The Sydney University Rugby League Football Club (SURLFC) is a rugby league team currently playing in the Saturday Metro League competition. The University of Sydney was represented in the New South Wales Rugby Football League (premiership) (NSWRL) from 1920 to 1937 as University, and also in the NSWRL Second Division and Metropolitan League competitions from 1963 to 1976.
History The inaugural by-laws of the NSWRL premiership in 1908 included provision for a SURLFC. However, it was not until 1919 that movements at the University of Sydney to be involved in the new game of rugby league began.
In February 1920 the NSWRL met with the rugby union aligned Sydney University Football Club (SUFC) hoping they would switch codes as the extent of support for club rugby union in Australia was now down to the SUFC and just five other cobbled together 1919 Sydney first grade teams, and there was a palpable rise in preference for rugby league among the SUFC's younger footballers. NSWRL officials James Joynton Smith, Fred Flowers and Horrie Miller held discussions with SUFC representatives retired Wallabies Herbert "Paddy" Moran and Hyram Marks along with Eric Mortley Fisher. When the SUFC subsequently decided to stay loyal to the NSW Rugby Union, elements within the SUFC took their own action.
As put by Herbert Vere Evatt (a final year law student and later a politician, jurist and president of the UN General Assembly) at the time the reasons were:
"Owing to the general dissatisfaction with the management of the Rugby Union during the 1919 football season, and the fact that University footballers were starting to realise that rugby league was a faster and cleaner game, several leading members of the football club, including seven 'blues' of the past season, took steps to introduce the league game into the University for the 1920 season. A special meeting of league supporters was held and decided to enter three teams, all members to play as strict amateurs." The club wore the University sports colours of blue and gold in the same hooped jerseys playing strip of the SUFC. However, unlike the SUFC, the SURLFC maintained the Oxbridge universities' rugby traditions of confining teams to undergraduates only. Upon graduating, the rugby league players would move from SURLFC to another club or retire.
Anti-rugby league prejudice From the very beginning of the SURLFC, the Students (or 'Varsity' as they were also known) struggled to gain acceptance by the University Sports Association who displayed great prejudice toward those who wished to play rugby league.
Although the University students received no payment for taking part in SURLFC matches, they were strongly reminded by detractors that if they intended to later continue their studies at the Oxbridge universities in England, they would soon find there that their having played rugby league was sufficient to mean they were professionals and not amateurs, preventing their participating in rugby union, rowing or other sports and gaining of a 'Blue'.
On the same basis, the University's Sports Association forbid the SURLFC from training and playing on the University Oval (forcing Varsity to train with Eastern Suburbs at the Sydney Sports Ground), even though it had been leased during the war to the NSW Football Association (soccer). The view was that the Oval could not be used by a professional sport such as first grade rugby league. While public pressure soon forced the Association to relent in regard to training, the SURLFC never once played a game at the University Oval during its involvement in the NSWRL premiership. In 1931 the Sports Association were finally persuaded by NSWRL officials to enter into an agreement for nine SURLFC home games on the Oval that season, however the deal was made futile when the University's Senate refused approval.
Inter-varsity rugby league matches and representative football The only exceptions granted for the use of the University Oval for rugby league were for less than a handful of representative matches. Two games were played on the Oval by the 'Combined Australian Universities' selection in 1922 (against 'Metropolis') and 1930 (versus New Zealand). The combined XIII was chosen from SURLFC players and those of the University of Queensland rugby club (UQRC) which had switched to rugby league. The SURLFC and UQRC commenced annual contests in 1920, with the first held at the Sydney Cricket Ground in front of 50,000 spectators on the under-card to NSW Blues v England.The Melbourne University rugby club also changed allegiance to rugby league during 1923 to 1925, resulting in further inter-varsity matches, including a tri-series in Sydney in 1924, and the Australian Universities team having representatives from all three universities of the mainland eastern states. Tours to New Zealand were made in 1922 and 1924 by the Australian Universities rugby league team. The final Sydney and Brisbane (Queensland) inter-varsity game under rugby league appears to have been the contest held in 1929 on the University Oval for the Alan Maclean Memorial Shield.The SURLFC also undertook many tours of regional NSW and throughout Queensland to play local clubs and representative sides.
1926 Grand Final The highlight of the Students' 18 seasons in the NSWRL Premiership was their one and only finals appearance (having finished fourth in the regular season). To get to the Grand Final at the Sydney Agricultural Ground University had to defeat Glebe which they did comfortably 29 - 3. In the Grand Final, however, they were defeated 5–11 by Souths in front of 20,000 people.
Year Premiers Runners-up Score 1926 South Sydney University 11–5
Withdrawal from the Premiership
Generally, the amateur students struggled to perform against the professional players of the other sides and University enjoyed very little success only winning 44 of its 226 games during its time in the Premiership (and only won 2 games after 1933). The club did not win a single match in 1935, continuing a losing streak that started in round 2, 1934 and which would run till round 14, 1936 and which marked the most consecutive losses in NSWRL/NRL premiership history at 42. This run of form, in addition to having spent 12 of its 18 seasons in last place prompted their decision to withdraw from the Premiership at the close of the 1937 season.
Life after the Premiership Rugby league did not perish at the University of Sydney and sides representing the university continued to play in various competitions. Most notably, Varsity played in the NSWRL Inter-District Competition, Second Division and Metropolitan League (predecessors to the Jim Beam Cup) between 1964 and 1976, finishing as Second Division runners-up in 1969 and 1971, both times to the leading side of the day Wentworthville.
Year Premiers Runners-up Score 1969 Wentworthville Magpies University 20–2 1971 Wentworthville Magpies University 21–15
Year Competition Ladder Finals Position All Match Record Pos Byes Pts P W L D For Agst Diff 1964 Second Division 7 0 12 18 6 12 0 248 277 -29 1965 Second Division 9 0 7 17 3 14 1 177 386 -209 1966 Second Division 7 0 4 14 2 12 0 32 313 -281 1967 Second Division 4 0 16 Semi-Finalist 15 8 7 0 146 159 -13 1968 Second Division 3 2 22 Semi-Finalist 17 11 6 0 263 163 100 1969 Second Division 3 0 24 Grand Finalist 19 14 5 0 213 202 11 1970 Second Division 4 2 28 Semi-Finalist 21 14 7 0 322 248 74 1971 Second Division 2 2 35 Grand Finalist 22 18 3 1 578 255 323 1972 Second Division 5 2 25 Play-Off 21 10 10 1 435 349 86 1973 Second Division 9 2 12 20 4 16 0 202 565 -363 1974 Metropolitan Cup 5 18 21 8 11 2 274 324 -50 1975 Metropolitan Cup 3 2 23 Finalist 18 12 5 1 498 285 213 1976 Metropolitan Cup 5 0 12 16 5 9 2 256 343 -87
Wills Cup As runners-up in the 1969 Second Division, University (along with Wentworthville) were invited to compete in the NSWRL pre-season competition (the Wills Cup) in 1970.
Despite the inclusion of mature players from other metropolitan University clubs and professional coaches, the sides were too inexperienced and light to compete with the senior club sides. University finished 13th (above last-placed Penrith) in the competition with 1 win from 4 games (their lone win, a close 19–17 victory, came against Wentworthville), with a points differential of -29.
University Shield Competition In 1922 the University of Sydney Club presented the league with a shield for use as a trophy in a statewide High School Rugby League knockout competition. The competition became known as the 'University Shield' and is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious competitions in schoolboy rugby league.
The University Shield has undergone various changes in format since its inception in 1922, the most notable of these having been the exclusion of specialised 'Sports High Schools' which dominated the competition between 1996 and 2006 in a spirit deemed 'untrue' to the traditional concept of the competition.
Sydney Shield In December 2018, it was revealed that University would be competing in the Sydney Shield competition. At the end of the 2019 Sydney Shield season, University finished 10th on the table. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, University were initially meant to compete in the 2021 Sydney Shield but pulled out for financial reasons.
Year Competition Ladder Finals Position All Match Record Pos Byes Pts P W L D For Agst Diff 2019 Sydney Shield 10 1 11 20 4 15 1 397 744 -347 2020 Sydney Shield N/A 0 0 Competition Cancelled 1 0 1 0 20 24 -4 2020 Sydney Shield 7 1 7 8 2 5 1 176 218 -42
University Shield Honour Board (1922–2007) Year Premiers 1922 Goulburn 1923 Goulburn 1924 Goulburn 1925 Sydney Technical 1926 Tamworth 1927 Tamworth 1928 Tamworth 1929 Tamworth 1930 Randwick 1931 Tamworth 1932 Newcastle 1933 Cessnock 1934 Combined 1935 Newcastle 1936 Newcastle 1937 Cessnock 1938 Cessnock 1939 Newcastle 1940 Newcastle 1941 Newcastle 1942 Newcastle 1943 Newcastle 1944 Sydney Technical 1945 Sydney Technical 1946 Newcastle 1947 Maitland 1948 Taree 1949 Gosford 1950 Gosford 1951 Gosford 1952 Gosford 1953 Muswellbrook 1954 Newcastle 1955 Gosford 1956 Newcastle 1957 Tamworth 1958 Newcastle 1959 Newcastle 1960 Newcastle 1961 Tamworth 1962 Newcastle 1963 Newcastle Tech 1964 Tamworth 1965 Tamworth 1966 Griffith 1967 Orange 1968 Orange/Tamworth 1969 Tamworth 1970 Yanco Ag. 1971 Tamworth 1972 Yanco Ag. 1973 Moree 1974 Gosford 1975 Tamworth 1976 Ashcroft 1977 Ashcroft 1978 Tamworth 1978 Blacktown 1980 Chatham 1981 Chatham 1982 James Cook 1983 James Cook 1984 Ashcroft 1985 Ashcroft 1986 Toormina 1987 Yanco Ag. 1988 Melville 1989 James Cook 1990 Yanco Ag. 1991 Dubbo South 1992 Yanco Ag. 1993 Kingsgrove 1994 Kingsgrove 1995 Sarah Redfern 1996 Yanco Ag. 1997 Camden 1998 Westfield Sports 1999 Westfield Sports 2000 Westfield Sports 2001 Westfield Sports 2002 Endeavour Sports 2003 Farrer Ag. 2004 Endeavour Sports 2005 Westfield Sports 2006 Hunter Sports 2007 Junee High School
Players NSWRFL (1920–1937)