CS Knowledge Base

From the very beginning of the SURLFC, the Students (or 'Varsity' as they were also known) struggled to gain acceptance by the University Sports Association who displayed great prejudice toward those who wished to play rugby league.^[11]

Although the University students received no payment for taking part in SURLFC matches, they were strongly reminded by detractors that if they intended to later continue their studies at the Oxbridge universities in England, they would soon find there that their having played rugby league was sufficient to mean they were professionals and not amateurs, preventing their participating in rugby union, rowing or other sports and gaining of a 'Blue'.^[12]

On the same basis, the University's Sports Association forbid the SURLFC from training and playing on the University Oval (forcing Varsity to train with Eastern Suburbs at the Sydney Sports Ground), even though it had been leased during the war to the NSW Football Association (soccer).^[13] The view was that the Oval could not be used by a professional sport such as first grade rugby league.^[14] While public pressure soon forced the Association to relent in regard to training, the SURLFC never once played a game at the University Oval during its involvement in the NSWRL premiership.^[15] In 1931 the Sports Association were finally persuaded by NSWRL officials to enter into an agreement for nine SURLFC home games on the Oval that season, however the deal was made futile when the University's Senate refused approval.^[16]

The only exceptions granted for the use of the University Oval for rugby league were for less than a handful of representative matches. Two games were played on the Oval by the 'Combined Australian Universities' selection in 1922 (against 'Metropolis') and 1930 (versus New Zealand). The combined XIII was chosen from SURLFC players and those of the University of Queensland rugby club (UQRC) which had switched to rugby league. The SURLFC and UQRC commenced annual contests in 1920, with the first held at the Sydney Cricket Ground in front of 50,000 spectators on the under-card to NSW Blues v England.The Melbourne University rugby club also changed allegiance to rugby league during 1923 to 1925, resulting in further inter-varsity matches, including a tri-series in Sydney in 1924, and the Australian Universities team having representatives from all three universities of the mainland eastern states.^[17] Tours to New Zealand were made in 1922 and 1924 by the Australian Universities rugby league team. The final Sydney and Brisbane (Queensland) inter-varsity game under rugby league appears to have been the contest held in 1929 on the University Oval for the Alan Maclean Memorial Shield.^[18]The SURLFC also undertook many tours of regional NSW and throughout Queensland to play local clubs and representative sides.^[19]

The highlight of the Students' 18 seasons in the NSWRL Premiership was their one and only finals appearance (having finished fourth in the regular season). To get to the Grand Final at the Sydney Agricultural Ground University had to defeat Glebe which they did comfortably 29 - 3.^[20] In the Grand Final, however, they were defeated 5–11 by Souths in front of 20,000 people.^[21]

Year	Premiers	Runners-up	Score
1926	South Sydney	University	11–5

Generally, the amateur students struggled to perform against the professional players of the other sides and University enjoyed very little success only winning 44 of its 226 games during its time in the Premiership (and only won 2 games after 1933). The club did not win a single match in 1935, continuing a losing streak that started in round 2, 1934 and which would run till round 14, 1936 and which marked the most consecutive losses in NSWRL/NRL premiership history at 42. This run of form, in addition to having spent 12 of its 18 seasons in last place prompted their decision to withdraw from the Premiership at the close of the 1937 season.^[22]

As runners-up in the 1969 Second Division, University (along with Wentworthville) were invited to compete in the NSWRL pre-season competition (the Wills Cup) in 1970.

Despite the inclusion of mature players from other metropolitan University clubs and professional coaches, the sides were too inexperienced and light to compete with the senior club sides. University finished 13th (above last-placed Penrith) in the competition with 1 win from 4 games (their lone win, a close 19–17 victory, came against Wentworthville), with a points differential of -29.

In 1922 the University of Sydney Club presented the league with a shield for use as a trophy in a statewide High School Rugby League knockout competition. The competition became known as the 'University Shield' and is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious competitions in schoolboy rugby league.

The University Shield has undergone various changes in format since its inception in 1922, the most notable of these having been the exclusion of specialised 'Sports High Schools' which dominated the competition between 1996 and 2006 in a spirit deemed 'untrue' to the traditional concept of the competition.

In December 2018, it was revealed that University would be competing in the Sydney Shield competition.^[36] At the end of the 2019 Sydney Shield season, University finished 10th on the table. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, University were initially meant to compete in the 2021 Sydney Shield but pulled out for financial reasons.^[37]

Australian

• Ray Morris (1933/34 Kangaroo Tour)
• Jim Craig

New South Wales

• Hubert "Butt" Finn
• John McIntyre
• A.S. Lane
• Edmund "Feather" Hanrahan
• Harleigh Hanrahan
• Clive Evatt
• Tom Linskey
• Tom Barry
• Frank O'Rourke
• Ray Morris
• Ross McKinnon
• Rod O'Loan
• Ernest Ogg
• Jim Dunworth

Biggest Win

• 34 points, 42–8 against St. George at Sydney Sports Ground on 15 July 1933.

Biggest Loss

• 63 points, 0–63 against South Sydney at Sydney Sports Ground on 17 April 1937.

Most Consecutive Wins

• 5 matches, 8 May – 19 June 1926

Most Consecutive Loses

• 42 matches^, 28 April 1934 – 29 August 1936

Record point scorer

• John McIntyre – 176 points

Record appearance holder

• Ernest Ogg – 118 games

^ denotes premiership record

Premierships: (0)

Runners-Up: (1) 1926

Minor Premierships: (0)

Wooden Spoons: (10) 1921, 1923, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937