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.

Illawarra Division Rugby League
SportRugby league
Instituted1911
Inaugural season1911
Number of teams7
Country Australia
Premiers Collegians (2019)
Most titles Port Kembla (24 titles)
WebsiteIllawarra Rugby League

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".[1][2] 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

Firsts and Reserves

In 2018, Seven clubs shall field teams in the First and Second Grade:


Berkeley Eagles
Berkeley, NSW
Ground: Berkeley Sports Ground
First season: 1955
Collegians
North Wollongong, NSW
Ground: University Oval
First season: 1933
Corrimal Cougars
Corrimal, NSW
Ground: Robert Ziems Park
First season: 1912
Dapto Canaries
Dapto, NSW
Ground: Dapto Showground
First season: 1911
Helensburgh Tigers
Helensburgh, NSW
Ground: Rex Jackson Oval
First season: 1911
Thirroul Butchers
Thirroul, NSW
Ground: Thomas Gibson Oval
First season: 1913
Western Suburbs Red Devils
Unanderra, NSW
Ground: Sid Parrish Park
First season:1949

.

Former clubs

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.

Season Grand Final Information Minor Premiers
Premiers Score Runners-Up Report
1911 Wollongong 5-5 Mt. Keira IM[3] Wollongong
1912 Berkeley (Unanderra) 11-0 Mt. Keira IM[4]
1913 Wollongong 10-5 Mt. Keira Wollongong
1914 Unanderra 5-3 Wollongong IM[5]
1915 Unanderra IM[6]
1916–1918 - No competition due to World War I
1919 Unanderra 8-5 Wollongong IM[7]
1920 Wollongong Wollongong
1921 Wollongong 5-3 Port Kembla IM[8]
1922 Port Kembla 0-0 Wollongong IM[9]
1922 Port Kembla 5-3 Wollongong IM[10]
1923 Port Kembla 3-0 Wollongong IM[11]
1924 Port Kembla 22-13 Wollongong (Glebe) IM[12]
1925 Gerringong 9-8 Port Kembla SCT[13]
1926 Wollongong (Glebe) 13-7 Mt. Keira IM[14]
1927 Port Kembla 2-0 Wollongong (Glebe) IM[15] Port Kembla
1928 Port Kembla 10-6 Mt. Keira IM[16] Port Kembla
1929 Wollongong Forfeit Port Kembla IM[17] Wollongong
1930 Wollongong 13-6 Port Kembla IM[18] Port Kembla
1931 Wollongong 31-14 Thirroul IM[19] Wollongong
1932 Wollongong 5-4 Mt. Keira SCT[20]
1933 Wests 17-17 Wollongong IM[21] Wests
1933 Wests 16-11 Wollongong IM[22]
1934 Port Kembla 8-6 West Wollongong IM[23] West Wollongong
1935 Port Kembla 15-8 Wests IM[24] Port Kembla
1936 Mount Kembla 12-8 Port Kembla IM[25] Port Kembla
1937 Port Kembla 41-10 Wollongong IM[26] Port Kembla
1938 Port Kembla 18-5 Mount Kembla IM[27] Port Kembla
1939 SG Mount Kembla 26-15 Port Kembla IM[28] Mount Kembla
1939 Mount Kembla 0-0 Corrimal IM[29] Corrimal
1939 Mount Kembla 8-2 Corrimal IM[30] Corrimal
1940 Thirroul 4-3 Corrimal IM[31] Thirroul
1941 Port Kembla 24-7 Corrimal
1942 Port Kembla 17-9 Collegians (CBC) IM[32] Port Kembla
1943 Port Kembla 16-5 Port Kembla IM[33] Wollongong
1944 Port Kembla 30-8 Thirroul IM[34] Port Kembla
1945 Wollongong 5-2 Port Kembla IM[35]
1946 Port Kembla 19-14 Wollongong IM[36]
1947 Wollongong 21-8 Port Kembla IM[37] Port Kembla
1948 Corrimal 22-7 Port Kembla IM[38] Port Kembla
1949 Port Kembla 20-9 Wollongong IM[39] Wollongong
1950 Wollongong 9-6 Port Kembla IM[40] Port Kembla
1951 Wollongong 15-11 Corrimal IM[41] Corrimal
1952 Northern Suburbs 18-5 Port Kembla IM[42] Northern Suburbs
1953 Port Kembla 10-7 Northern Suburbs IM[43] Port Kembla
1954 Thirroul 20-7 Port Kembla IM[44] Thirroul
1955 Port Kembla 20-7 Wollongong IM[45] Port Kembla
1956 Port Kembla 14-9 Wollongong IM[46] Wollongong
1957 Wests 22-6 Wollongong
1958 Port Kembla 10-8 Wests
1959 Wests 12-6 Northern Suburbs
1960 Northern Suburbs 10-5 Port Kembla IM[47] Port Kembla
1961 Northern Suburbs 10-2 Wollongong
1962 Port Kembla 10-9 Northern Suburbs IM[48] Northern Suburbs
1963 Port Kembla 13-0 Northern Suburbs IM[49] Port Kembla
1964 Wollongong 23-5 Port Kembla IM[50] Wollongong
1965 Port Kembla 6-4 Wollongong Collegians
1966 Dapto 13-6 Collegians Collegians
1967 Collegians 12-4 Port Kembla Collegians
1968 Dapto 17-11 Port Kembla IM[51] Port Kembla
1969 Wests 11-2 Port Kembla Port Kembla
1970 Wests 12-4 Dapto IM[52] Thirroul
1971 Wests 18-11 Thirroul
1972 Wests 23-9 Thirroul
1973 Thirroul 8-6 Wests
1974 Corrimal 22-8 Wollongong IM[53] Wollongong
1975 Dapto 15-2 Thirroul
1976 Dapto 22-6 Corrimal
1977 Dapto 18-5 Port Kembla Wests
1978 Wests 17-13 Port Kembla Wests
1979 Dapto 22-3 Wests IM[54] Wests
1980 Wests 6-0 Port Kembla
1981 Wests 22-0 Corrimal
1982 Dapto 15-12 Corrimal Corrimal
1983 Dapto 23-10 Wests Wests
1984 Wests 24-4 Helensburgh IM[55] Wests
1985 Dapto 40-4 Collegians IM[56] Dapto
1986 Helensburgh 8-6 Collegians IM[57] Collegians
1987 Collegians 16-2 Wests IM[58] Thirroul
1988 Helensburgh 20-16 Collegians IM[59] Collegians
1989 Wests 13-12 Corrimal Corrimal
1990 Dapto 28-2 Collegians
1991 Wests 14-12 Dapto Wests
1992 Dapto 28-6 University IM[60] Dapto
1993 Helensburgh 22-8 Wests Helensburgh
1994 Dapto 22-14 Wests IM[61]
1995 Thirroul 23-22 Wests Thirroul
1996 Collegians 11-2 Thirroul Collegians
1997 Collegians 32-16 Dapto IM[62]
1998 Collegians 34-10 University IM[63]
1999 Thirroul 40-12 Collegians
2000 Dapto 30-14 Thirroul Dapto
2001 Dapto 18-12 Thirroul Collegians
2002 Dapto 20-16 Collegians Collegians
2003 Thirroul 28-22 Dapto RLW Thirroul
2004 Collegians 10-4 Thirroul Collegians
2005 Collegians 16-14 Wests Collegians
2006 Dapto 34-14 Thirroul Dapto
2007 Collegians 20-18 Dapto Dapto
2008 Thirroul 16-12 Collegians Thirroul
2009 Wests 14-4 Thirroul Wests
2010 Wests 24-0 Thirroul Wests
2011 Wests 34-24 Helensburgh Wests
2012 Thirroul 20-16 Wests TB[64] Wests
2013 Collegians 29-28 Helensburgh Collegians
2014 Thirroul 18-16 Helensburgh IM[65] VH[66] Thirroul
2015 Helensburgh 16-10 Wests VH[67] Helensburgh
2016 Dapto 28-16 Wests VH[68] Dapto
2017 Collegians 22-14 Dapto IM[69] VH[70] Dapto
2018 Wests 18-16 Thirroul VH[71] Wests
2019 Collegians 16-14 Wests IM[72] VH[73] Thirroul

Women's Opens Premiership
Season Grand Final Information Minor Premiers
Premiers Score Runners-Up Report
2012 Helensburgh Wests Wests
2014 Helensburgh 42-6 Port Kembla VH[74] Helensburgh
2015 Corrimal 20-16 Helensburgh VH[75] Corrimal
2016 Helensburgh 24-10 Corrimal VH[76] Berkeley
2017 Corrimal 24-0 Berkeley VH[77] Corrimal
2018 Corrimal 28-0 Helensburgh VH[78] Corrimal
2019 Corrimal 18-8 Helensburgh VH[79] Helensburgh

Third Grade (Shield) Competition

The Illawarra District Rugby League runs a "Third Grade" competition featuring Predominately Second Division (Village Clubs) mixed with Third Grade teams from the Illawarra:

Club Status Homeground
Avondale Village Reed Park, Dapto
Corrimal Cougars Third Grade Ziems Park, Corrimal
Mount Kembla Village Mt. Kembla Oval, Mount Kembla
Northern Suburbs Village Jim Allen Oval, Wombarra
North Wollongong Surf Village University Oval, Wollongong
Wests Third Grade Parrish Park, Figtree
Windang Village Boronia Oval, Windang

See also

References
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