Rugby League Cup

The Rugby League Cup is a New Zealand rugby league trophy that is contested between districts on a challenge basis. The trophy used to be known as the Northern Union Challenge Cup.^[1]

It is the oldest rugby league competition in New Zealand.^[2]

History

New Zealand rugby league was born with events such as the All Golds tour of England,^[3] and matches in Wellington and Auckland in 1908.^[4] John Coffey writes in Te Ara, "The Auckland Rugby League was formed in July 1909, and North Shore played City as the forerunner to an inter-club competition that started in 1910. By this time, league was also being played in Taranaki, Rotorua, Hawke’s Bay, Nelson, Marlborough and Southland."^[4]

The Cup was made in Bradford and donated to Auckland for inter-provincial competition by the touring 1910 Great Britain Lions.^[5]

The Cup was first contested in 1911, when Auckland successfully defended it four times.^[6] The Cup was held by Auckland until 1922.^[7]

Auckland are the current holders of the Cup after they defeated Canterbury in a one-off match on 4 June 2012.^{[needs update]} This was marked as a "centennial" match.^[8]

Past winners

Year by year

Year	Champions
1910	Auckland^[9]
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921	Auckland
1922	South Auckland
1923	South Auckland
1924	South Auckland
1925	South Auckland Auckland
1926	Auckland
1927	Auckland South Auckland
1928	South Auckland Auckland (June^[5])
1929	Auckland
1930	South Auckland
1931	North Auckland
1932	South Auckland
1933	West Coast
1934	West Coast Canterbury (18 August^[10])
1935	Canterbury
1936	Canterbury West Coast
1937	West Coast
1938	West Coast

Year	Champions
World War II
1946	West Coast
1947	West Coast Wellington^[11]
1948	Wellington^[11]
1949	Wellington^[11]
1950	Auckland
1951	Auckland
1952	Auckland Wellington Auckland
1953	Auckland
1954	Auckland
1955	Auckland West Coast Auckland
1956	Auckland
1957
1958
1959
1960	Auckland^[1] West Coast Auckland^[1]
1961	Auckland^[1]
1962	Auckland Canterbury West Coast^[1]
1963	West Coast Canterbury^[1]
1964	Canterbury Auckland^[1]
1965	Auckland^[1]
1966	Auckland^[1]
1967	Auckland
1968	Auckland West Coast Canterbury
1969	Renamed Rugby League Cup.^[11] Canterbury West Coast
1970	West Coast Canterbury

Year	Champions
1971	Canterbury Wellington West Coast
1972	West Coast
1973	West Coast
1974	West Coast Canterbury
1975	Canterbury Taranaki Waikato
1976	Waikato
1977	Taranaki
1978	Taranaki
1979	Taranaki
1980	Wellington Canterbury
1981	Canterbury
1982	Canterbury Wellington
1983	Wellington
1984	Wellington
1985	Wellington Taranaki^[12] Canterbury^[13]
1986	Canterbury Auckland
1987	Auckland
1988
1989
1990	Auckland Canterbury (29 April^[14]) Wellington
1991	Wellington Auckland Canterbury
1992	Canterbury Wellington (17 May^[15]) Canterbury

Year	Champions
1993	Canterbury^[16]
1994	Canterbury
1995	Canterbury Auckland
1996	Auckland
1997	Auckland Canterbury (June^[17]) Waikato (12 October^[17])
1998	Waikato
1999	Waikato Taranaki (24 April^[12])
2000	Taranaki Coastline^[18]
2001	Coastline^[18] Tasman^[19]
2002	Tasman Otago (8 September^[20])
2003	Otago
2004	Otago
2005	Gisborne Tairawhiti
2006	Gisborne Tairawhiti
2007	Gisborne Tairawhiti Hawke's Bay (15 September)^[6] Canterbury
2008	Canterbury Auckland (28 September)^[21]
2009	Auckland Canterbury (23 August)^[22]^[23]
2010	Canterbury
2011	Canterbury
2012	Auckland (4 June)^[24]^[25]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Rugby League Football An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. 1966
^ Coffey, John (5 September 2013). "Rugby league overview". Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand: 1.
^ Coffey, John (5 September 2013). "Origins of rugby league". Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand: 2.
^ ^a ^b Coffey, John (5 September 2013). "Arrival in New Zealand". Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand: 3.
^ ^a ^b Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4, p.39.
^ ^a ^b Bay crowned cup kings Hawke's Bay Today, 17 September 2007
^ Coffey, John (5 September 2013). "Domestic competition: Rugby League Cup". Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand: 5.
^ "Collection of rugby league programmes. 1950s, 1970, 2012". National Library of New Zealand.
^ "Representative Match/Auckland V Hawke's Bay". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LVI, no. 17235. 11 August 1911. p. 9. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
^ Coffey, John. Canterbury XIII, Christchurch, 1987.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d History Of Wellington Rugby League Association Wellington Rugby League
^ ^a ^b Sharks put bite on Waikato Cougars^{[dead link]} Taranaki Daily News, 26 April 1999
^ "FLASHBACK FRIDAY: CANTERBURY WINS 1985 RUGBY LEAGUE CUP (August 30, 2019)". Canterbury Rugby League – Home to the Canterbury Bulls.
^ Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1990 New Zealand Rugby League, 1990.
^ Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1992 New Zealand Rugby League, 1992. p.130
^ Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1993, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1993. p.137
^ ^a ^b Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4, p.317.
^ ^a ^b "Rugby League: Orcas give Mariners incentive for Challenge Cup". The New Zealand Herald. The Daily Post. 22 August 2001. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
^ Orcas fired up to retain league cup^{[dead link]} The Nelson Mail, 7 September 2002
^ Otago snatches cup from muddled Orcas ^{[dead link]} The Nelson Mail, 10 September 2002
^ Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4, p.357.
^ Bulls regain league cup The Press, 24 August 2009
^ Geoff Longley It's go the South Island, No Bull The Press, 4 June 2010
^ League cup match returns to spiritual home in June The Press, 17 March 2012
^ Auckland spoil Bulls coach's finale The Press, 5 June 2012