NSWRL has been announced as a finalist in four categories for the 2026 NSW Sports Awards, including recognition for the victorious men’s and women’s State of Origin teams.
The categories include Organisation of the Year (NSWRL), Administrator of the Year (NSWRL Chief Executive David Trodden), Coach of the Year (Westpac NSW Blues coach Laurie Daley) and Team of the Year (Westpac NSW Blues Women).
The NSW Sports Awards are the highest sports honours in NSW and celebrate the achievements of NSW athletes, coaches, administrators, officials, and organisations over the past 12 months.
Laurie Daley became the first person in NSWRL history to steer the Westpac NSW Blues as both a captain (1992, 1994) and coach (2026) to a State of Origin series-deciding win in Brisbane.
It was only the fourth time since the Origin concept started in 1980 that the Blues had won a series decider in Brisbane and added to Laurie Daley’s legacy as a coach after he snapped Queensland’s eight-year winning streak in 2014.
The Westpac NSW Blues Women, who claimed the Women’s State of Origin series last year after it moved to three games for the first time, also made history in 2026 after becoming the first Women’s Origin team – and the first NSW Origin team since 2000 – to win a series 3-0.
NSWRL, under the direction of David Trodden, on top of its Origin successes has celebrated a fourth consecutive season for record participation numbers with the total number of registered players across the state surpassing 125,000 for the first time in the game’s history.
Overall, there was a 2.57 per cent rise for total participants with 126,084 signing up to play the Game for All in 2026 (122,920 in 2025), male participants cleared 90,000 for the first time (90,422), while female participation was up 6.6 per cent to 35,662 (33,306 in 2025).
The organisation also:
- achieved Gold Tier Status for the second successive year at the annual Pride in Sport Awards
- launched a five-year Women and Girls Strategy, which aims to increase female representation across all areas of the game including participation
- delivered the first phase of its Infrastructure Investment Fund with 12 clubs and local councils from across the state receiving almost $1.4 million in funding
- commissioned the first ever independent study of Rugby League’s value to New South Wales which found the game contributes more than $310 million to the state economy each year, alongside measurable lifelong health benefits and significantly stronger social connections
The NSW Sports Awards are open to all sports and the winners will be announced at the prestigious NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony at The Sydney Event Centre, The Star, Pyrmont on Monday, November 23.
NSWRL has been successful at the NSW Sports Awards in previous years including Organisation of the Year (2019, 2022), Administrator of the Year (David Trodden, 2014, 2019) and Team of the Year (Westpac NSW Blues Women 2025).
NSW Rugby League greats have also been recognised in the NSW Hall of Champions with 45 inductees while Reg Gasnier AM and John Raper MBE have been afforded Legend status.
