List of teams in the NSWRL/ARL/SL/NRL

This is a complete list of clubs that have competed in Australia's first-grade rugby league football competition, which began with the establishment of the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) in 1908.

Background

The NSWRFL (which became the New South Wales Rugby League, or NSWRL, in the 1980s) administered the competition until the end of the 1994 season. In 1995, governance shifted to the newly formed Australian Rugby League (ARL).

In 1997, a rival competition, the Super League, backed by News Limited, operated for a single season, running concurrently with the ARL's premiership. The following year, the two competitions merged to form the National Rugby League (NRL), established as a joint venture between the ARL and News Limited. In 2013, the ARL was restructured into the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC), which assumed full ownership of the NRL following News Limited's withdrawal.

Since 1908, a total of 33 clubs have competed in Australia's first-grade premiership, with 17 clubs active in the current competition. The league's early decades were limited to Sydney-based teams. Of the original nine foundation clubs, two remain in the NRL today. Over the next 80 years, expansion was confined to the Sydney region, which added eight more clubs while five ceased participation. The league began to expand geographically in 1982, with the inclusion of teams from Wollongong and Canberra. In 1988, clubs from outside New South Wales, including Queensland, entered the competition.

During the 1997 season, 22 teams competed across the rival ARL and Super League competitions. Following reunification, a restructuring plan was implemented, and by the 2000 season, the competition was reduced to 14 teams.

Foundation clubs

Two current NRL clubs have existed continuously since the NSWRFL's inaugural 1908 season: the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Sydney Roosters, originally known as Eastern Suburbs. South Sydney is the oldest club, founded in early 1908, while the Roosters hold the distinction of being the only club to have participated in every season since 1908 without interruption; Souths were briefly excluded from the competition in the early 2000s.

Two additional foundation clubs, the Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies, merged to form the Wests Tigers ahead of the 2000 NRL season. Both Balmain and Western Suburbs continue to operate in lower-tier competitions and junior development.

Other foundation clubs include:

• Newtown and North Sydney, both excluded from the top-tier due to financial difficulties, but continuing in the NSW Cup and junior pathways as of 2015.
• Glebe, currently competing in the third-tier Ron Massey Cup.
• Cumberland, which disbanded after the 1908 season.
• Newcastle Rebels, who competed in 1908–1909 before withdrawing to establish the local Newcastle Rugby League. There is no direct lineage between the Rebels and the modern Newcastle Knights, who are therefore not considered a foundation club.

Clubs

Team	Based	Admission date	Seasons participated	P	R	M	W	W%	Wins	Draws	Losses
Template:Leagueicon Glebe Dirty Reds	Sydney	Template:Dts		0	4	1	0		163	6	128
Template:Leagueicon Newtown Bluebags / Jets	Sydney	Template:Dts		3	7	6	8		583	59	663
Template:Leagueicon South Sydney Rabbitohs	Sydney	Template:Dts		21	13	17	8		1013	46	917
Template:Leagueicon Balmain Tigers^	Sydney	Template:Dts		11	9	7	4		871	68	766
Template:Leagueicon Eastern Suburbs / Sydney City / Sydney Roosters	Sydney	Template:Dts		15	15	16	4		1064	68	912
Template:Leagueicon Western Suburbs Magpies^	Sydney	Template:Dts		4	8	5	17		734	49	908
Template:Leagueicon North Sydney Bears^^	Sydney	Template:Dts		2	1	2	9		678	71	916
Template:Leagueicon Newcastle Rebels	Newcastle	Template:Dts		0	0	0	0		9	0	11
Template:Leagueicon Cumberland	Sydney	Template:Dts		0	0	0	1		1	0	7
Template:Leagueicon Annandale Dales	Sydney	Template:Dts		0	0	0	3		25	6	122
Template:Leagueicon University	Sydney	Template:Dts		0	1	0	10		47	5	190
Template:Leagueicon St. George Dragons^	Sydney	Template:Dts		15	12	15	3		910	56	579
Template:Leagueicon Canterbury-Bankstown Berries / Bulldogs	Sydney	Template:Dts		8	10	6	4		866	53	751
Template:Leagueicon Parramatta Eels	Sydney	Template:Dts		4	5	5	11
Template:Leagueicon Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles^^	Sydney	Template:Dts		8	10	9	0
Template:Leagueicon Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Sydney	Template:Dts		1	3	1	2
Template:Leagueicon Penrith Panthers	Sydney	Template:Dts		4	1	2	4
Template:Leagueicon Illawarra Steelers^	Wollongong	Template:Dts		0	0	0	3
Template:Leagueicon Canberra Raiders	Canberra	Template:Dts		3	3	1	1
Template:Leagueicon Brisbane Broncos	Brisbane	Template:Dts		6	1	4	1
Template:Leagueicon Newcastle Knights	Newcastle	Template:Dts		2	0	0	3
Template:Leagueicon Gold Coast-Tweed Giants / Gold Coast Seagulls / Gold Coast Chargers	Gold Coast / Tweed Heads	Template:Dts		0	0	0	3
Template:Leagueicon Auckland Warriors / New Zealand Warriors	Auckland	Template:Dts		0	2	1	0
Template:Leagueicon North Queensland Cowboys	Townsville	Template:Dts		1	1	0	3
Template:Leagueicon Western Reds / Perth Reds	Perth	Template:Dts		0	0	0	0
Template:Leagueicon South Queensland Crushers	Brisbane	Template:Dts		0	0	0	2
Template:Leagueicon Hunter Mariners	Newcastle	Template:Dts		0	0	0	0
Template:Leagueicon Adelaide Rams	Adelaide	Template:Dts		0	0	0	0
Template:Leagueicon Melbourne Storm	Melbourne	Template:Dts		4	4	5	1
Template:Leagueicon St. George Illawarra Dragons^	Sydney, Wollongong	Template:Dts		1	1	2	0
Template:Leagueicon Wests Tigers^	Sydney	Template:Dts		1	0	0	0
Template:Leagueicon Northern Eagles^	Sydney, Gosford	6 February Template:Dts		0	0	0	0
Template:Leagueicon Gold Coast Titans	Gold Coast	Template:Dts		0	0	0	2
Template:Leagueicon Dolphins	Brisbane	13 October 2021	2023– (1 season)	0	0	0	0	0%

• Bold indicates the team is still competing as of the 2023 season
• ^ Now compete as a joint venture
• ^^ Have competed as a joint venture

Statistics

As of 2026, the NRL features 17 clubs, distributed as follows:

• 10 from New South Wales
• 4 from Queensland
• 1 from the Australian Capital Territory
• 1 from Victoria
• 1 from New Zealand

Of the 33 clubs that have participated in the top-tier competition:

• 17 have been based exclusively in Sydney
• 2 have operated as joint ventures with a presence in Sydney
• 23 have been based in New South Wales
• 5 in Queensland
• 1 each in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand

References

1. Redirect Template:National Rugby League