1908 NSWRFL season
| 1908 NSWRFL season | |
|---|---|
| League | New South Wales Rugby Football League |
| Duration | April 20 to August 29 |
| Teams | 9 |
| Matches played | 43 |
| Points scored | 1108 |
| Premiers |
 South Sydney (1st title) |
| Minor Premiers |
South Sydney (1st title) |
| Runners-up |
 Eastern Suburbs
|
| Wooden Spoon |
 Cumberland (1st spoon) |
| Top point-scorer(s) |
Horrie Miller (47) |
| Top try-scorer(s) |
Horrie Miller (15) |
| Disbanded |
Cumberland
|
| Second Grade | |
| Number of teams | 8 (1 withdrew) |
| Premiers |
Eastern Suburbs
|
| Third Grade | |
| Number of teams | 8 (2 withdrew) |
| Premiers | Sydney |
| Runners-up | Drummoyne |
The 1908 NSWRFL season was the inaugural season of the New South Wales Rugby Football League's premiership, Australia's first rugby league football club competition, in which nine clubs (eight from Sydney and one from Newcastle) competed from April till August 1908. The season culminated in the first premiership final, for the Royal Agricultural Society Challenge Shield, which was contested by Eastern Suburbs and South Sydney. In 1908 the NSWRFL also assembled a New South Wales representative team for the first ever interstate series against Queensland, and towards the end of the season, the NSWRFL's leading players were absent, having been selected to go on the first Kangaroo tour of Great Britain.
Early in the 20th century in Sydney, the game of rugby football was contested in competitions that were affiliated with the Rugby Football Union based in England. In 1895 the breakaway Northern Rugby Football Union was formed and its own version of rugby football started to evolve. The reasons for this split were ultimately based around the fact that clubs had wanted to compensate their players for time away from work due to injuries and travelling. After the Rugby Football Union denied the clubs' requests for compensation, many northern English clubs broke away and formed a new league, which implemented gradual rule changes to the football it played in an attempt to make a more attractive game for crowds. When crowd numbers started to rise, clubs were able to afford to pay players benefits as a direct result of increased gate takings.
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