NRL Western Australia

NRL Western Australia
NRL Western Australia
Founded	1948
Formerly named	Western Australian Amateur Rugby League
Responsibility	Western Australia
Headquarters	NIB Stadium, Pier Street, Perth
Key people	John Sackson (Chief Executive)
Website	nrlwa.com.au

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.

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

History

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.^[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]

Club Football

The first tour game by an interstate club was in 1949 when Balmain Tigers, 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 professional rugby league was lost to WA. The next match 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]

National competition

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.

Debt, issues surrounding the Super League war and formation of the National Rugby League led to the club being wound-up 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 seasons 2008 & 2009, known as the WA Reds and played 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 next to bottom of the ladder winning only their opening game of the season. The 2011 season saw the young Reds side improve their credentials finishing 13/18 with 3 wins from 9 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 has been 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 but as yet seems further from implementation than when first conceived many due to the NRL officially stating that will be no further expansion until 2017 to shore up its financially weak structure.

WARL competitions

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).

Colours	Nickname	Club	District	Ground	Founded	Junior Association
First Grade (Premiership)
	Fremantle*	Roosters*	Fremantle	Treeby Sports Complex	1948	Southern Pride
	Joondalup*	Giants*	Joondalup	Admiral Reserve	1990	Northern Fusion
	North Beach*	Sea Eagles*	North Beach	Charles Riley Reserve	1951	Northern Fusion
	Rockingham*	Coastal Sharks*	Rockingham	Lark Hill Sports Complex	1988	South West Dolphins
	South Perth*	Lions*	South Perth	George Burnett Park	1948	Southern Pride
Reserve Grade (Val Murphy Trophy)
	Alkimos	Tigers	Eglinton	Amberton Playing Fields	2015	Northern Fusion
	Ellenbrook*	Rabbitohs*	Ellenbrook	Charlottes Vinyard Pavillion	2015	Northern Fusion
	Kalamunda	Bulldogs	Belmont	Hartfield Park	1949	Northern Fusion
	Willagee	Bears	Willagee	Webber Reserve	1962	Southern Pride
Third Grade
	Kwinana	Titans	Kwinana	Thomas Oval	2022	South West Dolphins
	Mandurah	Storm	Mandurah	Ocean Road Reserve	2013	South West Dolphins
	Serpentine-Jarrahdale	Serpents	Serpentine, Western Australia	Lark Hill Sportsplex	2023	South West Dolphins
Juniors
	Busselton	Broncos	Bussellton	Busselton Sportsmans Club	2017	South West Dolphins
	Bunbury	Titans	Bunbury	Hay Park Sports Complex	2017	South West Dolphins
	Dalyellup	Rhinos	Dalleyup	East Dalyellup Pavilion	2017	South West Dolphins
	Eaton	Panthers	Eaton	Eaton	2017	South West Dolphins
	Albany	Sea Dragons	Albany	Albany	2019	South West Dolphins

* Denotes currently fielding a First Grade Team in the Fuel to Go and Play Premiership

First Grade Premiers

Year	Club	Titles
1948	South Perth Lions	1
1949	Perth*	1
1950	Fremantle Roosters	1
1951	Perth*	2
1952	South Perth Lions	2
1953	South Perth Lions	3
1954	South Perth Lions	4
1955	Cottesloe Tigers*	1
1956	Victoria Park Butchers	1
1957	South Perth Lions	5
1958	South Perth Lions	6
1959	Victoria Park Butchers	2
1960	Victoria Park Butchers	3
1961	Fremantle Roosters	2
1962	Victoria Park Butchers	4
1963	Fremantle Roosters	3
1964	Applecross Jets*	1
1965	Applecross Jets*	2
1966	Applecross Jets*	3
1967	Applecross Jets*	4
1968	Victoria Park Butchers	5
1969	Applecross Jets*	5
1970	Applecross Jets*	6
1971	North Beach Sea Eagles	1
1972	Applecross Jets*	7
1973	South Perth Lions	7
1974	North Beach Sea Eagles	2
1975	South Perth Lions	8
1976	Fremantle Roosters	4
1977	Fremantle Roosters	5
1978	Canning Bulldogs	1
1979	Mosman-Cottesloe Tigers*	2
1980	North Beach Sea Eagles	3
1981	Fremantle/Mosman-Cottesloe*	6/3
1982	South Perth Lions	9
1983	South Perth Lions	10
1984	North Beach Sea Eagles	4
1985	South Perth Lions	11
1986	Applecross Jets*	8
1987	Belmont Steelers*	1
1988	Belmont Steelers*	2
1989	Belmont Steelers*	3
1990	Canning Bulldogs	2
1991	Canning Bulldogs	3
1992	Applecross Jets*	9
1993	Rockingham Raiders	1
1994	Canning Bulldogs	4
1995	Belmont Steelers*	4
1996	South Perth Lions	12
1997	Fremantle Roosters	7
1998	North Beach Sea Eagles	5
1999	Canning Bulldogs	5
2000	Joondalup Giants	1
2001	North Beach Sea Eagles	6
2002	South Perth Lions	13
2003	North Beach Sea Eagles	7
2004	South Perth Lions	14
2005	South Perth Lions	15
2006	North Beach Sea Eagles	8
2007	North Beach Sea Eagles	9
2008	South Perth Lions	16
2009	South Perth Lions	17
2010	South Perth Lions	18
2011	South Perth Lions	19
2012	North Beach Sea Eagles	10
2013	North Beach Sea Eagles	11
2014	South Perth Lions	20
2015	Fremantle Roosters	8
2016	North Beach Sea Eagles	12
2017	Fremantle Roosters	9
2018	Fremantle Roosters	10
2019	Fremantle Roosters	11
2020	Joondalup Giants	2
2021	North Beach Sea Eagles	13
2022	Fremantle Roosters	12
2023	North Beach Sea Eagles	14