Current season or competition: [[2022 Harold Matthews Cup]] | |
 | |
| Sport | Rugby league |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 1970 |
| Inaugural season | 1970 |
| Number of teams | 17 |
| Country |  Australia (16 teams) New Zealand 1 team |
| Premiers |  New Zealand Warriors (2024) |
| Most titles |  Parramatta Eels(20 titles) |
| Website | Harold Matthews Cup |
| Broadcast partner | NSWRL channel on facebook |
| Related competition | Andrew Johns Cup S. G. Ball Cup |
TheNSWRL Harold Matthews Cup is a juniorrugby league competition played inNew South Wales between teams made up of players aged under 17. The competition is administered by theNew South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The competition is made up of NSW-based clubs and includes both junior representative teams of the eliteNational Rugby League (NRL) and clubs that do not field teams in the NRL competition.
The competition is named afterHarold Matthews, aBalmain Tigers secretary who later was appointed as manager of the Australian Test squad and later went on to become secretary of the NSWRL and ARL.[1][2]
The competition was run as a knock-out tournament until 1991.[3][4] From the 1992 onwards, the format has been a number of home-and-away rounds in which all teams compete, followed by a finals series.[5]
In 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, 15 clubs fielded teams in theNSWRL UNE Harold Matthews Cup.
The New Zealand Warriors joined the competition in 2024, having previously fielded teams in the older ageS.G. Ball Cup. The Melbourne Storm re-joined the Harold Matthews Cup in 2024, having previously fielded a team in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
Balmain Tigers
Canberra Raiders
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Central Coast Roosters
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Illawarra Steelers
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Melbourne Storm
Newcastle KnightsNew Zealand Warriors
North Sydney BearsParramatta Eels
Penrith Panthers
South Sydney Rabbitohs
St George DragonsSydney Roosters
Western Suburbs MagpiesIn the 1970s and early 1980s the Harold Matthews Cup was played in a carnival format over three to five successive days. Teams from the country groups and regions competed alongside representative teams from the NSWRL clubs of Sydney. The competition later changed to a partial round-robin format.
Former teams in the Harold Matthews Cup include: Gold Coast Titans (2009), South-Western Sydney Academy of Sport (2008–16) and Western Sydney Academy of Sport (2007–17).
After the sixth round on 14 & 15 March, the 2020 competition was suspended and subsequently cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[6]
| Year | Age | Premiers | Runners Up | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Parramatta Eels | |||
| 1971 | Parramatta Eels | |||
| 1972 | Parramatta Eels | |||
| 1973 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | |||
| 1974 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | |||
| 1975 | Parramatta Eels | |||
| 1976 | U14 | Parramatta Eels | ||
| 1977 | U14 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | ||
| 1978 | U14 | Canberra Rugby League (CRL) | Parramatta Eels | [7] |
| 1979 | U14 |  Penrith Panthers | ||
| 1980 | U14 | Group 12 (CRL) | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | [8] |
| 1981 | U14 | Parramatta Eels | ||
| 1982 | U14 | Parramatta Eels | ||
| 1983 | U14 | Group 6 Rugby League (CRL) | Penrith Panthers | [9] |
| 1984 | U14 | Canberra Raiders | Central Coast | [10] |
| 1985 | U14 | Penrith Panthers | ||
| 1986 | U15 | Parramatta Eels | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | |
| 1987 | U15 | Illawarra Steelers | Penrith Panthers | |
| 1988 | U15 | Parramatta Eels | Penrith Panthers | [11] |
| 1989 | U15 | Penrith Panthers | Parramatta Eels | |
| 1990 | U15 | Parramatta Eels |  Gold Coast Seagulls | |
| 1991 | U15 | Gold Coast Seagulls | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
From 1992 to 2002 and again since 2004, the Harold Matthews Cup has been run as a regular season — a series of home-and-away matches — followed by a final series.[5] The number of rounds in the regular season is limited, with the limit being less than the number of teams. This means that each team plays some but not all of their opponents in the competition.
| No. | Club | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parramatta Eels | 20 (1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2016) |
| 2 | Penrith Panthers | 7 (1979, 1985, 1989, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010) |
| 3 | Newcastle Knights | 5 (1992, 2000, 2014, 2017, 2019) |
| 4 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 4 (2007, 2009, 2011, 2023) |
| 4 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 4 (1973, 1977, 2001, 2015) |
| 6 | Canberra Raiders | 3 (1984, 1993, 1995) |
| 7 | Illawarra Steelers | 2 (1987, 1996) |
| 7 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 2 (2018, 2021) |
| 9 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 1 (1974) |
| 9 | Canberra Rugby League (CRL) | 1 (1978) |
| 9 | Group 12 (Central Coast,CRL) | 1 (1980) |
| 9 | Group 6 (CRL) | 1 (1983) |
| 9 | Gold Coast Seagulls | 1 (1991) |
| 9 | Western Suburbs Magpies | 1 (2022) |
| 9 | New Zealand Warriors | 1 (2024) |
Bold means that the team is still currently plays in the competition.
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