Rugby league runs deep in Australian households — footy trivia nights, car trips to training, and Friday night games are practically a national pastime. Whether you’re a die-hard Broncos or Bunnies fan, a trivia night host, or a parent looking to stump the kids these school holidays, this NRL trivia collection has something for every level of footy knowledge.
We’ve split 70 questions into seven categories — from the game’s 1908 origins to the records being broken this season — so you can jump straight to your favourite era or work through the lot. Answers are included right under each question, so it’s ready to read, print, or use for your next trivia night. If footy trivia is your thing, you’ll also want to try our Australian sport trivia, AFL trivia, and pub trivia collections.
Jump to a category: History & Origins · Grand Finals & Premierships · Records & Legends · State of Origin · Teams, Grounds & Positions · Rules & Quick-fire · Trophies, Awards & National Teams
NRL Trivia Questions & Answers
History & Origins
1. What year was organised rugby league first played in Australia? Answer: 1908, when the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) was formed in Sydney.
2. What competition preceded the NRL? Answer: The Australian Rugby League (ARL) premiership, which ran the code before a rival Super League competition split the game in 1997.
3. In what year did the rival ARL and Super League competitions merge to form the NRL? Answer: 1998.
4. How many clubs competed in the very first Sydney premiership in 1908? Answer: Nine foundation clubs.
5. Which two of the original 1908 foundation clubs are still playing in the NRL today as standalone clubs? Answer: South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters (originally known as Eastern Suburbs).
6. What score did the first-ever “Test” match between Australia and Great Britain finish on, back in 1908? Answer: 22–22, a draw.
7. Which club joined the competition in 1988 and won their debut match 44–10 against Manly? Answer: The Brisbane Broncos.
8. In what year did the Melbourne Storm enter the NRL as an expansion club? Answer: 1998, the same year the NRL itself was formed.
9. Which club is currently the only NRL team based outside Australia? Answer: The New Zealand Warriors.
10. What is the newest club to join the NRL competition, debuting in 2023? Answer: The Dolphins, based in Brisbane/Redcliffe.
Grand Finals & Premierships
11. Where has the NRL Grand Final been played every year since 1999? Answer: Stadium Australia (also known as ANZ Stadium/Accor Stadium) in Sydney.
12. What is the record attendance for an NRL Grand Final? Answer: 107,999, set in 1999 — the first Grand Final played at Stadium Australia.
13. Which club has won the most premierships in the history of Australian rugby league (including the pre-NRL era)? Answer: South Sydney Rabbitohs.
14. What is the medal awarded to the best player on the field in the NRL Grand Final called? Answer: The Clive Churchill Medal, awarded every year since 1986.
15. Who is the Clive Churchill Medal named after? Answer: Clive Churchill, a legendary Rabbitohs and Kangaroos fullback from the 1950s, regarded as one of the code’s greatest ever players.
16. Which club had two of their premierships (2007 and 2009) stripped after a salary cap breach was uncovered in 2010? Answer: The Melbourne Storm.
17. What is the annual award for the best and fairest player across the whole NRL season called? Answer: The Dally M Medal.
18. Who was the Dally M Medal named after? Answer: Herbert Henry “Dally” Messenger, one of the earliest stars of Australian rugby league in the early 1900s.
19. How many teams currently compete in the NRL premiership (2026 season)? Answer: 17 teams.
20. Roughly how many rounds does a typical NRL regular season run for, before the finals series begins? Answer: Around 27 rounds, followed by a finals series involving the top eight teams.
21. What happens to a drawn match during the NRL finals series if scores are still level after full time? Answer: The match goes into extra time, decided by “golden point” — first team to score wins.
22. What is a “wooden spoon” in NRL terms? Answer: The unofficial title given to the team that finishes last on the ladder for the season.
Records & Legends
23. Who holds the record for the most games played in NRL/ARL/Super League history? Answer: Cameron Smith, with 430 games for the Melbourne Storm (2002–2020).
24. Who holds the record for the most career points scored in the history of the competition? Answer: Cameron Smith, with 2,786 points.
25. Which club did Cameron Smith play his entire career for? Answer: The Melbourne Storm.
26. Who is the second-highest point-scorer in NRL history, and is he still an active player? Answer: Adam Reynolds (South Sydney Rabbitohs and Brisbane Broncos), who is still playing and adding to his tally.
27. Which former Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs winger is the third-highest point-scorer in the competition’s history? Answer: Hazem El Masri, with 2,418 points across his career from 1996–2009.
28. What position did Cameron Smith play? Answer: Hooker.
29. What is the term for a player who has been “immortalised” as one of the greatest to ever play the game, an honour decided by rugby league’s Hall of Fame? Answer: An “Immortal” — the game’s highest individual honour, reserved for a small, exclusive group of legends.
30. Which rugby league legend has a stand named after him at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)? Answer: Clive Churchill.
State of Origin
31. Which two states contest the State of Origin series each year? Answer: New South Wales (the Blues) and Queensland (the Maroons).
32. How many matches make up a standard State of Origin series? Answer: Three matches (a best-of-three series).
33. In what year was the first State of Origin match played under Origin selection rules? Answer: 1980.
34. What colour does New South Wales wear in State of Origin? Answer: Sky blue.
35. What colour does Queensland wear in State of Origin? Answer: Maroon.
36. What is the trophy contested by NSW and Queensland in State of Origin called? Answer: The State of Origin Shield.
37. True or false: players are selected for State of Origin based on which club they currently play for. Answer: False — they’re selected based on which state they first played senior rugby league in, which is the whole “origin” concept behind the series.
38. What term describes a series win secured after only two matches, with the third “dead rubber”? Answer: A series “whitewash” only applies if all three are won — winning after two games (with one to play) is generally just called “sealing the series early,” while winning all three is the whitewash.
39. What is the away/interstate leg of the Origin series sometimes nicknamed, when matches are played outside the two home states (e.g. Perth, Adelaide, or overseas)? Answer: A “neutral venue” or “away” Origin match — the concept of taking Origin games interstate to grow the game nationally.
40. Roughly what era did State of Origin football establish itself as one of the biggest annual sporting events in Australia? Answer: Through the 1980s, after the concept proved so popular that it quickly became rugby league’s marquee interstate rivalry.
Teams, Grounds & Positions
41. How many players does each team have on the field at one time in a standard NRL match? Answer: 13.
42. What is the maximum number of tackles a team gets before it must hand over possession, unless they score or concede a penalty? Answer: Six tackles (“the six-tackle rule”).
43. What is the home ground of the Brisbane Broncos and Dolphins? Answer: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.
44. What is the home ground of the Melbourne Storm? Answer: AAMI Park.
45. Which NRL round sees every game of a single round played in the same host city over one weekend? Answer: Magic Round.
46. Which city has hosted Magic Round since it began in 2019? Answer: Brisbane.
47. What is the nickname of the Canterbury-Bankstown club? Answer: The Bulldogs.
48. What is the nickname of the South Sydney club? Answer: The Rabbitohs.
49. What is the nickname of the Cronulla-Sutherland club? Answer: The Sharks.
50. Which NRL club’s nickname and mascot is the Sea Eagle? Answer: Manly Warringah.
Rules, Positions & Quick-fire
51. How many points is a try worth in rugby league? Answer: 4 points.
52. How many points is a successful conversion (kick after a try) worth? Answer: 2 points.
53. How many points is a penalty goal worth? Answer: 2 points.
54. How many points is a field goal (drop goal) worth in normal play? Answer: 1 point.
55. What is the name for the player who typically directs attacking play from dummy-half, just behind the ruck? Answer: The hooker.
56. What number jersey does the fullback traditionally wear? Answer: Number 1.
57. What is it called when the ball is knocked forward out of a player’s hands or arms, resulting in a turnover? Answer: A knock-on.
58. What is the term for the tactic of kicking the ball into the in-goal area to force a goal-line dropout? Answer: A “grubber” or attacking kick that forces a “dropout” — the exact term (bomb, grubber, or kick-through) depends on how it’s delivered.
59. What’s the term for the interchange bench players who rotate on and off during a match? Answer: Interchange players (commonly just called “the bench”).
60. What is the golden point rule used for? Answer: To decide a match that’s still drawn after full time — sudden-death extra time where the first team to score (by any means) wins.
Trophies, Awards & National Teams
61. What is the Australian men’s national rugby league team nicknamed? Answer: The Kangaroos.
62. What is the Australian women’s national rugby league team nicknamed? Answer: The Jillaroos.
63. What is the official name of the NRL premiership trophy? Answer: The Provan-Summons Trophy.
64. Who are Norm Provan and Arthur Summons, whose names are on the NRL’s premiership trophy? Answer: The rival captains from the famous 1963 Grand Final, immortalised in a photo embracing in the mud after the match — an image known as “The Gladiators.”
65. Which two clubs played in the famous 1963 Grand Final that inspired the design of the Provan-Summons Trophy? Answer: St George (who won) and Western Suburbs.
66. In what year was the trophy officially renamed the Provan-Summons Trophy? Answer: 2013, on the 50th anniversary of that famous Grand Final.
67. What is the annual award for the best rugby league player in the world, voted on by an international panel, called? Answer: The Golden Boot.
68. In what year was the Golden Boot award first introduced? Answer: 1984.
69. In what year did the NRL Women’s Premiership (NRLW) begin? Answer: 2018.
70. What’s the term for a player being temporarily sent off for 10 minutes for a professional foul or dangerous play? Answer: Being “sin binned.”
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