WELLINGTON RUGBY LEAGUE // ESTABLISHED 1912                 WELLINGTON RUGBY LEAGUE // ESTABLISHED 1912                WELLINGTON RUGBY LEAGUE // ESTABLISHED 1912



Steve McCullough circa early - mid 70s playing for Wellington

Wellington Rugby League was officially established on 23 May 1912, following the first-ever New Zealand league match played in the city on 13 June 1908 as a tribute to Albert Baskerville. The competition, featuring foundation clubs like Petone and Newtown, has a rich history of local competition, with Petone holding a record 24 men's titles. 

Key details in Wellington Rugby League history include:

  • Establishment: The association was formed in 1912 by 1907–08 All Gold, Hercules Richard "Bumper" Wright, after the code gained traction with a 1908 charity match at Athletic Park.
  • Provincial Success: Wellington played its first provincial game against Auckland on 24 August 1908. They famously defeated Auckland 22-19 in 1909.
  • Competitions: The men's premier division competes for the Appleton Shield.
  • Women's League: The women's competition commenced in 1994. The womens game ceased to exsit from 2017 before being revived in 2021. The Te Aroha club have won the womens grand final 12 times. The womens competition now compete for the Dame Luamanuvao Dame Winnie Laban cup.
  • Key Clubs: Historically dominant clubs include Petone (24 titles), Randwick (18 titles), and Wainui (8 titles).In 1971 Marist won the Appleton Shield which Represented the Winner of the 2nd round of the competition at that time.The winner of the Appleton shield and the winner of the first round Mulqueen shield Randwick played off for the Champion of Champions PHILLIPS LAMP TROPHY which Randwick won, making them and Whiti Te Rā the only clubs to have won the mens overall Prem 1 competition over 4 consecutive seasons.  Petone were the inaugural national club champions defeating Randwick in an all Wgtn national club grand final in 1982 for the Wrangler Cup. The cup later became the Tusk Cup, and then the Lion Red Cup won by Wainuiomata in 1990. Various forms of the national club competition existed ( Lion Red , Bartercard). 
  • Modern Era: Known as the Wellington Orcas in representative competitions, the local league has continued to produce talent for the NZ Kiwis and Warriors. The WRL youth teams perform well at nationa;l NZRL youth tournaments.
  • Numerous players from Wgtn have been selected for the Kiwis. John Whittaker from the Randwick club played for the Kiwis from 1970 - 1982 and was declared the Wgtn Rugby League player of the century in 2012.
  • Many players have come through the WRL junior and youth ranks to play in the NRL.

WRL 100 years celebration 1912 - 2012. In this image players named in the WRL team of the century L-R: Tony Kemp ( Randwick) , Colin O'Neil ( Marist), Warren Collicoat ( Porirua) , Finley Rasmussen ( Randwick), Sam Stewart ( Randwick), John Whittaker ( Randwick) , Victor Aramoana ( Upper Hutt) , Steve Kearney ( Randwick) ...in front is Jason Hemson General Manager WRL at the time facilitating the proceedings.