National Rugby League reserves affiliations

The National Rugby League (NRL) is the top league of professional rugby league clubs in Australasia. Run by the Australian Rugby League Commission, however, there has not been a league-wide Reserve Grade competition since 1988, when the former New South Wales Rugby League expanded interstate to make the first attempt at a national competition, with the NRL Reserve Grade competition being shut down at the end of the 2002 season.

As a result, NRL-listed players who are not selected in their senior teams are made eligible to play in one of the second-tier state leagues: the New South Wales Cup or the Queensland Cup. The system used to accommodate NRL-listed players within these leagues varies considerably from state to state.

Current affiliations

In the 2024 season, the seventeen National Rugby League clubs will have the following reserves arrangements.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

NRL club	Reserves arrangement	Affiliated club	Affiliated league	Affiliated location
Brisbane Broncos	Club affiliation (split)	Burleigh Bears	Queensland Cup	Miami (Gold Coast), Qld
	Club affiliation (split)	Souths Logan Magpies	Queensland Cup	West End (Brisbane), Qld
	Club affiliation (split)	Wynnum Manly Seagulls	Queensland Cup	Manly West (Brisbane), QLD
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Stand-alone reserves team	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	New South Wales Cup	Belmore, NSW
	Club affiliation	Western Clydesdales[note 1]	Queensland Cup	Toowoomba, Qld
Canberra Raiders	Stand-alone reserves team	Canberra Raiders	New South Wales Cup	Canberra, ACT
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Club affiliation	Newtown Jets	New South Wales Cup	Marrickville (Sydney), NSW
Dolphins	Club affiliation (split)	Central Queensland Capras	Queensland Cup	Rockhampton, Qld
	Club affiliation (split)	Norths Devils	Queensland Cup	Nundah (Brisbane), Qld
	Club affiliation (split)	Redcliffe Dolphins	Queensland Cup	Moreton Bay, Qld
Gold Coast Titans	Club affiliation (split)	Ipswich Jets	Queensland Cup	Ipswich, Qld
	Club affiliation (split)	Tweed Heads Seagulls	Queensland Cup	Tweed Heads, NSW
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Club affiliation	Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles	New South Wales Cup	Arndell Park (Sydney), NSW
Melbourne Storm	Club affiliation (split)	Brisbane Tigers	Queensland Cup	Coorparoo (Brisbane), Qld
	Club affiliation (split)	Sunshine Coast Falcons	Queensland Cup	Kawana Waters (Sunshine Coast), Qld
	Club affiliation (split)	North Sydney Bears	New South Wales Cup	North Sydney, NSW
Newcastle Knights	Stand-alone reserves team	Newcastle Knights	New South Wales Cup	Newcastle, NSW
New Zealand Warriors	Stand-alone reserves team	New Zealand Warriors	New South Wales Cup	Auckland, New Zealand
North Queensland Cowboys	Club affiliation (split)	Mackay Cutters	Queensland Cup	Mackay, Qld
	Club affiliation (split)	Northern Pride	Queensland Cup	Cairns, Qld
Parramatta Eels	Stand-alone reserves team	Parramatta Eels	New South Wales Cup	Parramatta (Sydney), NSW
Penrith Panthers	Stand-alone reserves team	Penrith Panthers	New South Wales Cup	Penrith (Sydney), NSW
South Sydney Rabbitohs	Stand-alone reserves team	South Sydney Rabbitohs	New South Wales Cup	Redfern (Sydney), NSW
	Club affiliation	Townsville Blackhawks[note 2]	Queensland Cup	Townsville, Qld
St George Illawarra Dragons	Stand-alone reserves team	St George Illawarra Dragons	New South Wales Cup	Wollongong, NSW & Carlton (Sydney), NSW
Sydney Roosters	Stand-alone reserves team	Sydney Roosters	New South Wales Cup	Sydney, NSW
	Club affiliation	Ipswich Jets[note 3]	Queensland Cup	Ipswich, Qld
Wests Tigers	Stand-alone reserves team	Western Suburbs Magpies	New South Wales Cup	Leumeah (Sydney), NSW & Leichhardt (Sydney), NSW

• The PNG Hunters in the Queensland Cup are currently the only club in either state-based competition without an NRL affiliation.

Participating clubs by season

Bold=NSW Cup

Underline=Qld Cup

See also

• NSWRL Reserve Grade (1908 - 2002)

Notes

References

External links