The game wasn't "built" in Sydney. It was exported to Sydney and Brisbane in 1908 by New Zealanders who learnt about the sport while touring England in 1907. The sport was invented by the English in 1906.
Here's an excerpt from a great article on The Roar about the origins of rugby league in Brisbane and Sydney:
Beginnings – 1907 to 1908
The history of rugby league in Queensland began mere months after the first steps taken down south, but Brisbane had already seen games of various codes of football for decades. For example, the first recorded official game of ‘Victorian rules’ played in Brisbane occurred in 1866 and this code was the premier game in South East Queensland until the late 1880s, being the game of choice in the grammar schools.
However, the sport of rugby union was gaining popularity, particularly since it provided opportunities for spirited representative fixtures against NSW. The first of these was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1882 and the following year saw Queensland defeat NSW in Brisbane, significantly adding to the game’s popularity. In 1887 the grammar schools in South East Queensland voted to defect from Victorian rules to rugby union, cementing its place as the state’s premier code.
Less than a decade later the seeds for change were planted in the north of England when in 1895 a Northern Union was formed, splitting from the rugby establishment and allowing compensation payments to injured players. Rugby league was born, sort of. It wasn’t until 1906 that the rules of the games significantly diverged when the play-the-ball was introduced and teams were reduced to 13-a-side.
Only 12 months later, New Zealand had formed a breakaway team and the ‘All Golds’ set off on a historic tour of Great Britain, playing against ‘Northern Union’ teams. Meanwhile, powerbrokers in Sydney established the NSW Rugby League in August 1907 and signed rugby union pin-up boy Dally Messenger along with many others to launch a competition in 1908. The All Golds played a series against NSW in August 1907 before heading to Europe (using rugby union rules as the league rules had not yet been obtained by the locals). Dally Messenger proved such a drawcard that he was invited on the All Golds tour.
Rebels up in Brisbane were following a similar path, with the ‘Queensland Rugby Association’ being formed late in February 1908, just six months after their Sydney counterparts. It was considered too rushed to form a proper club competition in 1908. Instead, a series of representative fixtures and exhibition games were held. Three Queenslanders were selected in the first-ever Australian team, who played the All Golds in Sydney in May 1908 upon their return from Britain.
The following week, 16 May 1908 saw a Queensland team play the All Golds at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground, losing 34 to 12. Three further games were played in Brisbane as part of the tour. The Queenslanders were no match for the battle-hardened Kiwis, to the point that Dally Messenger switched sides and played for Queensland for their second encounter, helping the home side to a 12-all draw. Finally, on 30 May Brisbane hosted its first Test match, with New Zealand emerging victorious 24 to 12 in front of 6000 spectators.
A New Zealand Maori representative team toured South East Queensland through June, playing five matches. Then, in July 1908 we saw the very first interstate clashes between Queensland and NSW. It was not an auspicious beginning. The Queenslanders, still learning the rules and with no week-to-week competition, were no match for the New South Welshmen. NSW won the first two encounters in Sydney by a whopping combined 80 to 8 and a third encounter, featuring 12 out of 13 new selections for NSW, was a victory to the southerners by a more respectable 12 to 3. Over 11,000 spectators attended the games.
It would be another 14 years and a fair few one-sided matches before Queensland would win its first interstate match in 1922. From there, Queensland would win eight encounters in a row (and 17 from 24 over the next five years), showing how far the game had come in the north in a short time. Also, by 1923 the two interstate encounters drew a combined total of 57,000 spectators, showing just how quickly the game itself had grown.
Why did it take some decades for Queensland to catch up to NSW in interstate matches, despite the games themselves starting within months of each other? The answer lies in 1909 when the NSWRL swooped on the 1908/09 Wallabies and signed fourteen rebels to the new code.
This had the simultaneous effect of boosting NSW Rugby League and crippling its union rivals, but since not one of the players signed was from Queensland, it also concentrated rugby league talent south of the border and set Queensland Rugby League up for a long, hard road to parity. It was not until the 1920s that Queensland Rugby League were able to facilitate defections of their own from a crippled Queensland Rugby Union that some sort of parity was achieved.
But back in 1908 all that was still to come. The rules had been learnt and the appetite of spectators whetted. The stage was set for the 1909 inaugural Brisbane Rugby League season.
The following week, 16 May 1908 saw a Queensland team play the All Golds at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground, losing 34 to 12. Three further games were played in Brisbane as part of the tour. The Queenslanders were no match for the battle-hardened Kiwis, to the point that Dally Messenger switched sides and played for Queensland for their second encounter, helping the home side to a 12-all draw. Finally, on 30 May Brisbane hosted its first Test match, with New Zealand emerging victorious 24 to 12 in front of 6000 spectators.
A New Zealand Maori representative team toured South East Queensland through June, playing five matches. Then, in July 1908 we saw the very first interstate clashes between Queensland and NSW. It was not an auspicious beginning. The Queenslanders, still learning the rules and with no week-to-week competition, were no match for the New South Welshmen. NSW won the first two encounters in Sydney by a whopping combined 80 to 8 and a third encounter, featuring 12 out of 13 new selections for NSW, was a victory to the southerners by a more respectable 12 to 3. Over 11,000 spectators attended the games.
It would be another 14 years and a fair few one-sided matches before Queensland would win its first interstate match in 1922. From there, Queensland would win eight encounters in a row (and 17 from 24 over the next five years), showing how far the game had come in the north in a short time. Also, by 1923 the two interstate encounters drew a combined total of 57,000 spectators, showing just how quickly the game itself had grown.
Why did it take some decades for Queensland to catch up to NSW in interstate matches, despite the games themselves starting within months of each other? The answer lies in 1909 when the NSWRL swooped on the 1908/09 Wallabies and signed fourteen rebels to the new code.
This had the simultaneous effect of boosting NSW Rugby League and crippling its union rivals, but since not one of the players signed was from Queensland, it also concentrated rugby league talent south of the border and set Queensland Rugby League up for a long, hard road to parity. It was not until the 1920s that Queensland Rugby League were able to facilitate defections of their own from a crippled Queensland Rugby Union that some sort of parity was achieved.
But back in 1908 all that was still to come. The rules had been learnt and the appetite of spectators whetted. The stage was set for the 1909 inaugural Brisbane Rugby League season.
Four teams lined up in May 1909 for the first Brisbane Rugby League season – Fortitude Valley (inner city), South Brisbane and North Brisbane were all splits from existing rugby union clubs and they were joined by Toombul, the unofficial 1908 ‘Premiers’.
The competition was run by the Queensland Rugby League (first called the Queensland Rugby Association, then the Queensland Amateur Rugby League) with no separate Brisbane administrative body. Games were played at the Brisbane Cricket Ground (i.e. The Gabba, now the home of AFL’s Brisbane Lions). Players were paid for out of pocket expenses only.
Rugby league in Australia is well known to have begun its life with a few visionaries meeting in Sydney to form the NSWRL that…
www.theroar.com.au
NSWRL signed 14 players from the Wallabies in 1908. Queensland's rugby union players remained loyal to the QRU. This gave the NSWRL a huge advantage as they had established Wallabies playing in their competiton, whereas the BRL had to start from scratch against a full strength QRU. It wasn't until rugby union competitions in Queensland were suspended due to WWII that the balance of power shifted to Queensland, as the QRU's players switched over to the BRL. It's an example of NSWRL reigning supreme when they have all the advantages, but crumbling like a stack of cards when forced to play by the same rules.
You've now exposed yourself as a moron who doesn't know shit about rugby league in New Zealand, Queensland, England or even NSW!
