# Harold Matthews Cup

The NSWRL Harold Matthews Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales between teams made up of players aged under 17. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The competition is made up of NSW-based clubs and includes both junior representative teams of the elite National Rugby League (NRL) and clubs that do not field teams in the NRL competition.
The competition is named after Harold Matthews, a Balmain Tigers secretary who later was appointed as manager of the Australian Test squad and later went on to become secretary of the NSWRL and ARL.
The competition was run as a knock-out tournament until 1991. From the 1992 onwards, the format has been a number of home-and-away rounds in which all teams compete, followed by a finals series.

## The clubs

In 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, 15 clubs fielded teams in the NSWRL UNE Harold Matthews Cup.
The New Zealand Warriors joined the competition in 2024, having previously fielded teams in the older age S.G. Ball Cup. The Melbourne Storm re-joined the Harold Matthews Cup in 2024, having previously fielded a team in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
* Balmain Tigers
* Canberra Raiders
* Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
* Central Coast Roosters
* Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
* Illawarra Steelers
* Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
* Melbourne Storm
* Newcastle Knights
* New Zealand Warriors
* North Sydney Bears
* Parramatta Eels
* Penrith Panthers
* South Sydney Rabbitohs
* St George Dragons
* Sydney Roosters
* Western Suburbs Magpies
In the 1970s and early 1980s the Harold Matthews Cup was played in a carnival format over three to five successive days. Teams from the country groups and regions competed alongside representative teams from the NSWRL clubs of Sydney. The competition later changed to a partial round-robin format.
Former teams in the Harold Matthews Cup include: Gold Coast Titans (2009), South-Western Sydney Academy of Sport (2008–16) and Western Sydney Academy of Sport (2007–17).
After the sixth round on 14 & 15 March, the 2020 competition was suspended and subsequently cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.

## Harold Matthews Cup Premiers
### Knock-Out Tournament

| Year | Age | Premiers | Runners Up |
| 1970 | | Parramatta Eels | |
| 1971 | | Parramatta Eels | |
| 1972 | | Parramatta Eels | |
| 1973 | | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | |
| 1974 | | South Sydney Rabbitohs | |
| 1975 | | Parramatta Eels | |
| 1976 | U14 | Parramatta Eels | |
| 1977 | U14 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | |
| 1978 | U14 | Canberra Rugby League (CRL) | Parramatta Eels |
| 1979 | U14 | Penrith Panthers | |
| 1980 | U14 | Group 12 (CRL) | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| 1981 | U14 | Parramatta Eels | |
| 1982 | U14 | Parramatta Eels | |
| 1983 | U14 | Group 6 Rugby League (CRL) | Penrith Panthers |
| 1984 | U14 | Canberra Raiders | Central Coast |
| 1985 | U14 | Penrith Panthers | |
| 1986 | U15 | Parramatta Eels | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| 1987 | U15 | Illawarra Steelers | Penrith Panthers |
| 1988 | U15 | Parramatta Eels | Penrith Panthers |
| 1989 | U15 | Penrith Panthers | Parramatta Eels |
| 1990 | U15 | Parramatta Eels | Gold Coast Seagulls |
| 1991 | U15 | Gold Coast Seagulls | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |

### Regular Season and Finals

From 1992 to 2002 and again since 2004, the Harold Matthews Cup has been run as a regular season — a series of home-and-away matches — followed by a final series. The number of rounds in the regular season is limited, with the limit being less than the number of teams. This means that each team plays some but not all of their opponents in the competition.
| Year | Age | Premiers | Score | Runners Up | Minor Premiers | Wooden Spoon |
| 1992 | U15 | Newcastle Knights | 16–12 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | | |
| 1993 | U15 | Canberra Raiders | 14–6 | Parramatta Eels | | |
| 1994 | U15 | Parramatta Eels | 19–18 | Penrith Panthers | | |
| 1995 | U15 | Canberra Raiders | 20–19 | Parramatta Eels | | |
| 1996 | U15 | Illawarra Steelers | 36–20 | Newcastle Knights | Newcastle Knights | Sydney Roosters |
| 1997 | U16 | Parramatta Eels | 28–10 | North Sydney Bears | Parramatta Eels | |
| 1998 | U16 | Parramatta Eels | 24–10 | Illawarra Steelers | Parramatta Eels | St. George Dragons |
| 1999 | U16 | Parramatta Eels | | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Parramatta Eels | Balmain Tigers |
| 2000 | U16 | Newcastle Knights | | Penrith Panthers | Newcastle Knights | Sydney Roosters |
| 2001 | U16 | Cronulla Sharks | 32–26 | Penrith Panthers | Parramatta Eels | Sydney Roosters |
| 2002 | U16 | Penrith Panthers | 38–0 | Newcastle Knights | Penrith Panthers | Manly Sea Eagles |
| 2003 | U15 | Parramatta Eels | 28–4 | St George Dragons | | |
| 2004 | U16 | Parramatta Eels | 18–16 | Penrith Panthers | Parramatta Eels | Wests Magpies |
| 2005 | U16 | Penrith Panthers | 38–10 | Illawarra Steelers | Illawarra Steelers | Newcastle Knights |
| 2006 | U16 | Penrith Panthers | 20–8 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Canterbury Bulldogs | North Sydney Bears |
| 2007 | U16 | Canterbury Bulldogs | 18–14 | Penrith Panthers | Canterbury Bulldogs | North Sydney Bears |
| 2008 | U16 | Parramatta Eels | 30–17 | Penrith Panthers | Penrith Panthers | South-West Academy |
| 2009 | U16 | Canterbury Bulldogs | 34–22 | Parramatta Eels | Canterbury Bulldogs | South-West Academy |
| 2010 | U16 | Penrith Panthers | 22–12 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Eels | South-West Academy |
| 2011 | U16 | Canterbury Bulldogs | 13–12 | Illawarra Steelers | Illawarra Steelers | North Sydney Bears |
| 2012 | U16 | Parramatta Eels | 39–32 | Newcastle Knights | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Sydney Roosters |
| 2013 | U16 | Parramatta Eels | 24–16 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | South Sydney Rabbitohs | South-West Academy |
| 2014 | U16 | Newcastle Knights | 34–4 | Penrith Panthers | Newcastle Knights | North Sydney Bears |
| 2015 | U16 | Cronulla Sharks | 30–16 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Eels | Sydney Roosters |
| 2016 | U16 | Parramatta Eels | 16–14 | Newcastle Knights | Parramatta Eels | South-West Academy |
| 2017 | U16 | Newcastle Knights | 26–20 | Manly Sea Eagles | Newcastle Knights | Wests Magpies |
| 2018 | U16 | Manly Sea Eagles | 26–18 | Parramatta Eels | Penrith Panthers | North Sydney Bears |
| 2019 | U16 | Newcastle Knights | 28–8 | Canterbury Bulldogs | Newcastle Knights | St George Dragons |
| 2020 | Season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | Season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | Season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | Season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | Season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | Season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 2021 | U17 | Manly Sea Eagles | 24–12 | Parramatta Eels | Manly Sea Eagles | Canberra Raiders |
| 2022 | U17 | Wests Magpies | 42–16 | Cronulla Sharks | Wests Magpies | Central Coast Roosters |
| 2023 | U17 | Canterbury Bulldogs | 32–6 | Newcastle Knights | Penrith Panthers | Manly Sea Eagles |
| 2024 | U17 | New Zealand Warriors | 34–16 | Wests Magpies | Canterbury Bulldogs | Balmain Tigers |

## Premiership Tally

| No. | Club | Seasons |
| 1 | Parramatta Eels | 20 (1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2016) |
| 2 | Penrith Panthers | 7 (1979, 1985, 1989, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010) |
| 3 | Newcastle Knights | 5 (1992, 2000, 2014, 2017, 2019) |
| 4 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 4 (2007, 2009, 2011, 2023) |
| 4 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 4 (1973, 1977, 2001, 2015) |
| 6 | Canberra Raiders | 3 (1984, 1993, 1995) |
| 7 | Illawarra Steelers | 2 (1987, 1996) |
| 7 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 2 (2018, 2021) |
| 9 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 1 (1974) |
| 9 | Canberra Rugby League (CRL) | 1 (1978) |
| 9 | Group 12 (Central Coast, CRL) | 1 (1980) |
| 9 | Group 6 (CRL) | 1 (1983) |
| 9 | Gold Coast Seagulls | 1 (1991) |
| 9 | Western Suburbs Magpies | 1 (2022) |
| 9 | New Zealand Warriors | 1 (2024) |
Bold means that the team is still currently plays in the competition.