Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

NRL Western Australia

Rugby league in the state of Western Australia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NRL Western Australia
Remove ads

NRL Western Australia (abbreviated as NRLWA, and formerly the Western Australian Rugby League) is responsible for administering the game of rugby league football in the state of Western Australia.

Quick facts Founded, Formerly named ...

The NRLWA administers all forms of the game in Western Australia and runs the main Perth metropolitan competitions. This includes eleven clubs in the Perth metropolitan competition (seven fielding first grade), sponsored as the Fuel to Go and Play Premiership, as well as representative teams that compete in interstate competitions.
There are over 4,000 participants

Remove ads

History

Summarize
Perspective

Formed in April 1948 as the Western Australian Amateur Rugby Football League, foundation clubs were Cottesloe, Fremantle, Perth and South Perth.[1]

The first interstate match played by Western Australians was against the South Australia in 1948, with WA winning the series 2–0.

In 1969 Darwin City invited the WARL to Darwin to play a match in celebration of Darwin's 100th founding anniversary in which WA won 23–19. In 1976 WA was invited to participate in the nationwide Amco Cup, where they defeated the Northern Territory 23–18.[1]

On 2 October 1982 to begin the 1982 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France, Western Australia played the Wally Lewis captained Australian Kangaroos in a match at the Cannington Raceway in Perth (on the same day the Australian test team played their first ever test match against Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby). Predictably the Kangaroos defeated WA 57–5, running in 13 tries to 1 with Parramatta Eels winger Eric Grothe, Sr. crossing for 4 tries.[3] The Australian team that day included players who would go on to be mainstays in the Australian test team over the next 5–10 years including Lewis, Grothe, Gene Miles, Steve Mortimer, Greg Conescu and Wayne Pearce as well as test veterans Rod Morris and Les Boyd.

NT toured again in 1981, 1983 & 1985 and since 2001 Western Australia has competed annually in the Affiliated States Championship, winning the most titles of any state or territory.[1]

International touring teams in WA

International football also has a history in WA, with Great Britain Lions touring Perth in 1950, 1957 1962 1975 England 1958, and France touring in 1951, 1955, 1964, 1990.[1]

Remove ads

Club Football

Summarize
Perspective
  • Branding of the Western Australian Rugby League
  • Thumb
    Former logo

The first tour game by an interstate club was in 1949 when Balmain Tigers of the NSWRL traveled to Perth. The first tour match by a club affiliated with the Queensland Rugby League was in 1985 when the Qld Country side played a match against the WA State Team. Further interstate club matches occurred in (see list above)

Following the demise of the Western Reds in 1997, there was no professional rugby league team in Western Australia.

The first match in Perth after the Reds were shut down occurred in 1999 when the Western Suburbs Magpies hosted the Melbourne Storm in an NRL premiership match. Further premiership matches followed in 2005 when Cronulla Sharks hosted the New Zealand Warriors,[1] and in July 2013 when the South Sydney Rabbitohs hosted the New Zealand Warriors at NIB Stadium.

Trial matches have also been played, with South Sydney Rabbitohs hosting Canterbury Bulldogs in the 2005 pre-season.[1]

On 24 April 2025, the NRL agreed to a $50 million deal with the Western Australian Government, thereby securing the entry of the Perth Bears in 2027: with this, a Western Australian team will return to top-flight rugby league after 30 years.

Remove ads

National competition

Summarize
Perspective
Main article: WA Reds
Main article: Perth Bears

The staging of New South Wales Rugby League premiership matches in the late 1980s and early 1990s led to a push for a Perth-based entry into the Australian Rugby League competition. In 1992, the Western Reds club was accepted into the national competition and would play its first season in 1995; the Reds would play in 1996 and in the Australian Super League in 1997 under the Perth Reds moniker.

A total of $10m in debt, along with issues surrounding the Super League war and the formation of the National Rugby League, led to the Reds being shut down at the end of the 1997 season.

On 12 December 2006, the Australian Rugby League board accepted a proposal to establish a Western Australian Rugby League representative side to play in the NSWRL Jim Beam Cup for 2008 and 2009, known as the WA Reds, and playing home matches at Perth Oval.

In season 2010 the decision was made to enter the WA Reds team into the SG Ball Cup Under 18 competition. The season was a tough one, with the 'Reds' finishing second last, winning only their opening game of the season. The 2011 season saw the young Reds side improve their credentials finishing 13th with three wins from nine matches for the season.

On 27 June 2012, the Western Australian Rugby League announced a new identity for its NRL entry bid. The West Coast Pirates was released as the team name, with the logo a pirate skull over crossed cutlasses. The announcement of this new bid identity is viewed as a longer-term strategy for a Western Australian-based National Rugby League team, but the NRL officially stated that there would be no further expansion until 2017 to shore up its financially weak structure.

Multiple attempts to resurrect a Perth-based team stalled over the years, and an original bid was rejected by the NRL in October 2024. However, in April 2025, after initially putting negotiations on hold, the NRL entered negotiations with the Government of Western Australia, and on 24 April 2025, an agreement was reached to admit the Bears into the competition in 2027 as a Perth Bears expansion team, the first Perth-based top-flight rugby league team in 30 years.[4][5]

Remove ads

WARL competitions

Summarize
Perspective

WARL Premiership

The NRLWA, sponsored as the Fuel to Go and Play Premiership, is the premier rugby league football competition in the state. The majority of the Eleven clubs originate in the Perth metro area and both Fremantle and South Perth are foundation WARL clubs. Junior grades run from under 6's up to under 16's and senior competition is divided into four divisions, Men's First Grade, Men's Reserve Grade (Val Murphy Trophy), Women's Tackle and Women's League Tag (Flag Belt).

More information Colours, Club ...


* Denotes currently fielding a First Grade Team in the Fuel to Go and Play Premiership * Denotes First Grade contests for the Fuel to Go and Play Premiership * Denotes Second Grade contests for the Val Murphy Trophy

First Grade Premiers

More information Year, Club ...

* Denotes club dissolved and no longer exists

Remove ads

Regional Competitions

East Pilbara Rugby League

Goldfields Rugby League

Kimberley Rugby League

Pilbara Rugby League

The Pilbara Rugby League is a seven club competition in the north-west of Western Australia. The clubs are:[6]

Remove ads

Notable WARL juniors competed in the NRL and NRLW

Fremantle Roosters

South Perth Lions

Canning Bulldogs

North Beach Sea Eagles

Belmont Steelers

Joondalup Giants

Willagee Bears

Ellenbrook Rabbitohs

Rockingham Coastal Sharks

  • Kennedy Cherrington (2020-2024 [Sydney Roosters][Parramatta Eels])
  • Rueben Cherrington (2022 - Parramatta Eels)

South Headland Cougars

Remove ads

See also

References

External links

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads
Remove ads