Central Coast Rays
Macquarie University Sydney Rays
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| Founded | 2007 |
|---|---|
| Location | Sydney, Australia |
| Ground(s) |
North Sydney Oval
(Capacity: 20,000)
Pittwater Park (Capacity: 10,000)
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| Coach(es) | Simon Cron |
| Captain(s) | Matt Lucas |
| League(s) | National Rugby Championship |
| 2015 | 7th |
| Official website | |
| www |
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The Sydney Rays is an Australian rugby union team that competes in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). The team is one of three sides from New South Wales in the competition; the other two being the Western Sydney Rams and the Country Eagles.
The current Rays team in the NRC takes its identity from the Central Coast Rays side that played in the earlier national competition, the Australian Rugby Championship (ARC). The Rays drew players mainly from four Shute Shield clubs; Gordon, Manly, Northern Suburbs, and Warringah. The Central Coast Waves club was also aligned with the Rays for the ARC, but the competition was disbanded following the first season in 2007. After an absence of six years, the national competition was relaunched as the NRC in 2014.
A consortium of the same four Shute clubs from the ARC reformed the team as the North Harbour Rays in 2014 to play in the NRC. The team was renamed the Sydney Rays in 2016.
The Rays' name was adopted for the team's first incarnation on the Central Coast, with a manta ray chosen to represent the marine environment of the local area. The logo features a manta ray in navy blue, outlined in white, on a stylised emerald green and white rugby ball, outlined in navy blue. The only change from the original logo has been the name prefix moving from Central Coast to North Harbour and, as of 2016, Sydney. The team plays in a harlequin-style quartered strip composed of blue, red, green, gold and black colours from the four constituent clubs. All four clubs’ colours are also featured on the socks.
In 2007, an attempt was made to form a third tier of rugby in Australia, similar to New Zealand's ITM Cup and South Africa's Currie Cup. The newly formed competition included eight teams and was called the Australian Rugby Championship. Three of those teams were based in New South Wales, including a Central Coast team.
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