General Information
Rugby league is a full-contact team sport, played with a prolate spheroid ball by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. Rugby league is one of the two codes of rugby football (the other being rugby union) and is arguably the most physically punishing of any team sport.
Today rugby league is most prominent in Australia, England, New Zealand, France and Papua New Guinea (where it is considered the national sport). It is also played professionally in Wales and the United States. New Zealand are the current World Cup holders. The game is played at a semi-professional and amateur level in several other countries, such as Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Ireland, Scotland, Russia, Lebanon, Germany, Japan, United States, Malta and Jamaica.
In Australia the national competition is known as the NRL (National Rugby League). The NRL is made up of 16 teams from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria & New Zealand. The season comprises 26 rounds of Home and Away fixtures followed by a series of finals fixtures featuring the top eight teams after the normal premiership rounds. The team that finishes on top of the ladder at the end of the home and away games is known as the Minor Premiers. The season ends with a Grand Final played between the last 2 teams left from the final series in a one off match to find the Premiership Winners.
The teams are: Brisbane Broncos, Bulldogs, Canberra Raiders, North Queensland Cowboys, Gold Coast Titans, Manly Sea-Eagles, Melbourne Storm, Newcastle Knights, Parramatta Eels, Penrith Panthers, Cronulla Sharks, South Sydney Rabbitohs, St George Illawarra Dragons, Sydney Roosters, New Zealand Warriors, West Tigers.
There is also a number of representative games and series throughout the year which include:
- City vs Country in a one off games
- New South Wales vs Queensland a series of 3 games known as State of Origin
- Australia vs New Zealand in an Anzac Test
- Australia, New Zealand & England in the Tri Nations series
- Other international matches which includes a Rugby League World Cup every 4 years
The UK Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition of Europe. The League features fourteen teams: twelve from England, one from Wales and one from France, which compete from February to October.
Teams include: Bradford Bulls, Castleford Tigers, Catalan Dragons, Celtic Crusaders, Harlequins Rugby Club, Huddersfield Giants, Hull FC, Hull Kingston Rovers, Leeds Rhinos, Salford City Reds, St Helens, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Warrington Wolves, Wigan Warriors
