Cumberland (rugby league team)
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| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Central Cumberland |
| Nickname(s) | Fruitpickers |
| Short name | Cumberland |
| Founded | 21 April 1908 (Foundation club) |
| Exited | 1908 |
| Former details | |
| Competition | NSWRFL |
| 1908 | 9th of 9 |
Team colours
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| Records | |
| Wooden spoons | 1 (1908) |
| Most capped |
Harry Bloomfield - 8 A. Halling - 8 S. Jarvis - 8 Thomas Lalor - 8 F. O'Grady - 8 |
| Highest points scorer | Harry Bloomfield - 19 |
Cumberland, officially known as Central Cumberland, were a rugby league team in 1908 based in the region of Cumberland Plain in western Sydney. They were one of the nine original teams in the first New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) season, albeit admitted after the first round of matches had already been played. They are the shortest lived team in the history of first-grade rugby league in Australia after disbanding late that year. Statistically, they are the club with the poorest all-time record, only lasting eight games in their inaugural and only season.
The Cumberland area was dominated by rugby union, another form of the game, as the main winter sport. The local Kings School took part in a regular competition of rugby union with other clubs Aallaroo, Calder House, Civil, Lyndhurst, Military, Newington, North Shore and Waratah. These teams in the area by 1900, were put under the banner of Western Suburbs Rugby Union.
The club was formed on the night of 21 April 1908 at Horse and Jockey Hotel, Homebush, the night after the first round of rugby league was being held in the NSWRL premiership. On that morning, Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph advertised a meeting for that night to discuss the formation of rugby league club in the Cumberland area. The meeting was attended by annoyed members of the Western Suburbs Rugby Union Club who were asked to form a rugby league club under the name Central Cumberland.
When the Western Suburbs formed their club, most of their players had come from Ashfield Rugby Union Club, which was a second division team to the Western Suburbs Rugby Union Club. All but two of the first grade team of Western Suburbs Rugby Union Club rejected offers from Western Suburbs. However, when Cumberland were looking for players, 23 of the 27 players present at the meeting signed with the club, most of which were rugby union players from the Western Suburbs Rugby Union Club.
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