warilla-Lake South Gorillas Illawarra South Coast Dragons 7 Blair Grant Warilla-Lake South Gorillas Illawarra South Coast Dragons 8 Caleb Ziebell Cudgen Hornets Northern Rivers Titans 9 James Luff Gundagai Tigers Riverina Bulls 10 Zac Saddler Tuggeranong Bushrangers Monaro Colts 11 Matthew Delbanco Stingrays of Shellharbour Illawarra South Coast Dragons 12 Ron Leapai Goulburn City Bulldogs Monaro Colts 13 Keiran Rankmore Stingrays of Shellharbour Illawarra South Coast Dragons 14 Toby McIntosh Murwillumbah Mustangs Northern Rivers Titans 15 Darby Medlyn Tuggeranong Bushrangers Monaro Colts 16 Connor Ziebell Cudgen Hornets Northern Rivers Titans. 17 Zachary Masters Tumut Blues Riverina Bulls 18 Richard Roberts North Coast Bulldogs Bradley Prior Woden Valley Rams Monaro Colts
CRL Team of the Century In 2008, the centenary year of rugby league in Australia, the Country Rugby League named its "Team of the Century":
Kit suppliers and sponsors PeriodManufacturers Sponsors1999–Classic SportswearVictoria Bitter
2017 Country NSW squad
Women's City vs Country Match
City v Country Women's matches were occasionally played prior to the re-introduction of a stand-alone match in 2017. In 2018 and 2019 the games were played within the National Championships. The 2020 National Championships were cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia. In 2021 the National Championships were reorganised, and an open age City v Country Women's Origin was scheduled separately from the National Championships.
2022 Squad The following players were selected in the Country Origin Women's team to play on Saturday, 14 May 2022 at 4 Pines Park. The team is coached by Ruan Sims. J# Player 2022 State Club Position(s) Country NRLW 2021 State Interstate Tests All StarsDbtSMTGPtsDbtSMTGPts20182019202020211 Sam Bremner Cronulla 2018 2 4 1 0 4 2018 2 4 1 0 4 1m 1t 3m 2 Teagan Berry Cronulla 1 1 0 0 0 2020 2 8 5 1 22 1m 1t 1g 7m 4t 3m 6t 3 Keele Browne Wests Tigers 1 1 0 0 0 2021 1 3 1 0 4 3m 1t 3m 2t 4 Jayme Fressard Central Coast 2020 4 6 1 0 4 2020 2 7 1 0 4 3m 4m 1t 9m 6t 5 Abbi Church St Marys 1 1 0 0 0 2021 1 5 2 0 8 5m 2t 8m 3t 6 Bobbi Law Newcastle Knights 2019 2 4 3 0 12 2019 3 7 2 0 8 1m 1t 1m 1t 5m 2m 7 Jocelyn Kelleher Central Coast 2020 2 2 1 0 4 2020 2 10 1 0 4 3m 7m 1t 11m 7t 12g 8 Phoebe Desmond Newcastle Knights 2021 2 2 0 0 0 2021 1 4 1 0 4 4m 1t 9 Olivia Higgins Newcastle Knights 1 1 0 0 0 2021 1 7 1 0 4 7m 1t 11m 1t 10 Caitlan Johnston Newcastle Knights 2019 2 2 1 0 4 2019 2 4 0 0 0 3m 1m 10m 5t 4m 11 Kaitlyn Phillips Brisbane Broncos 2020 2 4 1 0 4 2020 2 7 1 0 4 2m 5m 1t 6m 1t 3m 12 Olivia Kernick Central Coast 1 1 0 0 0 2021 1 7 3 0 12 7m 3t 11m 2t 1m 1m 13 Kirra Dibb North Sydney 2019 2 4 0 7 14 2019 3 11 1 12 28 3m 4g 3m 1t 4g 5m 4g 10m 4t 26g 1m 1g 1m 1m 3g14 Shawden Burton Central Coast 1 1 0 0 0 2021 1 2 0 0 0 2m 11m 3t 15 Vanessa Foliaki St Marys 2018 3 5 1 0 4 2018 3 11 0 0 0 4m 3m 4m 6m 1t 6m 4t 1m 16 Tayla Predebon Newcastle Knights 2021 2 2 1 0 4 2021 1 7 0 0 0 7m 11m 7t 17 Melanie Howard Newcastle Knights 2018 3 6 0 8 16 2018 3 7 2 0 8 3m 2m 1t 2m 1t 4m 1m 1g Rikeya Horne St Marys 2018 3 5 2 0 8 2018 4 11 1 0 4 3m 1t 3m 1m 4m 8m 6t Notes: In the above tables J# = Jersey number, Dbt = Debut Year, S = Seasons, M = Matches, T = Tries, G = Goals Tallies in the table include the 2022 match. Olivia Kernick played for the Indigenous All Stars team in 2021 and for the Māori All Stars team in 2022.
Matches Country Firsts / Combined Country