NZRL National Club Competition

The NZRL National Club Competition was a rugby league competition run by the New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL). The competition was an end-of-season tournament played by the best teams from each region of New Zealand. It was first staged in 1982, and was contested annually until 1992, when it was scrapped following the introduction of a new national league competition; the Lion Red Cup. The competition was briefly revived as a one-off event in 2007.

History

The first attempt at establishing a national rugby league competition in New Zealand occurred in the early 1960s. The tournament was held as a club competition between 1962 and 1964, but was then re-organised as a provincial tournament.[1] A new national club competition was announced in 1981, with the first staging of the competition taking place in the 1982 season.[2] The competition continued until 1992, after which it was superseded by a new national league competition, which became known as the Lion Red Cup. Following the demise of the Bartercard Cup, the club competition briefly returned in 2007, but has not been contested since.

Format

The format of the tournament was a 16-team knockout competition. Each region was represented by at least one team, while stronger leagues such as Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington were typically awarded multiple berths. In 1992, the competition was reduced to eight teams, and the knock-out format was replaced by a round-robin tournament, with the teams split into two groups of four.[3]

Winners

Year Champions Score Runners-up
1982Petone16–14Randwick
1983Otahuhu30–22Randwick
1984Mt Albert24–10Randwick
1985Manukau34–13Randwick
1986Te Atatu36–10Mt Albert
1987Northcote14–12Mangere East
1988Te Atatu18–8Glenora
1989Northcote10–4Wainuiomata
1990Wainuiomata34–12Otahuhu
1991Northcote30–12Randwick
1992Wainuiomata25–18Northcote
1993–2006: No competition
2007Wainuiomata25–18Papakura

Sponsorship

Period Sponsor Name
1982 Standfast Ltd. Wrangler Cup
1983–1985 Tusk Cup
1986–1988 Lion Breweries Lion Red League Nationals
1989–1992 Lion Red League Cup

References

  1. ↑ "Provincial Basis For League Wanted". The Press. No. 30873. Christchurch. 5 October 1965. p. 18.
  2. ↑ "Rich rugby league tournament". The Press. Christchurch. 26 June 1981. p. 20.
  3. ↑ "Canty sides in inter-club". The Press. Christchurch. 7 September 1992. p. 19.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.