Milestones and main events of rugby league

• 1907: NSW Rugby League formed.
• 1908: First Club formed (Glebe), followed by Souths, Newtown, Easts, Norths, Balmain, Wests, Newcastle and Cumberland. First Premiership games played in NSW. NSW wins first interstate game over QLD. Souths win first Premiership. First Kangaroo tour.
• 1909: Members of the 1908-09 Rugby Union Wallabies agreed to play Rugby League.
• 1910: Presidents Cup introduced for competition between junior representative teams. First England team tours Australia. First country competition (in Newcastle).
• 1911: Rugby League first played at Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Sports Ground. Dally Messenger scored 72 points in three-match series against QLD.
• 1912: McKivat’s 1911-12 Kangaroos first to win the Ashes.
• 1913: Rugby League first played in Sydney schools.1916: Interstate football suspended due to war, (resumed in 1919).
• 1919: First Australian tour to New Zealand.
• 1920: First edition of The Rugby League News published.
• 1922: First QLD win over NSW.1924: First radio broadcast of Rugby League.1928: First official City v Country match. First night match at Sydney Showground.
• 1942: Interstate football suspended due to war, (resumed in 1945).1947: Clive Churchill signs with Souths.
• 1950: Australia wins Ashes after 30 years. Death of League founder, J.J. Giltinan. (Giltinan Shield is established in 1951.)
• 1957: Australia hosts the Rugby League World Cup for the first time.
• 1961: Rugby League’s first televised game, (Balmain v Norths). First Rugby League Sevens tournament played.
• 1965: Record Grand Final attendance. 78,056 fans watch Saints win tenth consecutive Premiership.
• 1967: Live telecast on all four channels of Souths v Canterbury Grand Final.1974: Home and away football introduced. Big League Magazine replaces The Rugby League News.
• 1977: First drawn Grand Final, (St George v Parramatta).
• 1979: First night Rugby League match played at the SCG.1980: First State of Origin game played at Lang Park. QLD wins 20-10.
• 1982: Winfield sponsorship of the NSWRL commences.
• 1986: Peter Sterling wins inaugural Clive Churchill Medal for best player in the Grand Final.
• 1988: Rugby League leaves the SCG for the Sydney Football Stadium.
• 1989: Tina Turner is signed to Rugby League’s advertising campaign. What You Get Is What You See becomes the game’s anthem. Premiership crowds top 2 million for the first time. NSWRL Coaching and Development Academy is established at Narrabeen.
• 1990: Salary cap is introduced by NSWRL.
• 1991: The Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Bill passes through Parliament, ending cigarette-company sponsorship of sport.
• 1992: Bill Harrigan wins the Rugby League Week Players’ Poll rating as the premiership’s best referee.
• 1995-1997: Super League war.
• 1998: National Rugby League formed.
• 2000: Sydney hosts the Olympic Games. First Grand Final played at Stadium Australia.
• 2001: Telstra becomes major sponsor of the NRL.
• 2002: Souths are re-instated into the national competition. Bulldogs salary cap scandal sees them penalised 17 competition points and fined $500,000.2003: The Hoodoo Gurus perform That’s My Team for the new NRL ad campaign. NRL computer game launched. Total attendance for Rugby League exceeds 3.17 million.
• 2005: The NRL record the codes highest ever crowd average for a regular season with on average 16,468 attending each game that season.
• 2006: The NRL holds the first ever Rugby League Grand Final in the competitions 98 year history involving no New South Wales teams. Brisbane win their sixth Grand Final, defeating Melbourne in the final 15 – 8.
• 2007: The Telstra Premiership grows to 16 clubs with the Gold Coast Titans joining.