City vs Country Origin

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City vs Country Origin

Sport	Rugby league
Instituted	1928
Inaugural season	1987 (Origin rules)
Ceased	2017
Number of teams	2
Country	Australia (NSWRL/CRL)
Shield Holders	City (2017)
Most titles	City (68 titles)
Broadcast partner	Nine Network
Related competition	State of Origin

City vs Country Origin was an annual Australian rugby league football match that took place in New South Wales between City and Country representative sides. The City side represented the Sydney metropolitan area. While technically it was Sydney vs. the rest of NSW, players from the Central Coast (such as Matt Orford and Mark O'Meley) often represented City, but other players from the Central Coast (such as Chris Heighington) represented Country. The Country side represented the rest of New South Wales.

The concept of an annual clash between a City and Country team originally started in 1911 with a Metropolitan side taking on the Country team. The first match officially took place on 10 June 1911 with City taking the victory 29 to 8.^{[citation needed]} It would take another seventeen years before an annual clash between an official City and Country side was agreed upon during the 1928 season.^{[citation needed]}

Both sides were originally made up of the best players playing in the Country Rugby League of New South Wales and the Sydney-based NSWRL Premiership. However, the increasing drain of players from rural areas to the NSWRL clubs led to the City side becoming increasingly dominant and the Country side uncompetitive. The 'origin rule' for player qualification being introduced in 1987 so players in NSWRL clubs originally from outside Sydney became eligible to represent Country.^{[citation needed]}

The players who represented the City and Country sides came from the National Rugby League competition in Australia. The match was played before the State of Origin series and was often referred to as a selection trial for the New South Wales Blues team.

On 21 November 2016, the NRL announced that the City v Country annual match would be scrapped, with the 2017 match to be the final edition.^[1]

On 29 April 2021, the NSWRL announced the return of an expanded City vs Country representative round, featuring Under 16's, Under 18's and Open Age Men's games, Open Age Women's games, and Wheelchair and Physical Disability games.^[2] On 15 May 2021 the under age men's games and the women's game were played at Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta, while the wheelchair game was played at Shellharbour, NSW. On 16 May 2021 the physical disability and the men's game were played at Collegians Sports Complex in Figtree, NSW.

The city vs country came back in 2022 with the 16s, 18,s and women's played at 4 Pines Park, the wheelchair game was played at Niagra Park Stadium and the rest of the games were played at Leichhardt Oval with the men's game being won by Country beating City 36–34 on Sunday 15 May.