North Sydney

Real club history, premierships, Grand Final appearances, and ladder finishes, aggregated from our sourced rugby league archive.

Data last verified: 11 August 2026.

Rugby League: Teams ▾

North Sydney — 2 premierships on record (1921, 1922).

Club Background

Founded in 1908 as one of the New South Wales Rugby Football League's foundation clubs, North Sydney were initially known as "the Shoremen" as the only side from the north shore of Sydney Harbour, settling at North Sydney Oval — "Bear Park" — from 1910 and later taking the "Bears" nickname from a 1959 sponsorship deal. The Bears built a long, proud history as genuine premiership contenders through the twentieth century, but financial trouble in the late 1990s saw the club's licence merged into the Northern Eagles joint venture with Manly-Warringah at the close of 1999. That venture collapsed after 2002, permanently shutting North Sydney out of the NRL in one of the sport's most bitter administrative sagas.

Honours

Premiership
Winners (2)1921, 1922
Runners-up (1)1943
Minor Premiership
Winners (1)1921

League history

1st 15th 1908: 4 of 91909: 7 of 81910: 7 of 81911: 6 of 81912: 6 of 81913: 5 of 81914: 6 of 81915: 7 of 81916: 5 of 81917: 8 of 81918: 6 of 81919: 8 of 81920: 5 of 91921: 1 of 91922: 2 of 91923: 5 of 91924: 6 of 91925: 3 of 91926: 6 of 91927: 6 of 91928: 4 of 91929: 5 of 91930: 7 of 81931: 5 of 81932: 7 of 81933: 6 of 81934: 6 of 81935: 4 of 91936: 4 of 91937: 7 of 91938: 5 of 81939: 6 of 81940: 7 of 81941: 8 of 81942: 6 of 81943: 3 of 81944: 5 of 81945: 4 of 81946: 6 of 81947: 6 of 101948: 10 of 101949: 9 of 101950: 10 of 101951: 10 of 101952: 4 of 101953: 3 of 101954: 4 of 101955: 5 of 101956: 9 of 101957: 5 of 101958: 6 of 101959: 5 of 101960: 7 of 101961: 6 of 101962: 9 of 101963: 5 of 101964: 4 of 101965: 2 of 101966: 9 of 101967: 8 of 121968: 11 of 121969: 7 of 121970: 9 of 121971: 11 of 121972: 9 of 121973: 8 of 121974: 6 of 121975: 9 of 121976: 11 of 121977: 8 of 121978: 11 of 121979: 12 of 121980: 11 of 121981: 7 of 121982: 3 of 141983: 7 of 141984: 11 of 131985: 11 of 131986: 6 of 131987: 9 of 131988: 9 of 161989: 15 of 161990: 11 of 161991: 3 of 161992: 11 of 161993: 6 of 161994: 2 of 161995: 8 of 201996: 3 of 201997 ARL: 4 of 121998: 5 of 201999: 14 of 17 19081915192219291936194319501957196419711978198519921999

Final ladder position each season on record (1908–1999) — 1st at the top. Hover a point for the exact position and field size that season.

Full table
SeasonFinal position
199914 of 17
19985 of 20
1997 ARL4 of 12
19963 of 20
19958 of 20
19942 of 16
19936 of 16
199211 of 16
19913 of 16
199011 of 16
198915 of 16
19889 of 16
19879 of 13
19866 of 13
198511 of 13
198411 of 13
19837 of 14
19823 of 14
19817 of 12
198011 of 12
197912 of 12
197811 of 12
19778 of 12
197611 of 12
19759 of 12
19746 of 12
19738 of 12
19729 of 12
197111 of 12
19709 of 12
19697 of 12
196811 of 12
19678 of 12
19669 of 10
19652 of 10
19644 of 10
19635 of 10
19629 of 10
19616 of 10
19607 of 10
19595 of 10
19586 of 10
19575 of 10
19569 of 10
19555 of 10
19544 of 10
19533 of 10
19524 of 10
195110 of 10
195010 of 10
19499 of 10
194810 of 10
19476 of 10
19466 of 8
19454 of 8
19445 of 8
19433 of 8
19426 of 8
19418 of 8
19407 of 8
19396 of 8
19385 of 8
19377 of 9
19364 of 9
19354 of 9
19346 of 8
19336 of 8
19327 of 8
19315 of 8
19307 of 8
19295 of 9
19284 of 9
19276 of 9
19266 of 9
19253 of 9
19246 of 9
19235 of 9
19222 of 9
19211 of 9
19205 of 9
19198 of 8
19186 of 8
19178 of 8
19165 of 8
19157 of 8
19146 of 8
19135 of 8
19126 of 8
19116 of 8
19107 of 8
19097 of 8
19084 of 9

Club history

North Sydney was one of the founding members of the New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1908, though as the only club drawn from the north side of Sydney Harbour, long before the Harbour Bridge connected the two shores, the side was initially known as "the Shoremen." The club struggled early to secure access to its intended home, with council obstruction delaying matters until 1910, when North Sydney Oval — "Bear Park" — finally became their regular ground. The "Bears" nickname dates to a commercial sponsorship arrangement with the Big Bear supermarket chain, most commonly dated to 1959.

North Sydney built a long, proud history as a genuine premiership contender across the twentieth century, but by the late 1990s the club was in serious financial difficulty. As part of the NRL's post-Super League War rationalisation, which forced the competition down to fourteen teams, North Sydney's licence was merged into a joint venture with Manly-Warringah to form the Northern Eagles, ending the Bears' run as an independent top-flight club at the close of the 1999 season. The joint venture collapsed after 2002, leaving North Sydney permanently shut out of the NRL — one of the sport's most bitter and controversial administrative decisions.

Grand Final appearances (1922-1943)

YearResultOpponentScore
1943LostNewtown7-34
1922WonGlebe35-3

Sources

← All teams

← Rugby League · Champions list · All-time records · Grand Final results · World Cup · All competitions · Venues · Players