The National Rugby League (NRL) is the top league of professional rugby league clubs in Australasia. Run by the Australian Rugby League Commission, however, since the late 1980s, when the former New South Wales Rugby League expanded interstate to start the framework on what would become the modern National Rugby League, there has not been a league-wide reserves competition; and, since 2002, there has been no dedicated reserves competition of any kind. As a result, NRL-listed players who are not selected in their senior teams are made eligible to play in one of the second-tier state leagues: the New South Wales Cup or the Queensland Cup. The system used to accommodate NRL-listed players within these leagues varies considerably from state to state.
Current affiliations
In the 2016 season, the sixteen National Rugby League clubs have the following reserves arrangements.