This is a complete list of teams that have competed in the first-grade competition in Australia that began with the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRL) competition in 1908. The NSWRL competition ran until the end of the 1994 season where the Australian Rugby League (ARL) took over and ran the competition until 1997. However a rival competition was being planned and the only season of the rival Super League competition (SL) was held in 1997. The two competitions were brought together and formed the National Rugby League (NRL) in 1998 which still runs today.

Therefore, the first-grade competition of rugby league in Australia has run for 102 years, this year being the 103rd season.

There have been thirty-three teams which have competed in all of the first-grade competitions since 1908, of which sixteen remain in this competition. There were nine foundation clubs, which all began in 1908, however over the next eighty years, the NSWRL only ever expanded into the Sydney region which included eight new teams while five teams were demised. This changed in 1982 when a Wollongong club and a Canberra based team was allowed and in 1988 until 1998, teams from outside New South Wales (NSW) began to enter the premiership. With the Super League war, the two competitions, the ARL and SL, had twenty-two teams competing in the 1997 season. As part of the agreement for the NRL, the competition would be forced to reduce to only fourteen teams in 2000.

Currently in 2009, there are sixteen teams. There are ten teams from the state of NSW, three from Queensland, one from the Australian Capital Territory, one from Victoria and one from the neighbouring country New Zealand. Of all thirty three teams, the majority have come from Sydney where seventeen clubs have called home. The other teams have had three come from the NSW town of Newcastle and five have come from Queensland, one from Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, as well as one from New Zealand.

[edit] Clubs

Team	Based	Admission date	Seasons participated	P	R	M	W	W%
Glebe Dirty Reds	Sydney	01908-01-09 9 January 1908	&0000000000000022.00000022 1908-1929 (22 seasons)	0	4	1	0	&0000000000000055.89000055.89 56%
Newtown Jets	Sydney	01908-01-14 14 January 1908	&0000000000000076.00000076 1908-1983 (76 seasons)	3	7	6	8	&0000000000000046.93000046.93 47%
South Sydney Rabbitohs	Sydney	01908-01-17 17 January 1908	&0000000000000100.000000100 1908-1999, 2002-2009 (100 seasons)	20	13	17	8	&0000000000000052.67000052.67 53%
Balmain Tigers	Sydney	01908-01-23 23 January 1908	&0000000000000092.00000092 1908-1999 (92 seasons)	11	9	7	4	&0000000000000052.67000052.67 53%
Eastern Suburbs / Sydney Roosters	Sydney	01908-01-24 24 January 1908	&0000000000000102.000000102 1908-2009 (102 seasons)	12	14	16	4	&0000000000000045.37000045.37 54%
Western Suburbs Magpies	Sydney	01908-02-04 4 February 1908	&0000000000000092.00000092 1908-1999 (92 seasons)	4	8	5	17	&0000000000000044.86000044.86 45%
North Sydney Bears	Sydney	01908-02-07 7 February 1908	&0000000000000092.00000092 1908-1999 (92 seasons)	2	1	2	9	&0000000000000042.85000042.85 43%
Newcastle Rebels	Newcastle	01908-04-10 10 April 1908	&0000000000000002.0000002 1908-1909 (2 seasons)	0	0	0	0	&0000000000000045.00000045 45%
Cumberland	Sydney	01908-04-21 21 April 1908	&0000000000000001.0000001 1908 (1 season)	0	0	0	1	&0000000000000012.50000012.5 13%
Annandale Dales	Sydney	01910-04-10 10 April 1910	&0000000000000011.00000011 1910-1920 (11 seasons)	0	0	0	3	&0000000000000018.30000018.3 18%
University	Sydney	01920-02 February 1920	&0000000000000018.00000018 1920-1937 (18 seasons)	0	1	0	10	&0000000000000020.45000020.45 20%
St. George Dragons	Sydney	01920-10-13 13 October 1920	&0000000000000078.00000078 1921-1998 (78 seasons)	15	12	15	3	&0000000000000060.71000060.71 61%
Canterbury Bulldogs	Sydney	01934-09-25 25 September 1934	&0000000000000075.00000075 1935-2009 (75 seasons)	8	8	6	4	&0000000000000053.59000053.59 54%
Parramatta Eels	Sydney	01946-11-04 4 November 1946	&0000000000000063.00000063 1947-2009 (63 seasons)	4	4	5	11	&0000000000000047.84000047.84 48%
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Sydney	01946-11-04 4 November 1946	&0000000000000060.00000060 1947-1999, 2003-2009 (60 seasons)	6	10	9	0	&0000000000000058.65000058.65 59%
Cronulla Sharks	Sydney	01966-07-04 4 July 1966	&0000000000000043.00000043 1967-2009 (43 seasons)	0	3	1	2	&0000000000000049.59000049.59 50%
Penrith Panthers	Penrith	01966-07-04 4 July 1966	&0000000000000043.00000043 1967-2009 (43 seasons)	2	1	2	4	&0000000000000042.44000042.44 42%
Illawarra Steelers	Wollongong	01980-12-13 13 December 1980	&0000000000000007.0000007 1982-1998 (17 seasons)	0	0	0	3	&0000000000000040.28000040.28 40%
Canberra Raiders	Canberra	01981-03-30 30 March 1981	&0000000000000028.00000028 1982-2009 (28 seasons)	3	2	1	1	&0000000000000053.54000053.54 54%
Brisbane Broncos	Brisbane	01987-04-05 5 April 1987	&0000000000000022.00000022 1988-2009 (22 seasons)	6	0	4	0	&0000000000000065.31000065.31 65%
Newcastle Knights	Newcastle	01987-04-05 5 April 1987	&0000000000000022.00000022 1988-2009 (22 seasons)	2	0	0	1	&0000000000000053.17000053.17 53%
Gold Coast Giants/Seagulls/Chargers	Gold Coast / Tweed Heads	01987-04 April 1987	&0000000000000011.00000011 1988-1998 (11 seasons)	0	0	0	3	&0000000000000023.37000023.37 23%
Auckland/New Zealand Warriors	Auckland	01992-05-18 18 May 1992	&0000000000000015.00000015 1995-2009 (15 seasons)	0	1	1	0	&0000000000000047.61000047.61 47%
North Queensland Cowboys	Townsville	01992-11-30 30 November 1992	&0000000000000015.00000015 1995-2009 (15 seasons)	0	1	0	3	&0000000000000037.11000037.11 37%
Western/Perth Reds	Perth	01992-11-30 30 November 1992	&0000000000000003.0000003 1995-1997 (3 seasons)	0	0	0	0	&0000000000000040.16000040.16 40%
South Queensland Crushers	Brisbane	01992-11-30 30 November 1992	&0000000000000003.0000003 1995-1997 (3 seasons)	0	0	0	2	&0000000000000020.77000020.77 21%
Hunter Mariners	Newcastle	01995-04-28 28 April 1995	&0000000000000001.0000001 1997 (1 season)	0	0	0	0	&0000000000000038.89000038.89 39%
Adelaide Rams	Adelaide	01995-12-13 13 December 1995	&0000000000000002.0000002 1997-1998 (2 seasons)	0	0	0	0	&0000000000000032.14000032.14 32%
Melbourne Storm	Melbourne	01997-06-23 23 June 1997	&0000000000000012.00000012 1998-2009 (12 seasons)	3	1	2	0	&0000000000000061.42000061.42 61%
St. George Illawarra Dragons (joint-venture)	Sydney, Wollongong	01998-09-23 23 September 1998	&0000000000000011.00000011 1999-2009 (11 seasons)	0	1	1	0	&0000000000000052.11000052.11 52%
Wests Tigers (joint-venture)	Sydney	01999-07-27 27 July 1999	&0000000000000010.00000010 2000-2009 (10 seasons)	1	0	0	0	&0000000000000042.61000042.61 43%
Northern Eagles (joint-venture)	Sydney	01999-10 October 1999	&0000000000000003.0000003 2000-2002 (3 seasons)	0	0	0	0	&0000000000000040.13000040.13 40%
Gold Coast Titans	Gold Coast	02005-09-22 22 September 2005	&0000000000000003.0000003 2007-2009 (3 seasons)	0	0	0	0	&0000000000000044.44000044.44 44%

Key:

• P - Premierships earned.
• R - Grandfinaltist runner-up.
• M - Minor premierships earned.
• W - Wooden spoons (last place) earned.
• W% - Winning percentage.

[edit] References

• Whiticker, Alan & Collis, Ian (2004). The History of Rugby League Clubs. New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-74110-075-5. 
• "Gold Coast NRL team to unveil moniker". The Age. 2005-09-21. http://www.theage.com.au/news/Sport/Gold-Coast-NRL-team-to-unveil-moniker/2005/09/21/1126982118216.html. Retrieved 2008-04-06. 
• Jeffs, Paul. "Rugby League Tables / Season Summary / All Teams". http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/all/overall_ss.html. Retrieved 2008-04-07. 
• Jeffs, Paul. "Rugby League Tables / Win - Loss -Record / All Teams". http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/all/overall_wl.html. Retrieved 2008-04-07.