Dewar Shield

Dewar Shield

Current season or competition: 2010 Dewar Shield Season
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	1909
No. of teams	10
Country(ies)	Australia
Most recent champion(s)	Melbourne Rugby Club (2010)
Official website	http://www.vicrugby.com.au

See also: Club Rugby (Australia)

The Dewar Shield is a Rugby Union competition in Melbourne, Victoria. It is the premier grade for Rugby in Victoria. A total of ten teams from the Victorian Rugby Union compete for the trophy.

History

See also: Rugby union in Victoria

The Victorian Rugby Union senior competition was established in 1909 with five teams namely East Melbourne, Melbourne, South Melbourne, St Kilda and University. The Melbourne Rugby Club of that time won the first year of the five-team competition for the new trophy the Dewar Shield (donated by the Scotch Whisky Distillery John Dewar and Sons). One hundred years later in 2009 the current Melbourne Rugby Club is the reigning premiers, defeating Box Hill in the Grand Final for the same Dewar Shield.

The Premier competition is between ten clubs with each club fielding three teams (Premier 1, Premier 2, and Premier 3). Other senior competitions offered are Metro 2nd Division with an A, B & C Grade, Colts (U20), Country, Women and Masters (over 35s).

During this time, a number of clubs have dominated the 1st Grade results. Boroondara (formerly Kiwis & Kiwi Hawthorn), Melbourne and Moorabbin Rugby Clubs share the most number of Premierships with 14 apiece. Moorabbin holds the record for consecutive Premierships, winning six in a row from 1981-1986. Other prominent clubs during this 100 year period include Melbourne University, Power House and Navy. ^[1]

Footscray/Melbourne Chargers and Endeavour Hills were promoted recently promoted to the premier division for the 2011 season.

Teams

Club	Location	Home Ground	Nickname	First season
Boroondara	Hawthorn	Gardiner Reserve	Redbacks, Kiwis
Box Hill	Box Hill	RHL Sparks Reserve	Broncos
Endeavour Hills	Endeavour Hills	Frog Hollow Reserve
Footscray & Melbourne Chargers	Footscray	Henry Turner Memorial Reserve	Bulldogs & Chargers
Harlequin	Holmesglen	Ashwood Reserve	Quins
Melbourne	Armadale	Romanis Reserve, Orrong Park	Unicorns
Melbourne University	Parkville	Royal Park
Moorabbin	Moorabbin	Keys Rd Reserve	Rams
Power House	Albert Park	Albert Park
Southern Districts	Seaford	Riviera Park	Pirates

Media Coverage

The Rebel Army periodically have online text-based commentary of matches.

See also

• Victorian Rugby Union
• Melbourne Rebels

References

1. ^ "Victorian Rugby Union". http://www.vicrugby.com.au. 

External Links

• "Victorian Rugby Union". http://www.vicrugby.com.au. 
• "Melbourne Rebels". http://www.melbournerebels.com.au. 
• "Rebel Army". http://www.rebel-army.com.