NRL Winners, Premiers and History - Who is the most successful club?
- List of the NRL champions and Grand Final results
- Lowdown on the history on the National Rugby League
- Who has won the most titles?
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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