The NRL Under-20s (known commercially as the Holden Cup due to sponsorship from Holden) was the top league of professional rugby league for players aged 20 years or younger in Australasia. Contested by sixteen teams, the Under-20s competition commenced in 2008 and was originally known as the Toyota Cup.[1] The competition runs parallel to Australasia's professional competition, the National Rugby League, with NYC matches played immediately prior to the NRL games.[2] Similar to the NRL, the NYC enforces a salary cap and puts a heavy focus on life outside football for the players.[3]

National Youth Competition (Holden Cup)
National Youth Competition logo
SportRugby league
Instituted2008
Inaugural season2008
Ceased2017
Replaced byJersey Flegg Cup
Hastings Deering Colts
Number of teams16
Countries Australia (15 teams)
 New Zealand (1 team)
Premiers Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (2017)
Most titles New Zealand Warriors (3 titles)
WebsiteOfficial Holden Cup website
Broadcast partner
Related competitionNational Rugby League
Jersey Flegg Cup
Hastings Deering Colts

The New Zealand Warriors were the most successful club in the competition's short history, with three premierships from four Grand Final appearances; in 2010, 2011 and 2014. In 2018, the NRL Under-20s was replaced by state-based under-20s competitions in New South Wales and Queensland.[4]

History

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The NRL Under-20s succeeded the Jersey Flegg Cup in 2008, which existed from 1961 to 2007. The competition was administered by the New South Wales Rugby League as an under-19s competition, until it was changed to an under-20s competition in 1998. On October 28, 2016 it was announced that the 2017 season will be the last for the NRL Under-20s. It was to be replaced by stronger State-based competitions in NSW and QLD, these being the reformed Jersey Flegg Cup in NSW and the new Hastings Deering Colts in Queensland.[5]

Teams

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Club City 2017 coach Premierships
  Brisbane Broncos Brisbane, Queensland Scott Tronc[6] 0
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Sydney, New South Wales Brad Henderson[7] 0
  Canberra Raiders Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Brett White 1
  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Sydney, New South Wales John Morris 0
  Gold Coast Titans Gold Coast, Queensland Ben Woolf 0
  Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Sydney, New South Wales Wayne Lambkin 1
  Melbourne Storm Melbourne, Victoria Eric Smith 1
  Newcastle Knights Newcastle, New South Wales Todd Lowrie[8] 0
  New Zealand Warriors Auckland, New Zealand Grant Pocklington[9] 3
  North Queensland Cowboys Townsville, Queensland Aaron Payne 0
  Parramatta Eels Sydney, New South Wales Luke Burt 0
  Penrith Panthers Sydney, New South Wales David Tangata-Toa 2
  South Sydney Rabbitohs Sydney, New South Wales Ryan Carr[10] 0
  St. George Illawarra Dragons Wollongong, New South Wales
Sydney, New South Wales
Wayne Collins[11] 0
  Sydney Roosters Sydney, New South Wales Anthony Barnes 1
  Wests Tigers Sydney, New South Wales Chris Hutchinson[12] 1

Premiership winners

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Season Premiers Score Runners-up Referee Venue Date
National Youth Competition
2008   Canberra Raiders 28 – 24   Brisbane Broncos S. Hayne ANZ Stadium

Sydney

5 October 2008
2009   Melbourne Storm 24 – 22   Wests Tigers G. Reynolds ANZ Stadium

Sydney

4 October 2009
2010   New Zealand Warriors 42 – 28   South Sydney Rabbitohs G. Reynolds ANZ Stadium

Sydney

3 October 2010
2011   New Zealand Warriors (2) 31 – 30   North Queensland Cowboys D. Munro ANZ Stadium

Sydney

2 October 2011
2012   Wests Tigers 46 – 6   Canberra Raiders G. Atkins ANZ Stadium

Sydney

30 September 2012
2013   Penrith Panthers 42 – 30   New Zealand Warriors C. Butler

D. Munro

ANZ Stadium

Sydney

6 October 2013
2014   New Zealand Warriors (3) 34 – 32   Brisbane Broncos C. Butler

C. Sutton

ANZ Stadium

Sydney

5 October 2014
2015   Penrith Panthers (2) 34 – 18   Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles A. Gee

P. Gough

ANZ Stadium

Sydney

4 October 2015
2016   Sydney Roosters 30 – 28   Penrith Panthers Z Przeklasa-Adamski

D. Oultram

ANZ Stadium

Sydney

2 October 2016
2017   Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 20 – 18   Parramatta Eels P. Henderson

A. Cassidy

ANZ Stadium

Sydney

1 October 2017

Team performance

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Team Premierships Runners-up Minor premierships Wooden spoons
Total Season(s) Total Season(s) Total Season(s) Total Season(s)
  Brisbane Broncos 0 2 2008, 2014 0 0
  Canberra Raiders 1 2008 1 2012 2 2008, 2013 0
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 0 0 1 2012 1 2014
  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 0 0 1 2017 1 2009
  Gold Coast Titans 0 0 0 1 2012
  Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 1 2017 1 2015 1 2009 3 2011, 2013, 2016
  Melbourne Storm 1 2009 0 0 0
  New Zealand Warriors 3 2010, 2011, 2014 1 2013 1 2011 1 2017
  Newcastle Knights 0 0 1 2014 0
  North Queensland Cowboys 0 1 2011 0 1 2008
  Parramatta Eels 0 1 2017 0 1 2011
  Penrith Panthers 2 2013, 2015 1 2016 2 2015, 2016 0
  South Sydney Rabbitohs 0 1 2010 1 2011 1 2015
  St. George Illawarra Dragons 0 0 0 0
  Sydney Roosters 1 2016 0 0 0
  Wests Tigers 1 2012 1 2009 0 0


Comprehensive regular season results

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Comprehensive regular season results of the National Youth Competition by club.

Team 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
  Brisbane Broncos 2nd 5th 10th 9th 12th 8th
  Canberra Raiders 1st 8th 6th 13th 3rd 1st
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 7th 11th 3rd 6th 1st 4th
  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 14th 16th 14th 3rd 10th 13th
  Gold Coast Titans 8th 14th 8th 14th 16th 15th
  Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 11th 1st 7th 16th 14th 16th
  Melbourne Storm 13th 3rd 13th 4th 9th 9th
  Newcastle Knights 12th 10th 12th 8th 11th 12th
  New Zealand Warriors 3rd 7th 2nd 1st 2nd 6th
  North Queensland Cowboys 16th 9th 4th 2nd 13th 10th
  Parramatta Eels 5th 12th 16th 12th 15th 14th
  Penrith Panthers 4th 13th 15th 10th 5th 2nd
  St. George Illawarra Dragons 6th 2nd 11th 11th 8th 11th
  South Sydney Rabbitohs 10th 6th 1st 15th 6th 7th
  Sydney Roosters 15th 15th 5th 5th 7th 3rd
  Wests Tigers 9th 4th 9th 7th 4th 5th

Awards

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Player of the Year

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The National Youth Competition Player of the Year award is the premier individual award in the National Youth Competition. The voting for the award is similar to the Dally M Medal voting, where after each National Youth Competition game 3 points are awarded to the best player on ground, 2 points to the second and 1 point to the third. As of 2017, every winner of the award has gone on to play first grade in the NRL. The inaugural winner was Ben Hunt from the Brisbane Broncos in 2008. Hunt is also the youngest player to win the award, at age 18 years, 5 months and 13 days.

Year Winner Position Team
2008 Ben Hunt Halfback   Brisbane Broncos
2009 Beau Henry Halfback   St. George Illawarra Dragons
2010 Tariq Sims Prop   Brisbane Broncos
2011 Jack De Belin Second-row   St. George Illawarra Dragons
2012 David Klemmer Prop   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
2013 Bryce Cartwright Second-row   Penrith Panthers
2014 Kane Elgey Halfback   Gold Coast Titans
2015 Ashley Taylor Halfback   Brisbane Broncos
2016 Jayden Brailey Hooker   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
2017 Jake Clifford Halfback   North Queensland Cowboys

Jack Gibson Medal

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The Jack Gibson Medal is awarded to the man of the match of the Toyota Cup grand final. The award is named after legendary rugby league coach, Jack Gibson. Gibson, who guided Eastern Suburbs to premierships in 1974 and 1975, the Parramatta Eels to three successive premierships from 1981 to 1983 and was named coach of the Team of the Century, died in 2008.

Year Winner Position Team
2008 Josh Dugan Fullback   Canberra Raiders
2009 Luke Kelly Halfback   Melbourne Storm
2010 Carlos Tuimavave Five-eighth   New Zealand Warriors
2011 Jordan Meads Halfback   New Zealand Warriors
2012 Matt Mulcahy Five-eighth   Wests Tigers
2013 James Roberts Centre   Penrith Panthers
2014 Solomone Kata Centre   New Zealand Warriors
2015 Soni Luke Hooker   Penrith Panthers
2016 Nat Butcher Lock   Sydney Roosters
2017 Cade Cust Halfback   Manly Warringah Sea Eagles

Television coverage

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Australia

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  • Free to air: Channel 9 showed the Grand Final as part of the Grand Final Coverage.[13]
  • Subscription television: FOX Sports show 2 games live every weekend, live coverage of the Toyota Cup precede Fox Sports' Super Saturday and Sunday live NRL coverage.[14]

New Zealand

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  • All New Zealand Warriors home games in the U20's competition are shown live by Sky NZ.[13] Māori Television also broadcasts Ngāti NRL, a series that focuses on young Māori and Pacific Islanders who travel to Australia and play in the Toyota Cup.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Gallop, David (2007). "Australian Rugby Football League Annual Report 2007" (PDF). Australian Rugby League Limited. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  2. ^ "ARL set to approve national youth comp". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 December 2006.
  3. ^ Toyota Cup to kick off in 2008, NRL.COM
  4. ^ "NRL Holden Cup under-20s competition to end in season 2017". Fox Sports. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  5. ^ "NRL Holden Cup under-20s competition to end in season 2017". Fox Sports. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  6. ^ "Ex-Broncos under 20s coach Craig Hodges to link with Gold Coast Titans in 2017". Fox Sports. 25 October 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  7. ^ "High Performance Staff Update". bulldogs.com.au. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  8. ^ "NYC squad coming together". newcastleknights.com.au. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  9. ^ Becht, Richard (11 October 2016). "Coaches confirmed for ISP and NYC". warriors.kiwi. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  10. ^ "Rabbitohs Appoint Ryan Carr As NYC Coach, Pat Richards And Ben Lowe As Assistant Coaches". rabbitohs.com.au. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  11. ^ "Dragons Football Department 2017". dragons.com.au. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  12. ^ Corfe, Brock (2 December 2016). "Wests Tigers confirm ISP and Holden Cup Coaches". weststigers.com.au. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  13. ^ a b 2007 Big League Annual (page 11)
  14. ^ Fox Sports to show Toyota Cup live - NRL - Fox Sports
  15. ^ NGATI NRL RETURNS TO MAORI TELEVISION at media.maoritelevision.com
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