J. J. Giltinan Shield
| Country | Australia New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Presented by | NRL |
| History | |
| First award | 1951 (1997 to Minor premier) |
| Most wins | St. George Dragons (13 Titles) |
| Most recent | Canberra Raiders (2025) |
The J.J. Giltinan Shield is an Australian rugby league trophy that has been awarded annually since 1951, currently to the minor premiers of each year’s National Rugby League competition. It was named after James J. Giltinan who was central to the founding of rugby league in Australia.[1]
Giltinan died in September 1950 and the shield was created and named in his honour by the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL); it was introduced for the following year's season. From 1951 to 1994, the Shield was awarded to the NSWRFL (from 1984 New South Wales Rugby League) premiership’s winner of the Grand Final, replacing the Labor Daily Cup (named after Sydney’s Labor Daily newspaper) that had been awarded from 1934 to 1950. In the 1995 and 1996 seasons, it was awarded to the Australian Rugby League competition’s winners of the Grand Final.
In addition to the Shield, premiership winning teams received the W. D. & H. O. Wills Cup (named after British tobacco company W. D. & H. O. Wills) from 1960 to 1981, the Winfield Cup from 1982 to 1995 and the Optus Cup in 1996.
Since 1997 and the inception of the National Rugby League (NRL), the J.J. Giltinan Shield has been repurposed, awarded to the NRL competition's minor premiers for each season. Winners of each year’s NRL Grand Final receive the National Rugby League Premiership Trophy, named since 2013 the Provan-Summons trophy.
Winners
1 The Melbourne Storm were stripped of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 minor premierships on 22 April 2010 due to salary cap breaches.
See also
References
- ^ Hardy, Karen (12 October 2013). "Tall tales of the first Kangaroos still strike a chord today". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 January 2014.