60 free Rugby League trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This rugby league trivia quiz is dedicated to the 13-a-side code. It starts with the basics — how many players, what a try is worth, the six-tackle rule, the play-the-ball — and the origin story of the 1895 meeting at the George Hotel in Huddersfield over broken-time payments. From there it goes international: the 1954 World Cup in France, the Kangaroos' twelve titles, Great Britain's Lions, the Ashes and the Baskerville Shield. Then come the competitions and legends: State of Origin from Lang Park in 1980 to Queensland's eight straight, the Super League war and the birth of the NRL, Wigan's eight Challenge Cups in a row, St Helens' four-peat, the Immortals, Wally Lewis, Andrew Johns, Ellery Hanley, Johnathan Thurston, Kevin Sinfield, the Storm's salary cap scandal, Catalans at Wembley and Toronto Wolfpack. About a third are easy for any fan; the rest are for people who know their Lance Todd from their Dally M. For the union code, see our general rugby page. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia's rugby league articles and the sources they cite, and each explanation adds one more thing worth knowing.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many players does each rugby league team have on the field?
13
The Northern Union cut teams from 15 to 13 in 1906, the same year it replaced the ruck with the play-the-ball.
Q 02Rugby league was born in 1895 in which town, when clubs broke away from the Rugby Football Union?
Huddersfield
Twenty-two clubs met at the George Hotel on 29 August 1895 to form the Northern Rugby Football Union.
Q 03What was the central issue behind the 1895 split from rugby union?
Payments to players for lost wages
Northern working-class players wanted 'broken time' payments for missing Saturday shifts; the RFU insisted on strict amateurism.
Q 04At which West Yorkshire establishment was the Northern Rugby Football Union founded on 29 August 1895?
The George Hotel
Stockport negotiated their membership by telephone; within fifteen years more than 200 RFU clubs had followed.
Q 05How many points is a try worth in rugby league?
4
A conversion adds two, a penalty goal is two and a drop goal is worth just one.
Q 06How many points does a drop goal (field goal) score in rugby league?
1
It can be attempted from the hand at any time, and it decides many golden-point finishes.
Q 07How many tackles does a team get in possession before it must hand the ball over?
6
The limit was three play-the-balls when introduced in 1966, raised to six in 1972; the scrum was replaced by a handover in 1983.
Q 08What did the Northern Union replace the ruck with in 1906?
The play-the-ball
The line-out had already gone in 1897, and professionalism came in 1898.
Q 09Which four positions are known as a rugby league team's 'spine'?
Fullback, five-eighth, halfback and hooker
They are the playmakers who build attacking sets.
Q 10Along with one Melanesian nation, which other country counts rugby league as its national sport?
The Cook Islands
PNG's supporters are famous as the world's most passionate, and its Kumuls national side has hosted World Cup pool matches in Port Moresby.
Q 11The first Rugby League World Cup, the first of either rugby code, was held in which country in 1954?
France
The French had first proposed a tournament in the 1930s; Great Britain won the inaugural edition.
Q 12The Rugby League World Cup trophy is named after which French administrator?
Paul Barrière
He was president of the French federation in the 1940s and 1950s and drove the creation of the tournament.
Q 13How many Rugby League World Cups had Australia won by the end of 2022?
12
By the 2022 tournament the Kangaroos had reached 15 of the 16 finals, missing only the inaugural 1954 edition.
Q 21The Maroons' 2013 series victory was their how-manyeth consecutive Origin title?
8th
The Maroons' streak under Mal Meninga is the longest in Origin history.
Q 22Super League began in which year, replacing the winter championship with a summer season?
1996
News Corporation's money drove the change; twelve of today's fourteen clubs are from northern England and two from France.
Q 23The Super League Grand Final is traditionally staged at which stadium?
Old Trafford
The winners go on to face the NRL champions in the World Club Challenge.
Q 24The NRL was formed in 1998 as a peace deal ending which conflict?
Q 14Which nation became only the third to win the World Cup, in 2008?
New Zealand
Great Britain had won in 1954, 1960 and 1972; every other title has gone to Australia.
Q 15What is the Australian national rugby league team's nickname?
The Kangaroos
They first assembled in 1908 for a tour of Great Britain and win about 70% of their Tests.
Q 16Great Britain's rugby league team, nicknamed the Lions, won the World Cup three times. In which years?
1954, 1960 and 1972
Since 1995 the RFL has sent separate home-nations teams to the World Cup.
Q 17Great Britain contested which trophy against the Kiwis?
The Baskerville Shield
The Ashes was the Australia series; since 1973 Australia won thirteen Ashes series in a row before the 2025 revival against England.
Q 18The State of Origin series is played between New South Wales and which state?
Queensland
It has been called 'Australian sport's greatest rivalry'; players represent the state where they played their first senior game.
Q 19The first State of Origin match was played in 1980 at which ground?
Lang Park, Brisbane
Queensland had just lost two interstate games, one in front of only 1,638 Sydneysiders, so the experiment was tried on 8 July.
Q 20Which Maroons legend, nicknamed 'The King', captained 30 of his 31 State of Origin games?
Wally Lewis
Also called The Emperor of Lang Park, he became the sixth Immortal in 1999 and the Origin player-of-the-series medal bears his name.
The Super League war
In 1997 two rival competitions had run side by side in Australia, one backed by News Corporation.
Q 25The Challenge Cup, held since 1896, holds what distinction?
Oldest cup competition in either rugby code
Its final is traditionally at Wembley, where 'Abide with Me' has become the game's anthem.
Q 26The first Challenge Cup final at Wembley, in 1929, was won by which club?
Wigan
They beat Dewsbury 13–2 in front of 41,500, with Jim Sullivan kicking the first points after three minutes.
Q 27Which club won every Challenge Cup final from 1988 to 1995?
Wigan
The same era brought seven straight league titles and three World Club Challenges, including a 1994 win in Brisbane.
Q 28What are Wigan's traditional colours, worn permanently since 1888?
Cherry and white
The club claims 164 trophies, more than any other in the sport.
Q 29Which club has been Super League's most successful, with 10 titles including four in a row from 2019 to 2022?
St Helens
Saints wear white shirts with a red V and lost five Grand Finals in a row to Leeds between 2007 and 2011.
Q 30A record crowd of 102,569 watched a Challenge Cup final replay in 1954 at which ground?
Odsal Stadium, Bradford
It set a record for a rugby match of either code that stood for decades.