25 Questions about Aussie Rugby League | Sports

Answer: 1977 and 1978

In 1977, St George and Parramatta drew 9-9 in the Grand Final with 65,959 in attendance. In the replay, St George defeated the Eels 22-0, with a crowd of 48,828. Again in 1978 there was a draw, this time between Manly-Warringah and Cronulla-Sutherland 11-11 was the score, with a crowd of 51,510 in attendance.

In the replay, the Sea Eagles defeated the Sharks 16-0, with a crowd of 33,552.

Answer: 1975

In 1975, the Roosters defeated St George 38-0 in the Grand Final.

Answer: St George

The St George Dragons (as they were) played in 20 Grand Finals (winning 14); the Sea Eagles had been involved in 15 Grand Finals (winning 7); the Bulldogs had been involved in 11 Grand Finals (winning 5); and the Parramatta Eels played 9 Grand Finals, winning four.

Answer: 1999

In 1999, a crowd of 107,558 witnessed the Storm defeat the Dragons 20-18. In 2000, a crowd of 94,277 watched the Broncos defeat the Roosters 14-6. In 2001, a crowd of 90,414 saw the Knights defeat the Eels, 30-24. Finally, in 2003, a crowd of 81,166 witnessed the Panthers defeat the Roosters, 18-6.

Answer: Newtown

The now defunct First Grade side, Newtown, finished as Minor Premiers in 1954 and 1955, but lost to Souths in the Grand Final, both times (Grand Finals became compulsory in 1954). In 1956, St George went from a team regularly in the top three, to win 11 consecutive Premierships from 1956 to 1966 inclusive.

Answer: Parramatta

The St George Dragons won an unbelievable 11 Premierships in a row from 1956 to 1966. The next best was the Parramatta Eels with a three Premiership winning streak from 1981 to 1983. The South Sydney Rabbitohs had won two Premierships in a row, three times, in 1954 and 1955, 1967 and 1968, and then 1970 and 1971.

The Brisbane Broncos had won two Premierships, twice in a row, in 1992 and 1993. The Canberra Raiders have also won two Premierships in a row, in 1989 and 1990. The Bulldogs also in 1984 and 1985.

The Sydney Roosters won in 1974 and 1975, and the Manly Sea Eagles in 1972 and 1973.

Answer: Dally Messenger

Herbert Henry 'Dally' Messenger was born in 1883 and died in 1959. 'The Master', as he was known, was a points-scoring machine. In 1911, he kicked 108 goals in 21 matches and scored 270 points, a record that stood until 1935. Messenger also has the remarkable distinction of having played for Sydney, New South Wales, Queensland, Australia, Newcastle, and New Zealand in his career.

Answer: 1955 and 1985

In 1955, Souths defeated Newtown 12-11, in what was a titanic struggle, and in 1985, Canterbury-Bankstown defeated St George 7-6.

Answer: North Queensland Cowboys

The NSWRL 'Expansion Clubs', who entered the League between 1982 and 1988 were, Brisbane, Canberra, the Gold Coast, Illawarra, and Newcastle. North Queensland, the 'Cowboys', came into the ARL national competition in 1995.

Answer: Cronulla

The Cronulla Sharks did not win a Premiership during those years (they were admitted to the NSWRL in 1967). In 1973, Cronulla-Sutherland made the Grand Final for the first time and played Manly-Warringah. It was only a scintillating performance from Bobby Fulton, that won the Sea Eagles a 10-7 thriller. Cronulla met the Sea Eagles again in 1978 in the Grand Final, with an 11-11 draw, followed by a 16-0 drubbing in the replay. Cronulla also played in the 1997 Super League decider with Brisbane winning 26-8. Balmain, Newcastle, and Penrith all won Premierships during those years: Newcastle Knights in 1997, Penrith in 1991, Balmain Tigers (as they were) in 1969.

Answer: St George and Illawarra

The St George Illawarra Dragons were formed after the 1998 NRL season, by combining the St George Dragons and the Illawarra Steelers. The first ever joint venture was a rationalisation toward a 14 team competition.

Answer: Northern Eagles

The Northern Eagles were the joint venture taken up by North Sydney and Manly, which is now defunct. The Hunter Mariners, the South Queensland Crushers, and Perth, all lost out in the rationalisation of the League, but, the Melbourne Storm were included for 1998. Ninety seasons after rugby league was first played in Australia, the dream of a team in Melbourne was finally realised.

Answer: Cronulla

In 1968, the Cronulla-Sutherland moved permanently to Endeavour Field and became the only Sydney club to own their own ground. The first match held at Endeavour Field, was against Parramatta and Cronulla won 10-7.

Answer: Parramatta

The Wests Tigers were formed as a joint venture club between Western Suburbs (Magpies) and Balmain (Tigers) in mid-1999. But, it was mooted prior to this merge that Balmain would merge with Parramatta and Western Suburbs, and that the Magpies would merge with Canterbury.

However, the two clubs decided they had a lot in common with each other, resulting in the birth of the Wests Tigers. The name and logo were a combination of the two, and the colours were black and white (from Western Suburbs) and gold (from Balmain).

Answer: Adelaide Rams

The defunct Adelaide Rams played two trial games in 1996. They lost to Canberra in Fiji and defeated Perth in Darwin. In the Super League Competition of 1997, the Rams won over the Hunter Mariners, and beat Cronulla at Shark Park 29-18, and even beat Penrith twice.

Answer: Reds

The South Queensland Crushers, the Brisbane Broncos, the Gold Coast Seagulls, the North Queensland Cowboys, and the Gold Coast Chargers, leap to mind when thinking of Queensland teams. The Western Reds were from Perth.

Answer: Perth Pumas

In December 1992, the NSWRL announced that the Perth Pumas (later changed to the Western Reds) would debut in 1995. In 1997, the Western Reds competed in Super League as Perth Super League. The Perth side was closed down at the completion of the 1997 Rugby League season.

Answer: 1982

Newcastle had the opportunity to join the Premiership in 1982, but the move was voted against. In April 1987, however, Newcastle was granted entry into the Premiership for the following season. The club adopted the name, 'Newcastle Knights', as a reference to its steel city heritage and their colours, red and blue, were adopted from the local representative side that wore red jerseys, white shorts, and blue socks.

Answer: Illawarra

Illawarra became the first club since Cronulla in 1973 to win a semi-final at their first attempt, after defeating St George 18-16, in 1992.

Answer: Parramatta

Parramatta won Grand Finals in 1981, defeating Newtown 20-11; in 1982, defeating Manly-Warringah 21-8; in 1983, again defeating the Sea Eagles, 18-6; and in 1986, defeating Canterbury-Bankstown 4-2 (which set a new mark for the lfewest points scored by both teams in a Grand Final).Canterbury-Bankstown also won 4 Grand Finals finals during the 1980s: in 1980, the Bulldogs defeated the Roosters 18-4; in 1984, the Bulldogs defeated the Eels 6-4; in 1985, the Bulldogs defeated St George 7-6; and in 1988, the Bulldogs defeated Balmain 24-12.

Answer: 1978

The 1978 season saw the club become the 'Bulldogs'. The 'Berries', as they were previously known, had their home at Belmore Oval with a grandstand that came from the SCG. It had been demolished to make way for the M A Noble Stand, and had been removed brick by brick to Belmore.

Answer: Blue

Up until the 1960s, the Penrith side were known as the Waratahs and wore a sky blue jersey. In 1964, Penrith became the Panthers, and had to change their blue jersey after Cronulla were first to register a blue jersey to play in, in First Grade. With Newtown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Eastern Suburbs, and Parramatta in varying shades of blue, Penrith chose a chocolate brown jersey with a white V for their entry into the League in 1967.

Answer: Warrigals

Canberra had no name until the media referred to them as the 'Raiders'. Names in contention had included the Senators, the Capitols, and the Warrigals, but the new club wanted to steer clear of animal names, and the 'Raiders' was given the go-ahead.

Answer: 1970s

In the 1970s, Parrmatta adopted the Eels name after a suggestion by a Sydney journalist, Peter Frilingos, who pointed out that the aboriginal meaning of the word 'parramatta', was a 'place where the eels lie down' or 'place where eels are found'(a reference to the nearby Parramatta River).

Answer: 1995

The Sydney City Roosters, originally founded as Eastern Subursb in January 1908, used the red, white, and blue colours of the then local rugby union club. The club changed their jersey, basing the on a French jersey. They became known as the 'Roosters' because of the cock badge displayed on the French jerseys.