Country Rugby League

The Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL), formed in 1934 and disbanded in 2019, was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in areas of New South Wales outside the Sydney metropolitan area until it merged with NSW Rugby League in 2019. The CRL was superseded by 6 NSWRL Country Divisions represented by 4 members of the nine-person NSWRL board. Despite its name, the CRL also governed rugby league in the Australian Capital Territory. Apart from selecting a Country Origin side to play in the annual City vs Country Origin game, the CRL administered many senior and junior competitions across the state.
In New South Wales, Newcastle was the first city outside Sydney to start a league competition, despite being involved in the Sydney Premiership in 1908–09 and then starting their own competition in 1910.
On 11 February 1911, the Hunter District Rugby Football League (HDRFL) was established at a large meeting in Maitland, thus becoming the first branch of the New South Wales Rugby League in "the bush" (i.e. outside the urban centres of Sydney and Newcastle). The HDRFL territory encompassed a lower part of the Hunter Valley from Singleton down to the Maitland district and towns on the nearby coalfields (the major ones being Cessnock, Kurri Kurri and Weston). Competition games were scheduled to kick off on 13 May but were pushed back to 20 May when clubs complained they had not had enough time to practice the new code. In the first senior-grade games played, West Maitland defeated Kurri Kurri (12–0) and Cessnock defeated Morpeth (23–0) in a double-header on the enclosed Albion Ground at Maitland.
On 13 May 1911, another branch of the NSWRL was established in the Wollongong area, the Illawarra Rugby League. A Goldfields' League was formed in West Wyalong, and games were played in Tamworth, Aberdeen, and along the South Coast. The game was introduced to Orange in 1912 and spread quickly through the western districts. In 1913 branch leagues were formed at Bathurst, Dubbo, Nowra and Tamworth.
In 1920, the NSWRL set up a Country Committee. NSW Country was divided into six sections: South Coast, Northern Districts, Central Northern Districts, Western Districts, Southern, and North Coast. The group system was introduced in 1922, with neighbouring towns being organised into 12 groups.
The Country Rugby League (CRL) was officially formed in 1934, "subject to the NSW Rugby League still being the paramount institution." In 1939 a dispute arose between the CRL and the NSWRL. The CRL wanted a new administration structure, an equal partnership in which the NSWRL looked after league in Sydney, and the CRL looked after it in the bush. When their proposal was rejected the CRL broke away from the NSWRL for a week, but returned to the fold with a promise that a committee would be set up to sort things out. Eventually the CRL gave in on the grounds that it was in no one's best interests to have the game divided during World War II.
The NSWRL and CRL have since cooperated in the running of rugby league in NSW, including various 'joint ventures' such as the Ron Massey Cup which features three teams from areas under the control of the CRL.
On 24 August 2018, the NSWRL and CRL announced that they had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to begin formal discussions in relation to a possible merger of the two organisations, and a single body governing all rugby league in the state for the first time in more than 80 years. In 19 October 2019 the organisations merged after the NSWRL agreed a new constitution and the CRL, over a year ahead of time.
The CRL selected the Country New South Wales rugby league team from its inception in 2011. The first City versus Country match (advertised as such by the NSWRL in the Sydney Morning Herald of 10/6/1911) was played at the Sydney Agricultural Ground on that same Saturday. City won 29–8 with a team composed exclusively of players from the Newcastle ("Northern") and the Hunter competitions.
The first NSW Country team to tour was a squad of 17 players (12 from Newcastle and 5 from Hunter) that was unbeaten in four matches. The team played three matches in Queensland between 5/8/1911 and 12/8/1911, defeating Queensland twice and a Queensland Country representative side once. They then travelled to Sydney to play the Sydney Metropolitan team, again winning 31–24.
Both sides were originally made up of the best players playing in the Country Rugby League and the Sydney-based NSWRL Premiership. However, the increasing drain of players from rural areas to the NSWRL clubs led to the City side becoming increasingly dominant and the Country side uncompetitive.
On 21 November 2016, the NRL announced that the City versus Country annual match would be scrapped, with the 2017 match to be the final edition. The fixture would be revived without NRL participation in 2021, with players selected entirely from NSWRL competitions.
The first ever country divisional match (described as such in the Maitland Daily Mercury of 31/7/1911) was played at Newcastle on 29/7/1911 between Newcastle and Hunter, the home side winning 29–14.
The CRL administered the following senior competitions:
* = Top-level Country leagues; Premiers eligible for Clayton Cup as best regional team in the state.
Major leagues in bold.
In 2008, rugby league football's centenary year in Australia, the Country Rugby League named its 'Team of the Century':