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 |
The NSWRL Harold Matthews Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales between teams made up of players aged under 17. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The competition is made up of NSW-based clubs and includes both junior representative teams of the elite National Rugby League (NRL) and clubs that do not field teams in the NRL competition.
The competition is named after Harold Matthews, a Balmain 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]
- ^ "1920". TIGERS. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
- ^ New South Wales Rugby Football League. "Harold Matthews - League was his Life". Rugby League news. Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League. Retrieved 7 September 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ Hannan, Bevan (10 June 1990). "Raiders still in contest". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. p. 16. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ Hannan, Bevan (5 July 1991). "Stanik's stunning selection". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. p. 27. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ Lilley, John (17 April 1992). "Ball side flies the flag for Canberra". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. p. 2. Retrieved 30 May 2024.