Illawarra Rugby League
The Illawarra Rugby League is a rugby league competition in Wollongong, NSW. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1911 with five clubs (Dapto, Helensburgh, Mount Keira, Unanderra and Wollongong).. The area provides a nursery of juniors for the Illawarra Steelers and St George Illawarra Dragons. The season is contested by seven teams and concludes with a finals series involving the top four teams. History. Only the Northern parts of the Illawarra have traditionally been included in this competition, with teams further south playing in Group 7. However, Shellharbour's decision  in 2009 to field a team in the NSW Cup was coupled with a decision to play in the Illawarra Rugby League as well, blurring the boundary between the two competitions. Other Group 7 clubs are fielding teams in the lower leagues of Illawarra competitions and there's a possibility the two competitions may merge. The Illawarra Division is one of the strongest, along with Newcastle, local competition in New South Wales. The league features many former and current NRL players and also National Youth Competition players. The Illawarra Division Senior representative team are two-time National Country champions and  have won the Country Rugby League championships consistently. The Division also supplies players to the NSWRL Harold Matthews and SG Ball Cup competitions. On 21 July 2011, whilst celebrating their centenary, Illawarra Rugby League announced their "Team of the Century". Immortals Graeme Langlands and Bob Fulton featured at fullback and five-eighth respectively, as well as Harry Wells at centre. The entire team follows: Teams. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia the commencement of Illawarra 2020 season was postponed. Due to financial considerations, Collegians decided not to field senior teams and the IRL took a decision NOT to run  a First Grade competition in 2020. Three clubs – Helensburgh, Thirroul and Wests – elected to enter their highest grade team in NSWRL competitions. Delayed and restructured, IRL competition matches began on 25 July 2020. The following table lists the clubs and the teams they fielded in the 2019 and 2020 senior competitions: 1st Grade, Reserve Grade (2nd), Division 2 (Div2), Under 18s (U18), Women's tackle (Wom), Women's Under 18 (WU18), Ladies League Tag (LLT), Open Age, NSWRL President's Cup (PC) and Sydney Shield (SS). Former clubs. First Grade. Clubs with at least one season in 1st Grade Lower  Grades only. Clubs or teams that participated in two or more seasons are listed below. Participants in the Amateur Rugby League (1982–87) are included. First Grade Premiers. Tip: To view original newspaper articles on matches up to 1954, hover over the blue number in the Reports column and then click on the article name. That will open the article in Trove.