Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup

Current season or competition: 2023 New South Wales Rugby League
Sport	Rugby league
Instituted	2017
Inaugural season	2017
Number of teams	12
Country	Australia
Premiers	Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy (2022)
Most titles	Penrith Panthers Cronulla Sharks Illawarra Steelers St George Dragons Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy (1 title each)
Website	Tarsha Gale Cup
Related competition	NRL Women's Premiership NSWRL Women's Premiership

The Tarsha Gale Cup is an elite under-18s Women's rugby league competition in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The competition was named after former captain of Australia and current NRLW commentator, Tarsha Gale, in honour of her impact on Women's rugby league as a pioneer of the sport.

In 2017, the New South Wales Rugby League announced the creation of a nine-a-side under-18s women's league, named the Tarsha Gale Nines after the former Australian Jillaroos and New South Wales captain of the 1990s.^[1][2][3]

However, since 2020, the tournament has been played as a full 13-a-side game, and is the main bridge between juniors and the NSWRL Women's Premiership in the state of New South Wales.

History

Clubs

The Tarsha Gale Cup operates on a single table system, with no divisions, conferences nor promotion and relegation from other leagues. In 2018, the St. George Dragons and the Newcastle Knights entered teams into the competition for the first time.

Current clubs

Club	Established	City	Stadium
Canberra Raiders	1981	Canberra, ACT	Raiders Club, Belconnen
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	1934	Belmore, NSW	Belmore Sports Ground
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	1967	Woolooware, NSW	PointsBet Stadium
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	1946	Brookvale, NSW	4 Pines Park
Illawarra Steelers	1981	Wollongong, NSW	Collegians Sporting Complex, Figtree Sid Parrish Park, Figtree
Newcastle Knights	1987	Newcastle, NSW	Maitland Sports Ground Cessnock Sports Ground Kurri Kurri Sports Ground
North Sydney Bears	1908	North Sydney, NSW	North Sydney Oval
Parramatta Eels	1947	Cabramatta, NSW	New Era Stadium
Penrith Panthers	1967	Penrith, NSW	BlueBet Stadium, Windsor Sporting Complex
South Sydney Rabbitohs	1908	Redfern, NSW	Ironmark High Performance Centre
St George Dragons	1921	Kogarah, NSW	Netstrata Jubilee Stadium Mascot Oval
Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy	1908	Marrickville	Henson Park Mascot Oval Morry Breen Oval, Kanwal
Wests Tigers	1999*	Concord, NSW	Leichhardt Oval Kirkham Oval, Camden Wests Tigers Centre of Excellence

Venues

Players

Season structure

Pre-season

Prior to the commencement of the home-and-away season teams are paired off to play an exhibition trial match. In 2017 these matches took place during varying weeks of January.

Premiership season

Grand final

The two highest-place teams at the conclusion of the home-and-away season will qualify for the grand final. The winner of this match is determined the competition's premier.

Results by year

Year	Age	Premiers	Score	Runners-up	Minor Premiers	Wooden Spoon	Notes
2017	U18s	Penrith Panthers	26 – 18	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Wests Tigers	Panthers[4]
2018	U18s	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	36 – 22	Newcastle Knights	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	NSWRL[5]
2019	U18s	Illawarra Steelers	24 – 12	Newcastle Knights	Illawarra Steelers	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	NSWRL[6]
2020	U18s	Season began in February but was cancelled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No premiership was awarded.
2021	U19s	St George Dragons	30 – 4	Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy	Newcastle Knights	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	NSWRL[7]
2022	U19s	Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy	12 – 10	Newcastle Knights	Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy	South Sydney Rabbitohs	NSWRL[8]

Premiership tally

No.	Club	Seasons
1	Indigenous Academy	1 (2022)
1	St George Dragons	1 (2021)
1	Illawarra Steelers	1 (2019)
1	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	1 (2018)
1	Penrith Panthers	1 (2017)

Bold means the team still currently plays in the competition.

Awards

The following major individual awards and accolades are presented each season

Media coverage

Television

TBA

Online

Selected games each week via NSWRL TV.

Corporate relations

Sponsorship

The Harvey Norman is the league's current and inaugural naming rights partner.

Merchandising

Official match day attire together with other club merchandise is sold through the NRL's stores and website as well through the clubs and through some retailers.