NRL State Championship
SportRugby league
Instituted2014
Countries Australia
 New Zealand
 Papua New Guinea
Premiers South Sydney Rabbitohs (2023)
Websitewww.NRL.com
Broadcast partner
Related competitionNSW Cup
Queensland Cup
National Rugby League

The NRL State Championship is a rugby league match contested by the premiers of the two elite second-tier competitions in Australia, the New South Wales Cup and the Queensland Cup. The match has been played as a curtain-raiser to the NRL Grand Final at Stadium Australia since it was introduced by the National Rugby League (NRL) in 2014. The match acts as Super Bowl-type to determine the National Reserve Grade Champions.

History

The origins of the NRL State Championship can be traced back to an idea from the Queensland media during the 1984 Brisbane Rugby League season when two club sides had agreed to play a one-off match. This was when the competitions of the Sydney Rugby League premiership and the Brisbane Rugby League premiership operated independently of each other with the only exception being State of Origin time, when players crossed paths. While the New South Wales media's general consensus was always that Sydney-based NSWRL was the premier and stronger of the two major rugby league competition, all seemed to be set for the one-off match before the NSWRL hierarchy stepped in and put a stop to the proposed match.

The 1984 Brisbane Rugby League Wynnum-Manly Seagulls team was unquestionably Queensland's best, the team defeated a Southern Suburbs Districts Magpies side coached by Wayne Bennett and boasting names such as Gary Belcher, Mal Meninga, Peter Jackson, Bob Lindner in the 1984 Brisbane Rugby League Grand Final by a record 42–8 scoreline. Many supporters north of the border believe they were also better than the 1984 Sydney Rugby League champion team the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. The Brisbane media were so confident about the strength of this super Wynnum side that they suggested a challenge match between the Seagulls and the Sydney Premiers Canterbury Bankstown.

It was an idea liked by the QRL, but if the suggestion is that the NSWRL were the roadblock, Canterbury prop Peter Tunks said the Bulldogs players and officials were just as keen to make the game happen as their northern rivals. "There was talk in the media about it and we were keen to play it because they obviously had a pretty good side with Wally, Gene Miles, Greg Dowling but we loved playing anybody back in those days", Tunks said. "We knew that it was a decent comp in Brisbane but we obviously didn't think it was as strong as the Sydney comp because this was the be-all and end-all. At Canterbury, we really loved a challenge and we would have loved the opportunity of going up against a team full of great players like they had. It's like anything, to be the best you have to beat the best and that was our attitude but unfortunately it didn't come off. I don't know where we were supposed to play but it would have been good fun."[1][2]

The NRL State Championship is marketed as "The best New South Wales club versus the best Queensland club". However, in both the New South Wales and Queensland Cups there are or were clubs based outside their respective states:

In 2014 the Northern Queensland Pride representing the Queensland Cup defeated the Penrith Panthers representing the New South Wales Cup in the first NRL State Championship Grand Final. The match has been played every subsequent year, with the exception of 2020 when it was not held on account of both competitions being cancelled due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2021 with the remainder of the New South Wales Cup being cancelled also due to the COVID-19 lockdown in Sydney.

Results

The match is a curtain-raiser to the final match on NRL Grand Final day, with the winner crowned the NRL State Champions. Between 2014 and 2017 the match was played after the now-defunct NRL Youth Grand Final and before the NRL Grand Final.[3][4] In 2018 the match was played after the NRL Women's Grand Final and before the NRL Grand Final. Since 2019 it has been played before the NRL Women's Grand Final and the NRL Grand Final. In 2020 the match was not played due to the cancellation of the state premierships after Round 1 caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, and wasn't played in 2021 due the COVID-19 lockdown in Sydney. The match made its return in 2022.

NRL State Championship winners

Season NRL State Championship Man of the Match
NRL State Championship Premiers Score NRL State Championship Runners-up Venue
2014 Northern Pride 32–28 Penrith Panthers ANZ Stadium Javid Bowen
2015 Ipswich Jets 26–12 Newcastle Knights ANZ Stadium Matt Parcell
2016 Illawarra Cutters 54–12 Burleigh Bears ANZ Stadium Drew Hutchison
2017 Penrith Panthers 42–18 PNG Hunters ANZ Stadium Kaide Ellis
2018 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 42–18 Redcliffe Dolphins ANZ Stadium Josh Cleeland
2019 Newtown Jets 20–16 Burleigh Bears ANZ Stadium Toby Rudolf
2020 Match was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
2021 Match was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in NSW.
2022 Penrith Panthers 44–10 Norths Devils Accor Stadium J'maine Hopgood
2023 South Sydney Rabbitohs 42–22 Brisbane Tigers (Easts Tigers) Accor Stadium Tyrone Munro

State Championship Teams

Rugby League Team City/Town Suburb/s District/Region/State/Territory Nation
Penrith Panthers Sydney Penrith New South Wales Australia
Northern Pride Cairns Barlow Park Queensland Australia
Ipswich Jets Ipswich North Ipswich Queensland Australia
Illawarra Cutters Wollongong Wollongong New South Wales Australia
Canterbury Bulldogs Sydney Belmore New South Wales Australia
Newtown Jets Sydney Marrickville New South Wales Australia
Burleigh Bears Gold Coast Miami Queensland Australia
Newcastle Knights Newcastle New Lambton New South Wales Australia
PNG Hunters Port Moresby Port Moresby National Capital District Papua New Guinea
Redcliffe Dolphins Moreton Bay Redcliffe Queensland Australia
Norths Devils Brisbane Nundah Queensland Australia
Brisbane Tigers (Easts Tigers) Brisbane Coorparoo Queensland Australia
South Sydney Rabbitohs Sydney Redfern New South Wales Australia

State Championship Team Performance/s

Rugby League Team Games Played Games Won Games Lost Years Played Years Won Years Lost
Penrith Panthers 3 2 1 2014, 2017, 2022 2017,2022 2014
Northern Queensland Pride 1 1 0 2014 2014 –
Ipswich Jets 1 1 0 2015 2015 –
Illawarra Cutters 1 1 0 2016 2016 –
Canterbury Bulldogs 1 1 0 2018 2018 –
Newtown Jets 1 1 0 2019 2019 –
Burleigh Bears 2 0 2 2016, 2019 – 2016, 2019
Newcastle Knights 1 0 1 2015 – 2015
PNG Hunters 1 0 1 2017 – 2017
Redcliffe Dolphins 1 0 1 2018 – 2018
Norths Devils 1 0 1 2022 – 2022
Brisbane Tigers (Easts Tigers) 1 0 0 2023
South Sydney Rabbitohs 1 0 0 2023

Media coverage

Live television coverage is broadcast by Australia's Fox Sports and Nine Network (including Nine's regional affiliates NBN Television, WIN Television and IMP Television until 2015 and mid 2016)[6] while live radio coverage is broadcast by Australia's ABC Grandstand around Australia via both the ABC Radio Mobile App (Digital Radio Stadion) and their network of FM and AM Local Radio Stations.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The greatest game never played". NRL - The official site of the National Rugby League. October 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  2. ↑ "Our Colourful History". WynnumSeagulls.com.au. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  3. ↑ "State Championship preview: Panthers v Pride". NRL - The official site of the National Rugby League. October 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  4. ↑ "The greatest game never played". NRL - The official site of the National Rugby League. October 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  5. ↑ "NSWRL cancels nine competitions for 2020 season". New South Wales Rugby League. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "State Championship preview: Panthers v Pride". NRL.com. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "Rugby League". ABC News Sport. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
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