American National Rugby League
| AMNRL | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Sport | Rugby league |
| Inaugural season | 1998 |
| Ceased | 2014 |
| Replaced by | USARL |
| Number of teams | 5 |
| Country | USA |
| Champions | Connecticut Wildcats (2013) |
| Most titles | Aston Bulls (6 titles) |
| Website | www |
The American National Rugby League (AMNRL) was a rugby league organization in the United States that operated from 1997 to 2014. The country's first domestic rugby league competition, it hosted an annual league from 1998 through 2013. Throughout its existence, the AMNRL was also recognized by the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) as the governing body for the sport in the United States, and oversaw the United States national rugby league team, the Tomahawks.
Australian former professional player David Niu founded the competition that became the AMNRL in 1997, with six teams competing in the first season the following year. The league grew to eleven teams by 2010, with plans for westward expansion. On January 12, 2011, seven teams announced they were departing the AMNRL to form the new USA Rugby League.
The AMNRL suffered from competition with the USARL, and did not host a domestic competition after the 2013 season, though it continued to organize international team games. The organization folded in 2014 and was replaced by the USARL as the internationally recognized body for rugby league in the USA.
The roots of the American National Rugby League date to 1997, when Super League America was formed to organize a national team, establish an amateur domestic competition, and build the sport in the United States. The organization was initially established by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in an attempt to spread rugby league to the United States. The organization was run by former professional player David Niu, who had come to Philadelphia in 1992 and had been active in promoting the sport there. Super League America's domestic competition began its inaugural season in 1998, and was contested by six teams all in the Northeastern United States: the Glen Mills Bulls (later the Aston Bulls), the New Jersey Sharks (later the Bucks County Sharks), the New York Broncos (later the New York Knights), the Philadelphia Bulldogs (now the Philadelphia Fight), the Boston Storm, and the Pennsylvania Raiders. The Boston and Pennsylvania teams soon dropped out; the others later formed the core of the AMNRL. Super League America organized the domestic competition in 1998 and 1999; the Glen Mills Bulls were declared league champions in both years.
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