Newcastle Rugby League
| Newcastle Rugby League | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Sport | Rugby league |
| Instituted | 1910 |
| Inaugural season | 1910 |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Premiers |
 South Newcastle (2016)
|
| Website | @sportingpulse.com |
| Broadcast partner |
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The Newcastle Rugby League is the local rugby league football club competition of Newcastle, Australia. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1910. A Newcastle representative team was also assembled from players in the League during most of the 20th century.
A Newcastle team competed in the inaugural New South Wales Rugby League premiership of 1908 but withdrew after the 1909 season to form the local competition.
The four original teams were Central Newcastle (Blue & White), Northern Suburbs (Light & Dark Blue vertical stripes), South Newcastle (Red & White) and Western Suburbs (Red & Green). The season kicked off 14 May 1910 with South playing West and Central playing Northern Suburbs. South Newcastle finished the season on top of the ladder; the final was played in front of 2500 spectators at Hamilton League Ground, with Central overcoming South 13–4.
The 1911 season saw the previous minor premiers South slump to the bottom of the ladder. The final was played in front of 4000 spectators and saw North victorious over Central 10–2. 1911 saw the Combined Newcastle & Hunter team Tour Queensland, defeating the Queensland State team in all matches played. Newcastle played against the touring New Zealand team in a tight match almost pulling off an upset before going down 21–20.
The 1912 season saw the addition of Eastern Suburbs, playing in Black and White. They were immediately competitive and made the grand final.
The First World War saw a halt to the competition for 1917 and 1918. Although the Newcastle Morning Herald did continue to publish results for competition games for those two years.
1919 saw a split, with two smaller competitions held – the "Lilywhites" or clubs faithful to the NSWRL, composed of Eastern Suburbs and Northern Suburbs, and the "Bolsheviks" or rebels composed of South, North and West.
1920 saw the competition reunited and expanded to six teams as Kurri Kurri competed for the first time.
Past winners of the Newcastle RL Premiership
In 2008, rugby league football's centennial year in Australia, the Newcastle Rugby League named its 'Team of the Century':
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