The movement at the University of Sydney to be involved in the new game of rugby league began in 1919 with a number of players viewing a game of the new code and deciding to switch codes. As put by Herbert Vere Evatt at the time the reasons were:
Anti-rugby league prejudice
From the very beginning, the Students struggled to gain acceptance by the University Sports Association who displayed great prejudice toward those who had left the rugby union side to play rugby league. Indeed, players who participated in rugby league matches were threatened with disqualification from ever playing rugby union at Oxford University or University of Cambridge and the Sports Association forbid the club from training on the University Oval. While public pressure forced the Association to relent, the club never once played a game at the University Oval during its involvement in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership.
1926 Grand Final
The highlight of the Students' 18 seasons in the NSWRL Premiership was their one and only finals appearance. To get to the Grand Final at the Sydney Agricultural Ground University had to defeat Glebe which they did comfortably 29 - 3, though in the Grand Final were defeated 5 - 11 by Souths in front of 20,000 people.
Generally, the amateur students struggled to perform against the professional players of the other sides and University enjoyed very little success only winning 44 of its 226 games during its time in the Premiership. The club did not win a single match in 1935, continuing a losing streak that started in round 2, 1934 and which would run till round 14, 1936 and which marked the most consecutive losses in NSWRL/NRL premiership history at 42. This run of form, in addition to having spent 12 of its 18 seasons in last place prompted their decision to withdraw from the Premiership at the close of the 1937 season.
Life After the Premiership
did not perish at the University of Sydney and sides representing the University continued to play in various competitions. Most notably, Varsity played in the NSWRL Inter-District Competition, Second Division and Metropolitan League between 1963 and 1976, finishing as Second Division runners-up in 1969 and 1971, both times to the leading side of the day Wentworthville.
Year
Premiers
Runners-up
Score
1969
Wentworthville Magpies
University
20-2
1971
Wentworthville Magpies
University
21-15
Wills Cup
As runners-up in the 1969 Second Division, University were invited to compete in the NSWRL pre-season competition in 1970. Despite the inclusion of mature players from other metropolitan University clubs and professional coaches, the sides were too inexperienced and light to compete with the senior club sides. University finished 13th in the competition with 1 win from 4 games, with a points differential of -29.
University Shield Competition
In 1922 the University of Sydney Club presented the league with a shield for use as a trophy in a statewide High School Rugby League knockout competition. The competition became known as the 'University Shield' and is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious competitions in schoolboy rugby league. The University Shield has undergone various changes in format since its inception in 1922, the most notable of these having been the exclusion of specialised 'Sports High Schools' which dominated the competition between 1996-2006 in a spirit deemed 'untrue' to the traditional concept of the competition.
Sydney Shield
In December 2018, it was revealed that University would be competing in the Sydney Shield competition. At the end of the 2019 Sydney Shield season, University finished 10th on the table.
