City New South Wales rugby league team

City

Team information
Governing body	New South Wales Rugby League
Head coach	Brad Fittler
Captain	Paul Gallen
Most caps	12 - Sidney Pearce Junior
Top try-scorer	11 - Brian Carlson
Top point-scorer	91 - Michael Cronin
Team results
First game
City 29–8 Country (10 June 1911)
First City vs Country Origin
City Origin 30–22 Country Origin (May 16th 1987)
Biggest win
City 55–2 Country (May 17th 1980)
Biggest defeat
Country Origin 42–10 City Origin (Jun 8th 2001)

The Sydney Rugby League team, known as the City Rugby League team, or Combined Sydney, or Sydney Firsts, or Sydney Capitals, is a representative rugby league team. From 2021, the men's team is to consist of players selected from the New South Wales Rugby League Ron Massey Cup competition to play against a combined team selected from Country, New South Wales competitions. The women's team is selected on a region of origin basis from the NSWRL Women's Premiership.

The reorganisation in 2021 means the Sydney / City team is selected from a third-tier competition, as the Ron Massey Cup sits below the first-tier National Rugby League and the second-tier New South Wales Cup. Previously, the Sydney / City team was selected from the first-tier competition. The first match by a Sydney Metropolitan team was held in 1909 against New Zealand. The first match against a Country repsresentative team was held in 1911. Matches by Sydney against international touring teams continued until the 1970s. Annual matches by City against Country were played in most years until 1993. A City vs Country Origin match was introduced in 1987 and this ran until 2017, with a three season hiatus in the years 1998 to 2000.

History[]

The New South Wales City team first competed against New South Wales Country on 10 June 1911 which City won 29-8. The first time the match was made an annual event began in 1928 with NSW Country defeating City 35-34. The first City V Country origin match occurred on May 16, 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.^[1]

On May 14, 2017, the final City v Country fixture was played with NSW City defeating Country 20-8.^[2][3]

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[]

2021 Squad[]

The following players were selected from the Ron Massey Cup to play in the City Men's team on 16 May, 2021 at Collegians Sporting Complex, Wollongong.^[4]

No.	Pos.	Player	Club
1	Fullback	Jake Toby	St Marys Saints
2	Winger	Lorenzo Mulitalo	Hills District Bulls
3	Centre	Leva Li	Hills District Bulls
4	Centre	Semisi Kioa	Ryde-Eastwood Hawks
5	Winger	Eli Roberts	Glebe Dirty Reds
6	Five-Eighth	Kamren Cryer	Mounties
7	Halfback	Zac Greene	St Marys Saints
8	Prop	Danny Fualalo	Cabramatta Two Blues
9	Hooker	Soni Luke	St Marys Saints
10	Prop	Anton Iaria	St Marys Saints
11	Second Row	Kane McQuiggin	Mounties
12	Second Row	Matt Stimson	St Marys Saints
13	Lock	Alec Susino	St Marys Saints
14	Interchange	Kieran Hayman	Wentworthville Magpies
15	Interchange	Caleb Uele	Glebe Dirty Reds
16	Interchange	Jack Miller	Mounties
17	Interchange	Niko Apelu	Wentworthville Magpies
18	Interchange	Toni Tupouniua	Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles
CH	Coach	Brett Cook

Match Details[]

16 May 2021 12:30 PM

City Origin	38 – 12	Country Origin
Tries: 7 Jake Toby 2 Danny Fualalo Zac Greene Semisi Kioa Kane McQuiggin Kieran Hayman Goals: 5 Zac Greene 5	Report[5]	Tries: 2 Chanse Perham Jake Goodwin Goals: 2 Hamish Oxley 2

Collegians Sporting Complex, Wollongong, New South Wales Referee: Daniel Luttringer Player of the Match: Soni Luke

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.

2021 Squad[]

The following players were selected in the City Origin Women's team to play on 15 May, 2021 at Bankwest Stadium.^[4]

No.	Pos.	Player	Age	2021 NSWRL State Club	2020 NRLW Club
1	Fullback	Botille Vette-Welsh	25	Wests Tigers	Sydney Roosters
2	Winger	Jocephy Daniels		Mounties	Yet to play NRLW
3	Centre	Jessica Sergis	24	Helensburgh Tigers	St George Illawarra Dragons
4	Centre	Tiana Penitani	26	Cronulla Sharks	St George Illawarra Dragons
5	Winger	Shanice Parker	33	North Sydney Bears	Sydney Roosters
6	Five-Eighth	Corban McGregor	28	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Sydney Roosters
7	Halfback	Maddison Studdon	27	Cronulla Sharks	St George Illawarra Dragons
8	Prop	Filomina Hanisi	21	Mounties	Sydney Roosters
9	Hooker	Quincy Dodd	22	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Sydney Roosters
10	Prop	Kennedy Cherrington	23	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Sydney Roosters
11	Second Row	Sarah Togatuki	24	St Marys Saints	Sydney Roosters
12	Second Row	Talei Holmes	22	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	St George Illawarra Dragons
13	Lock	Simaima Taufa	28	Mounties	Sydney Roosters
14	Interchange	Renee Targett		North Sydney Bears	Yet to play NRLW
15	Interchange	Stephanie Ball	21	Mounties	New Zealand Warriors
16	Interchange	Aliti Namoce Sagano	24	North Sydney Bears	2019 Sydney Roosters
17	Interchange	Shirley Mailangi		South Sydney Rabbitohs	Yet to play NRLW
18	Interchange	Taina Naividi		Mounties	Yet to play NRLW
CH	Coach	Lisa Fiaola		North Sydney Bears

Match Details[]

14 May 2017

City Origin	20 – 8	Country Origin

North Sydney Oval, North Sydney, New South Wales

15 May 2021 2:35 PM

City Origin	40 – 16	Country Origin
Tries: 9 Jessica Sergis 3 Shanice Parker 2 Jocephy Daniels 2 Tiana Penitani Corban Baxter Goals: 2 Maddie Studdon 2	Report[6]	Tries: 3 Jocelyn Kelleher Tayla Predebon Rachael Pearson Goals: 2 Rachael Pearson 2

Bankwest Stadium, Parramatta, New South Wales Referee: Cameron Turner Player of the Match: Jessica Sergis

2017 final City vs Country Origin Match[]

Squad[]

Match Details[]

7 May 2017 4:00pm (AEST)

Country Origin	10 – 20	City Origin
Tries: Anthony Don (36') 1 Adam Elliott (58') 1 Goals: Michael Gordon 1/2 (38')	[7]	Tries: 1 (10') David Gower 1 (49') James Tamou 1 (80') Bryce Cartwright Goals: 3/3 Clint Gutherson (12', 40' pen, 51') 1/1 Paul Gallen (80')

Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium, Mudgee, New South Wales Attendance: 8,322 Referee: Ashley Klein, Alan Shortall Player of the Match: James Tamou

See also[]

• List of New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players
• Brisbane rugby league team
• Newcastle rugby league team
• Country New South Wales rugby league team

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• City vs Country History