City New South Wales rugby league team

History

The New South Wales City team first competed against New South Wales Country on 10 June 1911 which City won 2–8. The first time the match was made an annual event began in 1928 with NSW Country defeating City 35–34.

A Sydney team was assembled for the 1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand. The first City V Country origin match occurred on 16 May 1987 with City running out winners 30–22.

In 2016, it was announced by the NRL that the City V Country fixture was to be scrapped beyond the 2017 season. The reasons behind the decision were to clubs pulling their players out of the match and others cited player drain as a reason for the fixture to be culled. There was also a sentiment that the fixture had gone from being a genuine audition match for a potential New South Wales origin jersey to being a regular game as most of the New South Wales side had already been picked prior to the match starting.

On 14 May 2017, the final City v Country fixture was played with NSW City defeating Country 20–8.

Overall, New South Wales City were much more successful than New South Wales Country winning a total of 68 games in the annual fixture as opposed to Country's 22 wins with City winning each year from 1976 to 1991.

Location

Any players whose junior football was played for a club within the greater area of Sydney city is deemed eligible to play for the City RL. Meanwhile, anyone from outside the Sydney area can be considered for selection for Country RL Team.

Men's City v Country Match

2022 Squad

The City squad for the 2022 Open Age Men's match against Country. The team is coached by Brett Cook.

Note: Eli Levido, Manaia Rudolph, Caleb Uele (all Glebe) and Semisi Kioa (Mounties) were named in the selected squad but are not named in the programme.

Women's City vs Country Match

City v Country Women's matches were occasionally played prior to the re-introduction of a stand-alone match in 2017. In 2018 and 2019 the games were played within the National Championships. The 2020 National Championships were cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia. In 2021 the National Championships were reorganised, and an open age City v Country Women's Origin was scheduled separately from the National Championships.

2022 Squad

The following players were selected in the City Origin Women's team to play on 14 May 2022 at 4 Pines Park. The team was coached by Darrin Borthwick.

Match details

2017 final City vs Country Origin Match

Main article: City vs Country Origin

Squad

Match details

References

References

1. "NRL 2015: How will the City v Country fixture be remembered?".
2. (May 2017). "City v Country Origin: Full-strength line-ups if it were a genuine NSW Origin trial".
3. (20 November 2016). "NRL scraps City v Country fixture, last edition to be played in Mudgee in 2017". ABC News.
4. (4 May 2022). "Country and City squads announced for rep weekend".
5. Newton, Alicia. (15 May 2021). "Studdon puts hand up for Origin recall as City beat Country".
6. https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/city-vs-country-2017/nsw-country-vs-nsw-city.html {{Dead link. (February 2022)