The first article on this competition - one below the NRL - and while it's called the NSW Cup, it includes Canberra, Victoria and New Zealand. Melbourne (Victoria) aren't fielding a side in it and rarely have.
I looked into the history of the competition to do a piece on that but decided against doing so. It doesn't have the consistency of participants, so trying to establish historical success would have little meaning.
As for the 2025 season, the NZ Warriors easily won the league with an eleven point margin over the second placed St George. Second to tenth was tight with only a six point spread covering them.
The chart below shows where the clubs finished in 2024 with St George and Parramatta in particular improving their rankings. North Sydney was the big loser. Blue shows the five sides that progressed to the playoffs, which are discussed below.
First round: There were three teams from Sydney and two from elsewhere. The NZ Warriors had a bye while the second to fifth teams did battle. Two close games saw winners St George and Canberra progress, along with Parramatta whose third league placing gave them another life.
Second Round: The Warriors joined for this round and were upset by St George 10-24. In the other match, Parramatta narrowly got past Canberra 36-30. St George went directly to the grand final.
Third Round: The NZ Warriors picked themselves up after the last round defeat to breeze past the Eels 42-12. They now had to do what they failed to do the week before if they wanted to add to their winning the league with a grand final victory as well.
Grand final: The Warriors got their revenge with a sound 30-12 result. They were the best side through the season and thoroughly deserved the double.
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