List of Australian club rugby union competitions

In Australia, what is considered the third tier of Rugby is often referred to as club rugby, grade rugby or premier rugby. Club Rugby often focuses on the major metropolitan areas of the respective unions, with teams representing various districts and suburbs. The teams represented in the first grade can and have changed over time, and are open to change at the discretion of the governing body.

Sydney Premiership

The Shute Shield is a rugby union competition in Sydney, New South Wales. It is the premier grade rugby trophy in Sydney rugby. The shield is contested by twelve Sydney Rugby Union clubs.

The first Sydney club competition was held in 1874, contested by Balmain, Newington College, University of Sydney and The King's School, Parramatta. The Shute Shield is seen as the traditional successor to this competition.

The shield was donated to the New South Wales Rugby Union in 1923 by Sydney University Football Club, and was named in honour of Robert Elliott Stewart Shute who died while playing for The Rest v NSW XV on 5 June 1922.^[1]

Teams in the Shute Shield

Jersey	Club	Location	Home ground	Nickname	First season
	Eastern Suburbs	Upper Eastern Suburbs (Rose Bay)	Woolahra Oval	The Beasties	1900
	Eastwood	Northern Suburbs (Eastwood)	T G Millner Field	The Woodies	1947
	Gordon	Upper North Shore (Chatswood)	Chatswood Oval	Highlanders	1936
	Manly	Lower Northern Beaches (Manly)	Manly Oval	The Marlins	1906
	Northern Suburbs	Lower North Shore (North  Sydney)	North Sydney Oval	The Shoremen, Norths, The Red and Blacks	1900
	Parramatta	Parramatta	Granville Park	Two Blues	1879 (as Cumberland, 1900 name change)
	Penrith	Penrith	Nepean Rugby Park	Emus	1965 (Shute Shield admittance 1995)
	Randwick	Lower Eastern Suburbs (Randwick/Coogee)	Coogee Oval	Galloping Greens, The wicks	1882
	Southern Districts	St George and The Shire	Forshaw Park	The Rebels	1989, (St George DRC – 1906, Port Hacking RC – 1957)
	Sydney University	Sydney (Camperdown)	University Oval No.2	The Students	1863
	Warringah	Upper Northern Beaches (Narabeen)	Pittwater Park	The Rats, Ratties	1963
	West Harbour	Inner West (Concord)	Concord Oval	Pirates	1900 (as Western Suburbs DRFC)

Queensland Premier Rugby

Queensland Premier Rugby is the top club competition in Queensland. Ten clubs take part; eight from Brisbane and a club each from the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.

The first club rugby competition in Queensland was the Hospital Football Challenge, which began in 1899. It was an annual fund-raising venture for the Brisbane Hospital, but the game fell away during and after WWI, and rugby union was abandoned in Queensland after 1919.

The competition was reconstituted in 1929 and the original trophy, the magnificent Hospital Cup, became the premiership trophy again. It is now awarded to the winner of the Premier Rugby grand final.^[2]

Teams in Queensland Premier Rugby

Est.	Club	Location	Home Ground	Nickname	Admitted to Premier Grade
1996 [3]	Bond University	Gold Coast (Varsity Lakes)	Bond University Field	Breakers	1997
1905 [4]	Brothers	North-East Suburbs (Albion)	Jack Ross Oval	Butcher Bhoys, The Brethren, The Filth	1905
1947 [5]	Eastern Districts	Eastern Suburbs (Coorparoo)	David Wilson Field	Tigers, Easts	1950
1887 [6]	GPS Old Boys	Inner West (Ashgrove)	Ashgrove Sports Ground	Jeeps	1931
1931 [7]	North Brisbane	North Brisbane (Wooloowin)	Hugh Courtney Oval	Eagles, Norths	1991 (1933 — Eagle Jctn, 1961 — Teachers, 1974 — Teachers-Norths)
1911 [8]	University of Queensland	Inner West (St Lucia)	University Field 5A	Red Heavies	1912
1948 [9]	Southern Districts	Southern Brisbane (Annerley)	R.A. "Chipsy" Wood Oval	Magpies, Souths	1948
1969 [10]	Sunnybank	Sunnybank and Logan	Oldmac Oval, Macgregor	Dragons	1989
1951 [11]	West Brisbane	Inner West (Toowong)	Sedgman Oval	Bulldogs, Wests	1955

ACTRU Premier Division

The ACTRU Premier Division is the top rugby club competition in Canberra. It is conducted by the region's governing body, the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union.

The competition was first held in 1938. There are currently, as of 2013, seven ACT clubs that compete in the top division. The trophy awarded to the winner of the grand final is the John I Dent Cup, named after the benefactor who donated it to the union. All of the finals are played at Viking Park.

Teams that compete for the John I Dent Cup

Est.	Club	Location	Home Ground	Nickname	Admitted to Premier Grade
1949 [12]	Canberra Royals	Woden Valley	Phillip Oval	Blue Baggers	1949
1938 [13]	Easts	South Canberra	Griffith Oval	Beasties	1938
1967 [14]	Gungahlin Eagles	Gungahlin	Nicholls Oval	Eagles	1967
1954 [15]	Queanbeyan Whites	Queanbeyan	Campese Field	Whites	1955
1973 [16]	Tuggeranong Vikings	Tuggeranong	Viking Park	Vikings	1973
1988 [17]	Uni-Norths Owls	North Canberra	ANU North Oval	Owls	1988 (1938 - University, Norths)
1962 [18]	Wests Lions	Belconnen	Jamison Oval	Lions	1962

RugbyWA Premier Grade

The Premier Grade is contested by 10 teams from the Greater Perth Area.

The teams currently in the RugbyWA KWIK Premier are:

• Associates
• Cottesloe
• Kalamunda
• Nedlands
• Palmyra
• Perth Bayswater
• Rockingham
• UWA
• Wanneroo
• Wests Subiaco

Victorian Premier Division

The Dewar Shield is contested by 9 teams from the Greater Melbourne Area.

South Australian Premier Grade

• Barossa Rams
• Brighton
• Burnside
• Old Collegians
• Onkaparinga
• Port Adelaide
• Southern Suburbs
• Woodville

Tasmanian Division One

The teams currently in the Tasmanian Division One are:

• Australian Maritime College
• Burnie
• Devonport
• Eastern Suburbs
• Glenorchy
• Hobart Harlequins
• Hobart Lions
• Launceston
• Taroona
• University of Tasmania

Darwin First Grade

The First Grade competition is contested by 5 teams from the Darwin area.

• Casuarina Cougars
• Darwin Dragons
• Palmerstown Crocs
• South Darwin Rabbitohs
• University Pirates

See also

• List of Australian rugby union stadiums by capacity
• List of Australian rugby union teams

References