Shute Shield

Shute Shield

Current season, competition or edition: 2024 Shute Shield season
Formerly	Sydney Rugby Premiership (1874–1882) Gardiner Challenge Cup (1883–1889) Royal Agricultural Society Shield (1890–1899) District Premiership (1900–1922)
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	1874 (1874)
President	Phil Garling
Organising body	Sydney Rugby Union (SR)
No. of teams	12
Headquarters	Daceyville, Sydney, New South Wales
Region	Sydney Hunter region
Most recent champion(s)	Randwick (2023)
Most titles	Sydney University (33 titles)
TV partner(s)	Stan Nine Network
Sponsor(s)	Charter Hall
Official website	shuteshield.rugby

The Shute Shield, currently known as the Charter Hall Shute Shield, is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team from the Sydney premiership grand final held at the end of the club rugby season.

History

Club-based rugby football began some time before 1865. The Sydney University Football Club began in 1863 (although this date is questioned by some historians) and is the oldest existing football club outside the British Isles. The first recorded rugby season in Australia was in 1865 with Sydney University, Sydney Football Club and the Australian Club reported as playing games.

On 24 June 1874, a meeting was held between ten prominent football clubs to create a governing body to administer the game within New South Wales. The Southern Rugby Football Union was formed. The first task of the Union was to decide on a set of rules for all clubs to adhere to. Clubs were given "senior" or "junior" status which could change from season to season. Although a governing body had now been formed, there was no centrally controlled competition until many years later.

The Sydney Rugby Premiership

Initially, a competition was loosely arranged by the Union where the clubs were in charge of organising their own matches. This would result in clubs not playing the same teams or the same number of teams. A "Premier Club of the Colony" was declared by the Union at an end of year meeting. It was not necessarily given to the team that had the best results on the field. Results mattered, but other criteria may have also been used. What these were are not known.

The year 1880 saw the Southern Rugby Football Union endure the first splintering of the football code in Australia. It was during this season that a newspaper "war" began. Discussions centred around the merits of rugby football, British association football (soccer) and the Victorian game (Aussie rules football). As a result of these heated discussions, an association was formed under the Victorian rules with two strong clubs formed to play the game. No sooner than the dust had settled and another association was formed under the British Association rules. Despite this new competition, rugby football held sway as the premier code in Sydney.

In 1883, the Gardiner Challenge Cup was introduced with a mixture of "senior" and "junior" clubs competing. Foundation clubs included Redfern, Sydney University, Wallaroo, Newtown, Burwood, Oriental, Glebe, Balmain, St. Leonards, Parramatta, Arfoma and Paddington. The first Cup was won by Redfern who were undefeated. At the beginning of the season, a proposal was put to the Southern Rugby Union to change the rules determining how a game was decided. Prior to the 1883 season, a game was decided by the number of goals scored. The amendment that was successfully passed by the Union declared that games would be decided by number of points scored. A try was awarded 2 points, a conversion was 3 points and a goal kicked from the field of play 4 points.

Within a few years of the Gardiner Cup beginning, the Premiership had developed to become a more structured competition with a centralised list of fixtures and rounds. An official ladder was produced and maintained with points given for wins, draws and byes. By the 1890s a finals system was introduced to assist in determining the premiership winner.

The Sydney Rugby Premiership came under the control of the Metropolitan Rugby Union, a branch of the New South Wales Rugby Football Union (formerly the Southern Rugby Football Union), in 1897.

The District Competition

As early as 1893 it had been suggested to change the current structure of the premiership to a district-based formula. In early 1900, a meeting of the Metropolitan Rugby Union was held and a recommendation to establish district football in the coming season was made. Eight clubs competed in the inaugural season: Balmain, Glebe, Newtown, South Sydney, North Sydney, Western Suburbs, Eastern Suburbs and Sydney University. The first district competition was won by Glebe who were successful in all three grade competitions.

It was during this period, in 1907, that the supremacy of the Sydney Rugby Premiership was threatened. The imminent arrival of a professional football team from New Zealand sparked heated discussion about professionalism and compensation pay for lost time at work. In August of that year, the New South Wales Rugby Football League was formed. During the following season, a professional league competition was begun. Over the next few years, players switched across to the professional competition resulting in crowd numbers falling at Union matches.

Despite this, the district competition continued to run, rebuilding its supporter base, until the outbreak of World War 1 with the last season held during 1914. With the outbreak of war, competition was suspended.

The Return of the Premiership

At the conclusion of the war, the Sydney Rugby Premiership was recommenced. With the competition returning under the control of the NSW Rugby Football Union, only six clubs competed: Cambridge, Eastern Suburbs, Glebe-Balmain, Manly, Sydney University and YMCA.

The Shute Shield

The Shute Memorial Shield was struck in honour of the late Robert Elliott Stewart Shute, who died on 6 June 1922, aged 23, following a match at Manly Oval. Shute enlisted in April 1917 and served as a gunner in 30th Battery, Field Artillery A.I.F. during World War One.

On his return to Australia, Shute took up his engineering studies at the University of Sydney and joined the Sydney University rugby club as a front row forward in the first XV. Of Shute's death from a fractured skull and cerebral haemorrhage, the Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 7 June 1922 reported:

As a result of injuries received while playing at Manly in the Rugby football match between the team which toured New Zealand and the Next 15, Robert Elliott Shute, a front row forward in the latter team, died at a private hospital at Manly yesterday morning. The accident occurred during the latter portion of the first spell of the match. Shute secured the ball and when tackled fell heavily. He was removed to a private hospital, where it was ascertained that he was suffering from cerebral hemorrhage. Without recovering consciousness he died at 6am. A former pupil of Sydney Grammar School, Shute, who was 23 years of age, was a third year student at Sydney University and he played for the University first fifteen. He served in the AIF for four years.

The University club had the shield made following his death and donated it in 1923 to the NSWRFU to be used as a perpetual trophy for the Sydney first grade competition.

In 1966, the Sydney Rugby Union was formed to administer the running of Sydney rugby including the Shute Shield.

The Shute Shield marked its 100th year in 2022.

The NSW Championship

In late 1986, the Sydney Rugby Union (SRU) approved a new competition structure for the Shute Shield. The SRU were concerned about the falling number of clubs involved in the lower divisions. The new structure involved distributing all teams in the three competitions evenly across three new divisions with some teams earning the right to play for the premiership in the first division.

The clubs that made up first division were opposed to the new structure and sought the opportunity to form a breakaway competition affiliated directly with the NSWRFU. This resulted in the formation of a 10 club competition called the NSW Championship, while the remaining lower division clubs remained with the SRU Championship. Both competitions ran during the 1987 and 1988 seasons.

For the 1989 season, the NSW Championship clubs returned to the SRU and the Shute Shield.

In 1992, the NSW Rugby Union again took over the administration of the Shute Shield competition. In 2011, the SRU was reformed to take control of the competition once again.

Toohey's New Cup and the Australian Rugby Championship

From 2002 through 2006 the Toohey's New Cup was run to fill the void between Grade Rugby and Super Rugby in Australia. This became the Sydney Premiership competition, with the Shute Shield becoming the First Grade pre-season competition. However, in 2004 the Shute Shield was awarded to the Second Grade competition.

In 2007 the Toohey's New Cup was merged into the Shute Shield to become the Toohey's New Shute Shield when an attempt at an Australian wide domestic rugby competition, the Australian Rugby Championship, was started. The Australian Rugby Championship only lasted the one season.

Shute Shield Clubs

Current clubs

Shute Shield Club	Colour	Jersey	Moniker	Region	Est.	Premierships	Most recent	Note(s)
Eastern Suburbs			Beasties	Rose Bay (Eastern Suburbs)	1900	9	1969 (1969)
Eastwood			Woodies	Marsfield (Hills District)	1947	6	2015 (2015)
Gordon			Highlanders, Stags	Chatswood (Northern Sydney)	1936	9	2020 (2020)
Hunter			Wildfires	Newcastle (Hunter Region)	1995	0
Manly			Marlins	Manly (Northern Beaches)	1906	7	1997 (1997)
Northern Suburbs			Shoremen, Norths	North Sydney (Northern Suburbs)	1900	7	2016 (2016)
Randwick			Galloping Greens, Wicks	Coogee (Eastern Suburbs)	1882	29	2023 (2023)
Southern Districts			Rebels, Souths	Sylvania Waters (Sutherland Shire)	1989	0
Sydney University			Students	Camperdown (Inner West)	1863	33	2022 (2022)
Warringah			Rats	Warriewood (Northern Beaches)	1963	1	2017 (2017)
West Harbour			Pirates	Concord (Inner West)	1900	2	1929 (1929)
Western Sydney			Two Blues	Merrylands (Parramatta)	1879	3	1986 (1986)

Promotion/relegation from Sydney rugby premiership

• After Eastwood joined the premiership in 1947, the following 11 clubs competed in the Sydney rugby premiership:

Drummoyne, Eastern Suburbs, Eastwood, Gordon, Manly, Northern Suburbs, Parramatta, Randwick, St George, Sydney University, Western Suburbs.

• After the 1951 season, Western Suburbs were relegated to the Sydney Sub-Districts competition.
• The premiership became the 1st division when a 2nd division was created in 1962.
• In 1966, Western Suburbs and University of NSW were promoted to 1st division from the 2nd division.
• In 1971, Warringah and Port Hacking were promoted to 1st division from the 2nd division.
• In 1976, Hornsby and Macquarie University were promoted to 1st division from the 2nd division.
• After the 1978 season, the Sydney Rugby Union reduced the 1st division to 10 teams, but introduced automatic annual promotion and relegation between the 1st and 2nd divisions.
• The following changes occurred for the following seasons.

• 1979 Relegated clubs – Hornsby, Macquarie University, Port Hacking, St George, Drummoyne, Sydney University
• 1980 Promoted clubs – Sydney University, St George. Relegated clubs – University of NSW, Western Suburbs.
• 1981 Promoted clubs – Western Suburbs, Hornsby. Relegated clubs – Eastern Suburbs, Eastwood.
• 1982 Promoted clubs – Eastern Suburbs, Eastwood. Relegated clubs – Hornsby, Northern Suburbs.
• 1983 Promoted club – Port Hacking. Relegated club – Sydney University.
• 1984 Promoted club – Sydney University. Relegated club – Eastern Suburbs.
• 1985 Promoted club – Eastern Suburbs. Relegated club – St George.
• 1986 Promoted club – St George. Relegated club – Port Hacking
• Automatic promotion and relegation ended after the 1986 season.
• In 1989, Southern Districts took the place of St George (who had merged with Port Hacking to form the new club).
• In 1990 Northern Suburbs were promoted to 1st division.
• In 1991 Drummoyne were promoted to 1st division.
• Before the 1992 season, Hornsby took legal action against the Sydney Rugby Union seeking promotion in place of Drummoyne but failed, at least partly because the NSWRU had taken over the running of the Sydney rugby premiership for the 1992 season.
• The 2nd division ended after the 1992 season, with the NSWRU merging the 2nd division into the NSW Suburban RU competition.
• In 1995 Drummoyne were dropped from the Sydney (now NSWRU) premiership and Canberra, Newcastle and Penrith were added.
• In 2000 Newcastle were dropped from the NSWRU premiership.
• In 2001 Canberra were dropped from the NSWRU premiership.
• In 2004 Canberra were re-admitted to the NSWRU premiership.
• In 2006 Canberra were dropped from the NSWRU premiership.
• In 2007 Illawarra (Illawarriors) were admitted to the NSWRU premiership, but played only that season.
• In 2018, a few rounds into the season, Penrith were dropped from the (again) Sydney rugby premiership.
• In 2020, Penrith and Hunter (formerly Newcastle) Wildfires were re-admitted to the Sydney rugby premiership.
• Ahead of the 2022 season, Penrith were dropped again from the Sydney rugby premiership.

Former clubs

Below is a list of some of the clubs that have once competed in the Sydney rugby premiership.

Club	Location	Seasons played	Premier­ships	Notes
Balmain	Balmain	1874–1895	1	Won premiership (voted as premier club) in 1875. Currently playing in the NSWSRU Jeffrey Cup.
Waratah		1874–	1	Won premiership (voted as premier club) in 1874 (first Sydney rugby premiers). Were runners-up in 1876 and 1878.
Wallaroo	North Sydney	1874–1899	7	Won 7 premierships in period from 1876–1899, including the last premiership (1899) before the Sydney rugby premiership became a district competition in 1900. Also won 1 RAS Shield and 1 SCG Trophy. Combined with Pirates to form North Sydney (now Northern Suburbs) as a district club to enter the Sydney rugby premiership in 1900.
Redfern	Redfern	1883–1886	1	Won premiership (undefeated) in 1883
Burwood	Burwood	1883–1888	1	Won premiership in 1884
Gordon	Sydney	1886–1887	1	Won premiership in 1886. Not linked to Gordon club that entered Sydney rugby premiership in 1936 and still exists today. A majority of the players were from New Zealand who had settled in Sydney.
The Pirates	North Sydney	1893–1899	1	Won premiership in 1898, were runners-up in 1897, and won 3 RAS Shields from 1897–1899. Combined with Wallaroo to form North Sydney (now Northern Suburbs) as a district club to enter the Sydney rugby premiership in 1900.
Balmain District	Balmain	1900–1914	0	Merged with Glebe to form Glebe-Balmain in 1919.
Glebe	Glebe	1900–1914	7	Won 7 premierships from 1900–1914. Merged with Balmain to form Glebe-Balmain in 1919.
Newtown	Newtown	1900–1921	3	Won premierships in 1908 and 1910–11. Played every season in the Sydney rugby premiership from 1900–1921, except for 1919, when a team called Cambridge, based in Newtown, played instead.
South Sydney	Redfern	1900–1914	1	Won premiership in 1905.
Sydney District	Sydney	1905–1910	0	Runners-up in 1906.
St George	St George	1906–1988	1	Formed in 1906 and played in Sydney premiership from 1906-1914 and then again from 1928 onwards, except for when relegated to 2nd division in 1979 and 1985. Merged with Port Hacking to form Southern Districts before 1989 season.
Drummoyne	Drummoyne	1919–1994	2	Originally Glebe-Balmain and won 1 premiership under that name. Renamed in 1931 as Drummoyne and won 1 premiership under that name. Played every season in the Sydney rugby premiership from 1919–1978, until relegated to 2nd division, where it played from 1979–1990. Promoted to 1st division in 1991 and played in the premiership from 1991–1994, playing in 1994 as UTS-Drummoyne. Moved to NSWSRU in 1995 and remained there since, currently playing in the NSWSRU First Division competition.
Uni. of NSW	Kensington	1966–1979	0	Formed in 1949 and joined the Sydney Sub-Districts competition (now the NSWSRU competition) in 1951. Joined the Sydney premiership 2nd division in 1963 and played in that division from 1963–65. Promoted to 1st division in 1966 and played in that division from 1966–1979. Relegated to 2nd division in 1980 and played in that division from 1980–1992, when 2nd division ended. Moved to NSWSRU in 1993 and remained there since, currently playing in the NSWSRU Second Division competition.
Port Hacking	The Shire	1971–1985	0	Formed in 1957 as North Cronulla SLSC rugby club. Joined 2nd division when it started in 1962 and played there from 1962–1970, then promoted to 1st division in 1971. Played in 1st division from 1971–1978, then relegated to 2nd division in 1979 and played in that division from 1979–1982. Promoted to 1st division in 1983 and played in that division from 1983–1985. Relegated in 1986 and played in 2nd division from 1986–1988. Merged with St George to form Southern Districts before 1989 season.
Hornsby	Hornsby	1976–1981	0	Established in 1962 when it joined the newly created 2nd division. Promoted to 1st division in 1976, and remained there until relegated to 2nd division after 1978. Promoted back to 1st division for 1981 season, but relegated after that season. Remained in 2nd division until it was dissolved after 1992, although Hornsby unsuccessfully took legal action against the Sydney Rugby Union before the 1992 season seeking promotion at Drummoyne's expense. After the 1992 season, Drummoyne beat Hornsby in playoffs involving all grade teams and a colts' team to remain in 1st division. Hornsby joined the NSWSRU competition in 1993 and remained there until it left to join the Central Coast RU competition in 2015.
Macquarie Uni.	Macquarie Park	1976–1978	0	Established in 1967 and played in the Sub-Districts competition until the club joined 2nd division in 1971, before being promoted to 1st division in 1976. Played in 1st division until relegated to 2nd division after 1978. Played in 2nd division in 1979 but then relegated to 3rd division for the 1980 season, and stayed there until that division was dissolved after 1986. Macquarie Uni then joined the NSWSRU competition in 1987, where it remains, now in the lower divisions.
Newcastle	Newcastle	1995–1999	0	Played in Sydney rugby premiership as 'Newcastle Wildfires'.
Canberra	Canberra	1995–2000, 2004–2005	0	Played in Sydney rugby premiership as Canberra Kookaburras from 1995-1998 and Canberra Vikings from 1999-2000 and 2004–2005. Grand finalists in 1995. Didn't play in Sydney premiership in 2001–2003, when they instead played in and won the Brisbane club premiership all 3 years. Played in the National Rugby Championship from 2014–2019.
Central Coast	Central Coast	2006 (pre-season)	0	The Central Coast Waves participated in the 2006 Shute Shield (the pre-season competition before the Tooheys New Cup) playing home games at Central Coast Stadium. They defeated Eastern Suburbs RUFC and were crowned New South Wales Country Rugby Union Champions in the same year.
Penrith	Penrith	1995–2018, 2020–2021	0	Founded in 1965 as Nepean and changed name to Penrith in 1981. Joined Sydney premiership 2nd division in 1966 and played in that division from 1966–1980. Relegated to 3rd division in 1981 and played in that division from 1981–1983. Promoted to 2nd division in 1984 and played in that division from 1984–1992, when the division ended. Joined NSWSRU competition in 1993. Promoted to Sydney rugby premiership in 1995. *Removed from the Sydney premiership early in the 2018 season due to a failure to "meet the standards set for all clubs to compete at the premiership level". Returned in 2020, before being dropped from the competition again ahead of the 2022 season.

The following clubs also played in the Sydney premiership in the period after 1900:

• Cambridge (1919)
• YMCA (1919, 1923-1929)
• Mosman (1920)
• GPS Old Boys (1921-1924)
• Petersham (1922)
• Police (1929)
• Illawarra (Illawarriors) (2006 pre-season Shute Shield, 2007 Toohey New Cup)

Note: The Sydney premiership became the 1st division when a 2nd division was added for 31 seasons from 1962-1992.

Media coverage

From 1957 until 2014, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation had broadcast the Match of the Day from the Shute Shield competition in NSW/ACT every Saturday afternoon and replayed nationally on Tuesday mornings. The ABC ended its 57-year partnership with the competition at the completion of the 2014 season, following the Australian Government's decision to cut funding to the national broadcaster.

On 17 March 2015, Sydney Rugby formally announced that the Seven Network would become the new free-to-air Match of the Day broadcasters of the Shute Shield in NSW, commencing on 21 March on 7TWO showing a match between Eastern Suburbs and Gordon. The Prime Network broadcasts to regional areas of NSW. This agreement has since been renewed, with the current contract running through the 2024 season.

On November 9, 2020, Nine Network confirmed their broadcast deal with Rugby Australia, giving them the rights to the Shute Shield. Beginning in 2021, 4 games a season will be televised live on one of Nine's free-to-air channels. The remainder of the games will be broadcast live on streaming service Stan.

Competition format

The competition format currently involves an 18-week round-robin competition which is followed by a three-week play-off series culminating in a grand final. The playoffs are contested by the top six placed teams following the round-robin. The first week of the play-offs sees 1st play 6th, 2nd play 5th and 3rd play 4th. The lowest two losers are eliminated and the three winners plus the highest ranked loser proceed to week 2 of the play-offs. The two winners from week 2 proceed to the Grand Final in week 3.

Premiership results

• Up until 1886, the premiers were declared by the Union at an end-of-year meeting. It is not clear how the premiership was decided at these meetings.
• From 1886 to 1889, the season consisted of a round of games organised as a round-robin, with the premiership awarded to the team who finished the season at the top of the ladder. However, in 1887 there was a final to decide the premier.
• In 1890 and 1891, there was a final played after a round robin.
• From 1892–1898, after the round-robin first round, there were knockout competitions held to determine the winners of the RAS Shield and the SCG Trophy, with the results counting for premiership points and with the premiership awarded to the team who finished the season at the top of the ladder. In 1899 the results of the knockout matches did not count for premiership points.
• From 1900 onwards, the season consisted of either one or two rounds of round-robin games. The premiership was awarded to the team who finished the season at the top of the ladder. After 1907 there was a final played in some years after the round-robin.
• In 1919 and 1920, the premiership returned to the previous structure of a round-robin. Again, the premiership was awarded to the team who finished the season at the top of the ladder.
• From 1921, there was a final played in some years after the round robin.
• From 1932, the premiership was decided by a Grand Final.
• For 1987-88 a NSW Championship existed alongside the Shute Shield. The first grade teams played for the rebel NSW Championship, while the Shield contained clubs from the lower grades.
• In 2000 a challenge shield in the name of Sir Roden Cutler VC was introduced, with the holders to defend it each time they play a ‘home’ game. It was initially awarded to Eastwood in recognition of their Shute Shield win in 1999.
• From 2002 to 2006, the Shute Shield was awarded for a pre-season competition.

The Premier Club of the Colony

Season	Premiers	Runners-up
1874	Waratah
1875	Balmain
1876	Wallaroo
1877	Wallaroo
1878	Wallaroo
1879	Wallaroo
1880	Wallaroo
1881	Sydney University
1882	Sydney University

The Gardiner Challenge Cup

Season	Final			Minor Premiers
	Premiers	Score	Runners-up
1883	Redfern	No final	Sydney University
1884	Burwood	No final	Sydney University
1885	Sydney University	No final	Wallaroo
1886	Gordon	No final	Sydney University
1887	Sydney University	12-0	Arfoma	Sydney University
1888	Sydney University	No final	Arfoma
1889	Sydney University	No final	Strathfield

The Royal Agricultural Society Shield & The Sydney Cricket Ground Trophy

Season	Final			Minor Premiers	RAS Shield	SCG Trophy
	Premiers	Score	Runners-up
1890	Sydney University	31-6	Strathfield	Sydney University	Sydney University
1891	Sydney University	28–8	Zealandia	Sydney University	Sydney University
1892	Wallaroo	3–0	Sydney University	Wallaroo	Wallaroo	Randwick
1893	Sydney University	3–0	Randwick	Sydney University	Sydney University	Sydney University
1894	Randwick	8–0	Wallaroo	Wallaroo	Randwick	Randwick
1895	Randwick	13–8 (Randwick bt Wallaroo in RAS final)	Sydney University	Randwick	Randwick	Sydney University
1896	Randwick	9–0 (Wentworth bt Wallaroo in RAS final)	Wentworth	Randwick	Wentworth	Randwick
1897	Randwick	17–6	Pirates	Randwick	Pirates	Randwick
1898	Pirates	9–3	Sydney	Wallaroo	Pirates	Randwick
1899	Wallaroo	10–0 (Pirates bt Wallaroo in RAS final)	Randwick	Wallaroo	Pirates	Wallaroo

The District Premiership

Season	Final			Minor Premiers
	Premiers	Score	Runners-up
1900	Glebe	No final	Sydney University	Glebe
1901	Glebe Sydney University	No final		Sydney University
1902	Western Suburbs	No final	Sydney University	Western Suburbs
1903	Eastern Suburbs	No final	Glebe	Eastern Suburbs
1904	Sydney University	No final	North Sydney	Sydney University
1905	South Sydney	No final	Glebe	South Sydney
1906	Glebe	No final	Sydney District	Glebe
1907	Glebe	13–10	Sydney University	Glebe
1908	Newtown	17–0	Sydney University	Sydney University
1909	Glebe	17–6	South Sydney	Glebe
1910	Newtown	No final	South Sydney	Newtown
1911	Newtown	27–10	Sydney University	Sydney University
1912	Glebe	6–5	Western Suburbs	Sydney University
1913	Eastern Suburbs	No final	Glebe	Eastern Suburbs
1914	Glebe	No final	South Sydney	Glebe
1915	No Competition
1916	No Competition
1917	No Competition
1918	No Competition
1919	Sydney University	No final	Glebe-Balmain	Sydney University
1920	Sydney University	No final	Eastern Suburbs	Sydney University
1921	Eastern Suburbs	9–6	Manly	Manly
1922	Manly	6–6	Glebe-Balmain	Manly

The Shute Shield

Season	Final			Minor Premiers
	Premiers	Score	Runners-up
1923	Sydney University	23–14	Glebe-Balmain	Glebe-Balmain
1924	Sydney University	18–0	Western Suburbs	Western Suburbs
1925	Glebe-Balmain	No final	Western Suburbs	Glebe-Balmain
1926	Sydney University	19–15	Randwick	Randwick
1927	Sydney University	No final	YMCA Sydney	Sydney University
1928	Sydney University	38–11	YMCA Sydney	YMCA Sydney
1929	Western Suburbs	18–9	Northern Suburbs	Northern Suburbs
1930	Randwick	No final	Glebe-Balmain	Randwick
1931	Eastern Suburbs	16–9	Manly	Manly
1932	Manly	12–9	Drummoyne	Manly
1933	Northern Suburbs	8–6	Manly	Manly
1934	Randwick	13–12	Manly	Randwick
1935	Northern Suburbs	22–5	Manly	Manly
1936	Drummoyne	19–18	Sydney University	Randwick
1937	Sydney University	14–3	Western Suburbs	Western Suburbs
1938	Randwick	26–12	Western Suburbs	Randwick
1939	Sydney University	25–17	Randwick	Gordon
1940	Randwick	20–10	Manly	Randwick
1941	Eastern Suburbs	9–6	Sydney University	Eastern Suburbs
1942	Manly	22–6	Sydney University	Sydney University
1943	Manly	5–0	Eastern Suburbs	Manly
1944	Eastern Suburbs	7–3	Sydney University	Randwick
1945	Sydney University	11–3	Parramatta	Randwick
1946	Eastern Suburbs	23–12	Randwick	Randwick
1947	Eastern Suburbs	32–6	Manly	Manly
1948	Randwick	27–14	Manly	Randwick
1949	Gordon	12–3	Sydney University	Gordon
1950	Manly	21–5	Gordon	Gordon
1951	Sydney University	22–16	Eastern Suburbs	Sydney University
1952	Gordon	19–6	Manly	Gordon
1953	Sydney University	29–6	Eastern Suburbs	Eastern Suburbs
1954	Sydney University	22–17	St. George	St. George
1955	Sydney University	21–8	Gordon	Gordon
1956	Gordon	13–11	St. George	Gordon
1957	St. George	21–3	Gordon	Gordon
1958	Gordon	13–3	Manly	Manly Gordon (Joint Minor Premiers)
1959	Randwick	16–0	Northern Suburbs	Randwick
1960	Northern Suburbs	21–3	Manly	Northern Suburbs
1961	Sydney University	6–0	Drummoyne	St. George
1962	Sydney University	14–0	Randwick	Sydney University
1963	Northern Suburbs	21–12	Sydney University	Randwick
1964	Northern Suburbs	27–13	Sydney University	Drummoyne
1965	Randwick	26–5	Northern Suburbs	Sydney University
1966	Randwick	30–11	Eastwood	Randwick
1967	Randwick	19–16	Gordon	Randwick
1968	Sydney University	22–6	Manly	Sydney University
1969	Eastern Suburbs	16–12	Gordon	Eastern Suburbs
1970	Sydney University	24–14	Eastern Suburbs	Eastern Suburbs
1971	Randwick	21–3	Manly	Randwick
1972	Sydney University	10–6	Gordon	Sydney University
1973	Randwick	15–12	Western Suburbs	Western Suburbs
1974	Randwick	10–9	Parramatta	Parramatta
1975	Northern Suburbs	9–6	Parramatta	Randwick
1976	Gordon	33–4	Eastwood	Gordon
1977	Parramatta	17–9	Randwick	Parramatta
1978	Randwick	22–10	Eastern Suburbs	Randwick
1979	Randwick	34–3	Parramatta	Parramatta
1980	Randwick	41–3	Gordon	Randwick
1981	Randwick	33–15	Manly	Randwick
1982	Randwick	21–12	Warringah	Manly
1983	Manly	12–10	Randwick	Randwick
1984	Randwick	21–9	Parramatta	Warringah
1985	Parramatta	19–12	Randwick	Randwick
1986	Parramatta	30–12	Randwick	Randwick

The NSW Championship

Season	Final			Minor Premiers
	Premiers	Score	Runners-up
1987	Randwick	19–16	Warringah	Warringah
1988	Randwick	26–13	Warringah	Randwick

The Sydney Rugby Premiership

Season	Final			Minor Premiers
	Premiers	Score	Runners-up
1989	Randwick	19–6	Eastwood	Randwick
1990	Randwick	32–9	Eastern Suburbs	Randwick
1991	Randwick	28–9	Eastern Suburbs	Randwick
1992	Randwick	28–14	Gordon	Gordon
1993	Gordon	23–19	Warringah	Gordon
1994	Randwick	36–16	Warringah	Randwick
1995	Gordon	24–11	Canberra	Gordon
1996	Randwick	28–6	Warringah	Warringah
1997	Manly	34–19	Eastwood	Manly
1998	Gordon	40–17	Northern Suburbs	Gordon
1999	Eastwood	34–17	Sydney University	Sydney University
2000	Randwick	36–33	Sydney University	Eastern Suburbs
2001	Sydney University	27–20	Eastwood	Northern Suburbs
2002	Eastwood	19–15	Sydney University	Eastwood
2003	Eastwood	29–14	Randwick	Eastwood
2004	Randwick	35–22	Eastwood	Randwick
2005	Sydney University	41–5	Eastwood	Sydney University
2006	Sydney University	16–10	Randwick	Randwick
2007	Sydney University	34–11	Eastern Suburbs	Sydney University
2008	Sydney University	45–20	Randwick	Sydney University
2009	Sydney University	24–19	Randwick	Sydney University
2010	Sydney University	46–6	Randwick	Eastwood
2011	Eastwood	19–16	Sydney University	Eastwood
2012	Sydney University	15–14	Southern Districts	Eastwood
2013	Sydney University	51–6	Eastwood	Eastwood
2014	Eastwood	33–13	Southern Districts	Manly
2015	Eastwood	15–12	Manly	Manly
2016	Northern Suburbs	28–15	Sydney University	Sydney University
2017	Warringah	30–25	Northern Suburbs	Manly
2018	Sydney University	45–12	Warringah	Sydney University
2019	Sydney University	21–16	Warringah	Sydney University
2020	Gordon	28–8	Eastwood	Gordon
2021	Competition cancelled - COVID-19 pandemic
2022	Sydney University	26–19	Gordon	Northern Suburbs
2023	Randwick	17–15	Northern Suburbs
2024	Eastern Suburbs	36–35	Northern Suburbs	Eastern Suburbs

Sir Roden Cutler VC Shield (commenced 2000)

Arthur Roden Cutler (1916-2002) was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry in Syria in 1941 during WWII, knighted in 1965 after many diplomatic postings and is the longest-serving governor in the history of NSW.

Introduced at the beginning of the 2000 season, this trophy honours a great supporter of the game of rugby. The Shield was initially held by Eastwood (1999 premiers) and is defended at each home game by the current holder

Year	Winner/Defender	Round in which Shield was won	Number of successful defences	Notes
2000	Eastwood	0	0	Shute Shield winner 1999
	Southern Districts	1	5
	Eastwood	12	4+	Holder end 2000
2001	West Harbour			Details to come
2002	Sydney University			Details to come
	Eastern Suburbs			Details to come
2003	Randwick			Details to come
2004	Randwick			Details to come
2005	Sydney University			Details to come
2006	Sydney University			33+ successful defences
2007	Sydney University
2008	Sydney University
2009	Sydney University
2010	Randwick	1	1
	Eastern Suburbs	3	0
	Manly	5	1
	Sydney University	9	6
2011	Eastwood	2	11
2012	Eastern Suburbs	4	2
	Sydney University	10	0
	Eastwood	11	1
	Manly	14	1
	Northern Suburbs	18	2
2013	Southern Districts	5	1
	Sydney University	7	6
2014	Manly	4	17
2015	Manly
2016	Sydney University	4	0
	West Harbour	6	0
	Randwick	7	1
	Southern Districts	11	2
	Randwick	16	0
	Warringah	18	0
2017	Northern Suburbs	1	3
	Randwick	8	2
	Warringah	13	2
	Manly	16	1
2018	Northern Suburbs	2	3
	Eastern Suburbs	10	1
	Southern Districts	14	0
	Sydney University	16	1
2019	Eastern Suburbs	1	0
	Warringah	2	7
2020	Sydney University	1	2
	Southern Districts	5	0
	Randwick	6	0
	Eastwood	7	3
	Gordon	13	3
2021	Eastwood	9	4	Short year
2022	Randwick	1	0
	Manly	3	5
	Wildfires	15	0
	Randwick	16	2
2023	Northern Suburbs	3	1
	Eastwood	6	2
	Sydney University	10	1
	Parramatta	14	0
	Randwick	16	9
2024	Eastwood	17

n.b. records are very incomplete (2000-2009) and will be progressively updated

Individual awards

Ken Catchpole Medal

Year	Player	Team
1981	Neale Murphy	Western Suburbs
1982	Geoff Richards	Eastern Suburbs
1983	Peter Lucas	St. George
1984	Richard Moriarty	Western Suburbs
1985	Phillip Cox	Manly
1986	Peter Lucas	St. George
1986	David Niu	St. George
1986	Sione Tahaafe	Eastwood
1987	Steve Lidbury	Warringah
1988	Jim Fewtrell	Warringah
1989	Simon Poidevin	Randwick
1990	Matt Foldi	Warringah
1991	Marty Roebuck	Eastwood
1992	Ross Reynolds	Gordon
1993	Phil Kearns	Randwick
1994	Mark Catchpole	Warringah
1995	Nick Harvey	Northern Suburbs
1996	Dirk Williams	Eastern Suburbs
1997	Adam Leach	Eastwood
1998	Mark Catchpole	Sydney University
1999	Peter Besseling	Penrith
1999	Keith Gleeson	Northern Suburbs
2000	Sam Harris	Warringah
2001	Des Tuiavi'i	West Harbour
2002	Scott Fava	Eastwood
2003	Scott Fava	Eastwood
2004	Scott Fava	Eastwood
2005	Tim Donnelly	Eastwood
2006	Peter Hewat	Manly
2007	Gavin DeBartolo	Eastern Suburbs
2008	Scott Fardy	Warringah
2008	Dave Harvey	Gordon
2009	Andrew Smith	Northern Suburbs
2010	Brendan McKibbin	Eastern Suburbs
2011	Dave Harvey	Northern Suburbs
2012	Hamish Angus	Warringah
2013	Hugh Perrett	Eastwood
2014	Hamish Angus	Warringah
2015	David Horwitz	Randwick
2016	Will Miller	Northern Suburbs
2017	Tayler Adams	West Harbour
2018	Adrian Musico	Two Blues
2019	Hamish Angus	Warringah
2020	Mahe Vailanu	Gordon
2021	Not Awarded
2022	Max Douglas	Manly

Fairfax/Herald Cup

Year	Player	Team
1949	Bill Barry	Manly
1950	Alan Cameron	St. George
1951	R. Jacobs	Sydney University
1952	Brian Johnson	Gordon
1953	Boyd Blackburn	Northern Suburbs
1954	Alan Cameron	St. George
1955	R. Love	Drummoyne
1956	David Emanuel	Eastern Suburbs
1957	Don Logan	Gordon
1958	Ken Thornett	Randwick
1959	Ken Catchpole	Randwick
1960	Ken Catchpole	Randwick
1961	David Jackson	Eastwood
1962	Alan Cameron	St. George
1962	Terry Casey	St. George
1963	Jim Briggs	Randwick
1964	Ivan Mann	Parramatta
1965	Jim Briggs	Randwick
1966	Bill Harris	UNSW
1966	Bruce Battishall	St. George
1967	Ken Catchpole	Randwick
1968	Peter Crittle	Eastern Suburbs
1969	Michael Stynes	Randwick
1970	Rex Batterham	Gordon
1971	Russell Fairfax	Randwick
1972	Ray Price	Parramatta
1973	Wayne Florentine	Manly
1974	Bruce Buchan	Port Hacking
1975
1976	Ken Bousfield	Western Suburbs
1977	Rupert Rosenblum	Sydney University
1978	Geoff Richards	Eastern Suburbs
1979	Grant Andrews	Warringah
1980	Grant Andrews	Warringah
1981	Peter Lucas	St. George
1982	Geoff Richards	Eastern Suburbs
1983	Mick Mathers	Eastwood
1984	Richard Moriarty	Western Suburbs
1985	Neale Murphy	Western Suburbs
1986	Peter Lucas	St. George
1987	Fetaiaki Langi	Western Suburbs

See also

• Australian club championship rugby union
• List of Australian club rugby union competitions
• New South Wales Rugby Union
• New South Wales Waratahs
• List of oldest rugby union competitions

External links

• Official website
• "2007 Tooheys New Shute Shield Draw". nswrugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 May 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
• "2007 Tooheys New Shute Shield Draw". nswrugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 May 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2007.

Sydney Premier Rugby seasons
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