The first organised competition of Rugby League was played in Darwin in the dry season of 1941, between teams comprising mostly servicemen. Nine teams participated in the first competition and represented RAAF, Navy, and Army units, also with a "Town" team, and a team made up of mostly Aboriginal players.

The competition lapsed following the Japanese bombing raids in February 1942, and the subsequent evacuation of civilians from Darwin. However, another competition commenced in 1942/3. There were regular games throughout the war years but unfortunately rugby league competitions and "unofficial" matches ceased towards the end of the war as the war effort moved on, and military personnel were posted away from the NT. There appears to have been no further effort to re-establish the game in the NT until 1949/50.

In 1950, a small group of men, mainly ex-servicemen, joined together to form the Northern Territory Rugby Football League Association. The first official season of Rugby League kicked off in Darwin in 1950 with a number of pre-season trial matches. The first competition game was played on Sunday 14th January 1951.

Cyclone Tracey smashed into Darwin on the 24th December 1974, and totally devastated the city. Fortunately, there was very little damage to the facilities at Richardson Park - the "Home of Rugby League in Darwin". However, the cyclone had an impact on the game as players and administrators alike either left Darwin or were involved with the clean-up operations.

Rugby League in Darwin has undergone periods of decline and expansion over the years, but overall has remained fairly stable and has actually expanded in recent years.

Today the Darwin Competition consists of 7 A-Grade teams (Brothers, Nightcliff, Northern Territory Institute of Sport, Litchfield, Palmerston, South Darwin, and University and 6 Reserve Grade teams (Brothers, Nightcliff, Litchfield, Palmerston, South Darwin and University).

* Information sourced from 1999 - History of Rugby League in Darwin & the NT - compiled by Paul Albion