As we approach this weekends grand finals lets have a snap shot look at the history of the mens premier div 1 and womens div 1 runsheet. But first some context. WRL was formed in 1912 and in that time there have been 109 Mens grand finals. The womens competition is recorded as having started in 1994 and in that time there have been 27 grand finals. It must be noted that at various times in the WRL history there were one off womens games held. 

Petone have won the mens title 24 times. Randwick 16, Wainui 8 , Marist 7, Whiti 6.

For the women Te Aroha have won the title 12 times , Randwick 6 , Valkyrie 3. 

The mens division play for the Appleton Shield. A quick look at the collage of images sees the history of the illustrious shield going back many decades with championship winning teams holding it high. So whats the history of the shield?

The Appleton Shield: 

Originally from Central Otago, Will Appleton came to Wellington in the early 1900's.He attended Wellington Technical College, followed by Victoria University, where he studied accountancy. He was elected onto the Wellington City Council. 

Between 1944 and 1950 he was the Mayor of Wellington,  as well as being a director of a number of boards plus council work committees.

Between 1940  and 1958, he was the President of the Wellington Rugby League, and in 1940 donated the shield, which was named in his honour as WRL Premier champions.

In 1950, he was awarded a Knight Batchelor in the King's Birthday Honours and in 1953 was awarded a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John.

This weekend Whiti Te Rā play The Randwick Kingfishers for the shield. Randwick have won the shield and finals 16 times and on two occasions along with Petone they are the only clubs to have won the competition 3 x seasons consecutively. Whiti have the outstanding achievement of being the only club to have won 4 consecutive seasons in a row.  The last time Randwick and Whiti met in a grand final was 2020 when the Kingfishers took out the win. Who will it be this weekend ?

The Luamanuvao Dame Winnie Laban Trophy:

Named after Winnie Laban to acknowldege her decades of being the patron of our game and her outstanding service to the community.

The Porirua Valkyrie bring the mana of having won the last 3 grand finals. They also won the 9 a side format of the competition which was trialed to reintroduce the womens game after a period of 4 years with no womens rugby league in Wgtn. The Te Aroha womens team hold the honour of so far having won the most GF on record for a womens team. 

The trophy will be contested between Porirua Valkyrie and The Wainuiomata Lionesses. The Lionesses last won the womens comp back in 2008. Who will take it out this weekend ?

Mens Reserve Grade Final

This year sees the exciting return of the Upper Hutt City Tigers to the mens competition. Great work by the clubs executive committee and whanau to make this happen. The Tigers are a former high performing club with a host of Kiwis and representative players coming out of their ranks. They play the Randwick Kingfishers in the Prem Div 2 Mens final. Over the past 4 years Petone, St George and Vikings have been the champions in this division. We look forward to an intense battle between two of WRL clubs with a history of success and international players. Who will take it out this weekend ?

Good luck to this weekends finalist at the Hutt Rec Saturday Aug 2nd.

The Mana Wāhine Womens Comp GF is at 11am Valkyrie v Wainui

The Rāranga Building Careers Prem Div 2 GF is at 1pm Tigers v Kingfishers

The Rāranga Building Careers Prem Div 1 GF is at 3pm Whiti v Kingfishers

Here are the WRL GF stats.

Article added: Thursday 31 July 2025