NRL State Championship
The National Rugby League State Championship is a rugby league game contested between the winners of the New South Wales Cup and the Queensland Cup and is organised by the NRL. The game was introduced for the 2014 NRL season and was played immediately before the 2014 NRL Grand Final at Stadium Australia.
History
The origins of the NRL State Championship can be traced back to an idea from the Queensland media during the 1984 Brisbane Rugby League season when two of the greatest club sides Australia has ever seen had agreed to play a one-off match. Those were the days when the competitions of the Sydney Rugby League premiership and the Brisbane Rugby League premiership operated independently of each other with the only exception being State of Origin time, when players crossed paths. While the New South Wales media's general consensus was always that Sydney-based NSWRL was the premier and stronger of the two major rugby league competition, all seemed to be set for the one-off match before the NSWRL hierarchy stepped in and put a stop to the proposed match.The 1984 Brisbane Rugby League Wynnum-Manly Seagulls team was unquestionably Queensland's best, the team defeated a Southern Suburbs Districts Magpies side coached by Wayne Bennett and boasting names such as Gary Belcher, Mal Meninga, Peter Jackson, Bob Lindner in the 1984 Brisbane Rugby League Grand Final by a record 42–8 scoreline. Many supporters north of the border believe they were also better than the 1984 Sydney Rugby League champion team the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. The Brisbane media were so confident about the strength of this super Wynnum side that they suggested a challenge match between the Seagulls and the Sydney Premiers Canterbury Bankstown.
It was an idea liked by the QRL, but if the suggestion is that the NSWRL were the roadblock, Canterbury prop Peter Tunks said the Bulldogs players and officials were just as keen to make the game happen as their northern rivals. "There was talk in the media about it and we were keen to play it because they obviously had a pretty good side with Wally, Gene Miles, Greg Dowling but we loved playing anybody back in those days", Tunks said. "We knew that it was a decent comp in Brisbane but we obviously didn't think it was as strong as the Sydney comp because this was the be-all and end-all. At Canterbury, we really loved a challenge and we would have loved the opportunity of going up against a team full of great players like they had. It's like anything, to be the best you have to beat the best and that was our attitude but unfortunately it didn't come off. I don't know where we were supposed to play but it would have been good fun."
The NRL State Championship is marketed as "The best New South Wales club verses the best Queensland club". However, in both the New South Wales and Queensland Cups there are clubs based outside their respective states:
- New Zealand Warriors based in Auckland, Auckland Region, New Zealand '
- Papua New Guinea Hunters based in Port Moresby, Central Province, Papua New Guinea '
- Tweed Heads Seagulls based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia
Results
From 2014 New South Wales Cup Premiers will play against the Queensland Cup Premiers as a curtain-raiser match on NRL Grand Final day, with the winner to be crowned the NRL State Champions. From 2014 until 2017 the match was played after the NRL Youth Grand Final and before the NRL Grand Final. In 2018 the match was played after the NRL Women's Grand Final and before the NRL Grand Final. From 2019 the match will be played before the NRL Women's Grand Final and the NRL Grand Final.| Season | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Venue |
| 2014 | Northern Pride | 32 – 28 | Penrith Panthers | ANZ Stadium |
| 2015 | Ipswich Jets | 26 – 12 | Newcastle Knights | ANZ Stadium |
| 2016 | Illawarra Cutters | 54 – 12 | Burleigh Bears | ANZ Stadium |
| 2017 | Penrith Panthers | 42 – 18 | PNG Hunters | ANZ Stadium |
| 2018 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 42 – 18 | Redcliffe Dolphins | ANZ Stadium |
| 2019 | Newtown Jets | 20 – 16 | Burleigh Bears | ANZ Stadium |