{{Sport overview | country = Australia | sport = rugby league | image = File:Australia national rugby league team (8 May 2009, Brisbane).jpg | imagesize = 150px | caption = Darren Lockyer (fourth from bottom), Australia's most-capped player, kicking off for the national team in 2009. | union = Australian Rugby League Commission | nickname = Kangaroos | first = 1907, Sydney, New South Wales | registered = 160,691 (total registered) 51,540 (adult) 302,842 (junior) 30,648 (school prorams) 1,000,000+ (including Variants) | clubs = 17 Elite32 Professional1077 Amateur | match = 107,999 - 1999 NRL Grand Final | league = 3,151,039 - National Rugby League season 2010 | national_list = NRL Telstra PremiershipState of Origin | club_list = New South Wales Intrust Super Premiership Ron Massey Cup Newcastle Rugby League Illawarra Rugby League Sydney Shield Penrith District Rugby League Country Rugby League Queensland Queensland Cup FOGS Cup FOGS Colts Challenge Foley Shield Australian Capital Territory Canberra Rugby League competition Victoria Storm Premiership The Murray Cup Central Highlands Rugby League South Australia Adelaide Premiership Western Australia Smarter Than Smoking Premiership Pilbara Rugby League Northern Territory Central Australian Rugby League Katherine Rugby League Darwin Rugby League | countryflag = Australia }}Rugby league in Australia has been one of Australia's most popular sports since it started being played there in 1908. It is the dominant winter football code in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. In 2022, it was the most watched sport on Australian television with an aggregate audience of 137.3 million viewers. The premier club competition is the National Rugby League (NRL), which features ten teams from New South Wales, four teams from Queensland, and one team each from Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. Australia has a rich history of rugby league, first taking up the sport in 1908 alongside people in Britain and New Zealand.The rule changes over the decades have been partly instigated in Australia as well. The country has been dominant over the other rugby league-playing nations for many years, but enjoys a strong rivalry with New Zealand. Commonly known as "league" or "football", and sometimes referred to as "the greatest game of all", it is traditionally seen as a "working man's sport" with its roots in the working class communities of Northern England, compared to rugby union which has its roots in prestigious English public schools. The governing body in Australia is