Rugby league in New South Wales

Rugby league has the highest spectator numbers of the various codes of football in New South Wales. It began in Australia in 1907, when the New South Wales Rugby League was formed as a professional competition, following the rules of the Northern Rugby Football Union in England. Since then the state has been one of the major centres of the code; the headquarters of the Australian Rugby League are in New South Wales' largest city, Sydney. The premier state-level league is the New South Wales Cup, involving reserve teams from NSW and Canberra based NRL clubs as well as the first teams from other clubs.

Conducting its inaugural meeting in 1865, the now defunct Sydney Football Club holds the honour of being Australia's first rugby club. The inaugural Sydney club competition was in 1874, competed by the Balmain Rugby Union Football Club, Newington College, Uni and The King's School.

Arguments over the differences in the playing rules followed by each club or school led the formation of the Southern Rugby Football Union (later renamed as the New South Wales Rugby Union).

By the 1890s Rugby football had taken hold in New South Wales, thwarting attempts by Victorian rules and soccer to gain the ascendancy. The game continued to grow becoming the most popular code of football in NSW until the issue of professionalism led to the schism in 1908 and the formation of the New South Wales Rugby Football League. The NSWRU lost many players including the great Dally Messenger to the new sport of rugby league.

The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body for rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League.

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