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NRL Winners, Premiers and History - Who is the most successful club?

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Last updated: 02 Oct 2023
Freetips staff 02 Oct 2023
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  • List of the NRL champions and Grand Final results
  • Lowdown on the history on the National Rugby League
  • Who has won the most titles?
The Penrith Panthers won the 2023 NRL Grand Final (Getty Images)
The Penrith Panthers won the 2023 NRL Grand Final (Getty Images)

South Sydney defeated Eastern Suburbs 14-12 to become the first Premiers in the New South Wales Rugby League in 1908 and the sport has had a rich history ever since.

The latest Premiers are the Penrith Panthers, with the side beating the Brisbane Broncos in a pulsating 26-24 win in the Grand Final in 2023. 

The NRL is the biggest rugby league competition in the world and is one of the most watched sports in Australia and New Zealand.

What club has won the most NRL Premierships?


The most successful club in Australian Rugby League history is the South Sydney Rabbitohs who have won 21 titles. The St George Dragons won 15 titles and hold the record for the most consecutive titles; 11 from 1956 to 1966.

Eastern Suburbs / Sydney Roosters are next best with 15 with the Balmain Tigers winning on 11 occasions. The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are tied on eight each with the Brisbane Broncos winning six NRL premierships since 1992.

The Dolphins, Gold Coast Titans and New Zealand Warriors are the only current competing clubs never to have won an NRL Premiership.

NRL Winners & Grand Final Results


Season
Winners
Runners-Up
Grand Final Score
2024 TBD TBD TBD
2023 Penrith Panthers Brisbane Broncos 26-24
2022 Penrith Panthers Paramatta Eels 28-12
2021 Penrith Panthers South Sydney Rabbitohs 14-12
2020 Melbourne Storm Penrith 26-20
2019 Sydney Roosters Canberra 14-8
2018 Sydney Roosters Melbourne 21-6
2017 Melbourne North Queensland 34-6
2016 Cronulla-Sutherland Melbourne 14-12
2015 North Queensland Brisbane 17-16 (aet)
2014 South Sydney Canterbury-Bankstown 30-6
2013 Sydney Roosters Manly 26-18
2012 Melbourne Canterbury-Bankstown 14-4
2011 Manly New Zealand 24-10
2010 St. George-Illawarra Sydney Roosters 32-8
2009 Melbourne Parramatta 23-16
2008 Manly Melbourne 40-0
2007 Melbourne Manly 34-8
2006 Brisbane Melbourne 15-8
2005 Wests Tigers North Queensland 30-16
2004 Canterbury-Bankstown Sydney Roosters 16-13
2003 Penrith Sydney Roosters 18-6
2002 Sydney Roosters New Zealand 30-8
2001 Newcastle Parramatta 30-24
2000 Brisbane Sydney Roosters 14-6
1999 Melbourne St. George-Illawarra 20-18
1998 Brisbane Canterbury-Bankstown 38-12
1997 Newcastle Manly 22-16
1997 (SL) Brisbane Cronulla-Sutherland 26-8
1996 Manly Sea Eagles St. George 20-8
1995 Canterbury-Bankstown Manly 17-4
1994 Canberra Canterbury-Bankstown 36-12
1993 Brisbane St. George 14-6
1992 Brisbane St. George 28-8
1991 Penrith Canberra 19-12
1990 Canberra Penrith 18-14
1989 Canberra Balmain 19-14 (aet)
1988 Canterbury-Bankstown Balmain 24-12
1987 Manly Canberra 18-8
1986 Parramatta Canterbury-Bankstown 4-2
1985 Canterbury-Bankstown St. George 7-6
1984 Canterbury-Bankstown Parramatta 6-4
1983 Parramatta Manly 18-6
1982 Parramatta Manly 21-8
1981 Parramatta Newtown 20-11
1980 Canterbury-Bankstown Eastern Suburbs 18-4
1979 St. George Canterbury-Bankstown 17-13
1978 Manly Cronulla-Sutherland 16-0
1977 St. George Parramatta 22-0
1976 Manly Parramatta 13-10
1975 Eastern Suburbs St. George 38-0
1974 Eastern Suburbs Canterbury-Bankstown 19-4
1973 Manly Cronulla-Sutherland 10-7
1972 Manly Eastern Suburbs 19-14
1971 South Sydney St. George 16-10
1970 South Sydney Manly 23-12
1969 Balmain South Sydney 11-2
1968 South Sydney Manly 13-9
1967 South Sydney Canterbury-Bankstown 12-10
1966 St. George Balmain 23-4
1965 St. George South Sydney 12-8
1964 St. George Balmain 11-6
1963 St. George Western Suburbs 8-3
1962 St. George Western Suburbs 9-6
1961 St. George Western Suburbs 22-0
1960 St. George Eastern Suburbs 31-6
1959 St. George Manly 20-0
1958 St. George Western Suburbs 20-9
1957 St. George Manly 31-9
1956 St. George Balmain 18-12
1955 South Sydney Newtown 12-11
1954 South Sydney Newtown 23-15
1953 South Sydney St. George 31-12
1952 Western Suburbs South Sydney 22-12
1951 South Sydney Manly 42-14
1950 South Sydney Western Suburbs 21-15
1949 St. George South Sydney 19-12
1948 Western Suburbs Balmain 8-5
1947 Balmain Canterbury-Bankstown 13-9
1946 Balmain St. George 13-12
1945 Eastern Suburbs Balmain 22-18
1944 Balmain Newtown 12-8
1943 Newtown North Sydney 34-7
1942 Canterbury-Bankstown St. George 11-9
1941 St. George Eastern Suburbs 31-14
1940 Eastern Suburbs Canterbury-Bankstown 24-14
1939 Balmain South Sydney 33-4
1938 Canterbury-Bankstown Eastern Suburbs 19-6
1937 Eastern Suburbs South Sydney N/A
1936 Eastern Suburbs Balmain 32-12
1935 Eastern Suburbs South Sydney 19-3
1934 Western Suburbs Eastern Suburbs 15-12
1933 Newtown St. George 18-5
1932 South Sydney Western Suburbs 19-12
1931 South Sydney Eastern Suburbs 12-7
1930 Western Suburbs St. George 27-2
1929 South Sydney Newtown 30-10
1928 South Sydney Eastern Suburbs 26-5
1927 South Sydney St. George 20-11
1926 South Sydney Cumberland 11-5
1925 South Sydney Western Suburbs N/A
1924 Balmain South Sydney 3-0
1923 Eastern Suburbs South Sydney 15-12
1922 North Sydney Glebe 35-3
1921 North Sydney Eastern Suburbs N/A
1920 Balmain South Sydney N/A
1919 Balmain Eastern Suburbs N/A
1918 South Sydney Western Suburbs N/A
1917 Balmain South Sydney N/A
1916 Balmain South Sydney 5-3
1915 Balmain Glebe N/A
1914 South Sydney Newtown N/A
1913 Eastern Suburbs Newtown N/A
1912 Eastern Suburbs Glebe N/A
1911 Eastern Suburbs Glebe 11-8
1910 Newtown South Sydney 4-4
1909 South Sydney Balmain Forfeit
1908 South Sydney Eastern Suburbs 14-12

NRL History 


The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) ran the major rugby league competition in NSW from 1908 to 1994. The State of Origin series in the 1980s initiated an expansion of the NSWRL premiership with the addition of Canberra and Illawarra in 1982.

Further expansion occurred in 1988 with three more teams based outside Sydney; the Newcastle Knights, Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast-Tweed Giants.

In 1995 control of the competition passed from the NSWRFL to the Australian Rugby League (ARL). What followed was a bitter battle for control of the game which culminated in the Super League war. 

News Limited formed their own Super League and the ARL announced it was forming a new company to organise the competition. In 1998 the disputes were finally settled with the formation of the National Rugby League which was jointly owned by the ARL and News Limited.

The inaugural National Rugby League (NRL) season in 1998 consisted of 20 teams. Clubs that didn’t survive the merger were the Hunter Mariners, Perth Reds, South Queensland Crushers, Adelaide Rams and the Gold Coast Chargers.

The competition was reduced to 14 teams in 2000 which resulted in mergers. The St. George Dragons and the Illawarra Steelers were the first clubs to merge and became the St. George Illawarra Dragons at the end of the 1998 season.

Balmain and Western Suburbs formed the Wests Tigers at the end of 1999, with North Sydney and Manly Warringah joining forces as the Northern Eagles. South Sydney Rabbitohs were controversially dumped from the competition at the end of 1999 for failing to meet the criteria which created another division in the game.

On 12 November 2000, almost 80,000 people marched in protest and South Sydney challenged the decision in the Federal Court. Souths were eventually re-admitted into the competition in 2002.

The Auckland Warriors collapsed as an organisation before being reborn as the New Zealand Warriors in 2001. The Warriors made the 2002 and 2011 Grand Finals where they lost on both occasions.

In 2001, telecommunications company Telstra bought the naming rights with the competition becoming the NRL Telstra Premiership. In 2003 the Manly Warringah Rugby League Football Club took over the NRL licence from the doomed Northern Eagles franchise after the financial bankruptcy of North Sydney.

The NRL competition experienced significant growth with crowd average records broken in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The 2006 NRL Grand Final was a milestone with two interstate teams contesting the grand final for the first time where the Brisbane Broncos defeated the Melbourne Storm 15-8.

In 2007 the Gold Coast Titans were admitted into the competition. Throughout 2008 the NRL celebrated 100 years since the introduction of rugby league into Australia and on 17 April 2008 the Team of the Century was announced, consisting of:

Full-back: Clive Churchill
Wingers: Ken Irvine, Brian Bevan
Centres: Reg Gasnier, Mal Meninga
Five-eighth: Wally Lewis
Half-back: Andrew Johns
Lock: John Raper
Second Row: Norm Provan, Ron Coote
Props: Arthur Beetson, Duncan Hall
Hooker: Noel Kelly
Reserves: Graeme Langlands, Dally Messenger, Bob Fulton, Frank Burge
Coach: Jack Gibson

In 2010 the Inaugural All Stars Match was held in conjunction with the Sorry Day reconciliation anniversary. It features an Aboriginal team called the Indigenous All Stars who compete against the NRL All Stars. It has been a tremendous success and is now a permanent fixture on the rugby league calendar.

In 2010 the NRL set a record total season average attendance of 17,367 per game and a record total season aggregate attendance of 3,490,778.

In 2012 the Australian Rugby League Commission assumed full control of all levels of the game.

The 2014 season started with the introduction of the Auckland Nines tournament. The 2014 Grand Final saw the South Sydney Rabbitohs break their 43-year premiership drought with a 30-6 victory over the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs. The 2016 saw the Cronulla Sharks defeat the Melbourne Storm 14-12 in the Grand Final to claim their first premiership in history, ending a 49-year drought. 

A national women's league was established in 2017 after the successful 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup. The first season started in September 2018 comprising four clubs aligned to existing NRL clubs.

In 2019 the Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back NRL Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 and 1993 when they defeated the Canberra Raiders 14-8 in the 2019 NRL Grand Final.

The 2020 NRL season was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic which was formally declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020, one day prior to the start of the season. Matches were played in empty stadiums for the first time in NRL history. Crowds returned by the time the Melbourne Storm were crowned champions.

The Penrith Panthers have since dominated in the NRL, triumphing in the Grand Finals in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons. 

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