The club was founded on 14 January 1908 at a public meeting held at Newtown Town Hall that had been convened by the prominent Sydney sportsman James J. Giltinan (after whom the NSW Rugby League Premiership shield is named), local MP Henry Hoyle, and Harry Hamill, who was to be the fledgling club's first captain.

[3] Rugby league historian Sean Fagan similarly holds that the date of 14 January 1908 is the correct foundation day.

The great Brian Moore had been relegated to the reserves bench throughout the preliminary rounds of the Wills Cup tournament, and youngsters like Ian Satori, Dennis Gardiner, Peter Parry and Warren Snodgrass were all given a chance in the top grade.

The St. George lineup was: Graeme Langlands, Geoff Carr, Ted Goodwin, Bob Clapham, John Chapman, Tony Branson, M. Shulman, Lindsay Drake, Peter Fitzgerald, Rod Reddy, Inisai Toga, Colin Rasmussen, and Harry Eden.

In the second half the Newtown forward pack gave the Saints a taste of their own medicine which helped gain tries for Melville and Robertson, both converted by Ken Wilson which reduced the St George lead to 15–12.

Brian Moore brought on at halftime, scored the final try, converted by Ken Wilson which sealed victory for Newtown in the last minute, making the game one of the most exciting comeback wins in rugby league history.

[6] The 1981 Newtown team, which played in the club's last NSWRL premiership grand final, included the legends of game Tommy Raudonikis and Phil Gould.

One such alternative, proposed for the 1985 season (after a planned one-year sojourn from the League) involved a full relocation to Orana Park, at Campbelltown in south-western Sydney, and during this period the club was run by its loyal stalwart and CEO, Frank Farrington.

The proposal, including a new logo with the new name on the traditional royal blue jersey, was approved by the football club directors.

In 1988, Newtown was able to sell its clubhouse, now the Cyprus Community Club of NSW,[8] however too much time had elapsed and readmission to the top competition was not considered.

As a show of commitment to the Campbelltown-Liverpool region, with a new junior league structure ready to be implemented at the Jets' instigation for the 1984 season, Newtown played five home games of the club's final season, at Orana Park in Campbelltown, including an opening round blockbuster against 1981-82 premiers Parramatta Eels, won 54-14 by a rampant Eels combination.

The Newtown District Junior Rugby League (NDJRL) competition ended after the ejection of the club from the NSWRL premiership in 1983.

Some notable Newtown juniors include, Johnny Raper (Camperdown Dragons), *Ron Sigsworth & Phil Sigsworth (Newtown Hawks), Mark & Geoff Bugden (Marrickville), Grant & Craig Ellis (Marrickville RSL), Jeff Fenech (St. Pius Enmore, Marrickville RSL), Matt and Brad Burke (St. Josephs Newtown), Paul Osborne (Christian Bros Lewisham), Col Murphy (Newtown Hawks), Frank "Bumper" Farrell (Marrickville),[10] Frank Hyde, Brian "Poppa" Clay (St Peters), Greg Pierce (Sydenham), Paul Akkary (St Peters), Michael Speechley and future Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese (Camperdown Dragons).

Newtown Junior League was a tough, uncompromising competition so the referees quickly learned to manage difficult players and provide a controlled game.

[12][13][14] The Newtown graded referees included: Gary Bennett, David Bowron, Lyle Buckley, Phil Cooley, Jack Danzey, Cyril Dimon, Grant Heaton,[15] Kim Holwell,[16] Mick Howell, Peter Lucas,[17] Don Macdonald, Terry Murphy, Geoff Norberry, Richie Pierce[18] and Peter Pierse.

[citation needed] In 2000, Newtown entered a team in the NSWRL Premier League, the second-tier NSW competition to the NRL.

[21] On 20 August 2007, a film depicting the club, The Final Winter starring and written by former Sydney rugby league footballer Matt Nable was released in cinemas across Australia.

Finally after 24 minutes of extra time and dozens of attempts at field goals from both teams, captain Sean Rudder erred in kicking out on the full.

[22] On 5 February 2011, Newtown played a trial game against long term rivals, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, at a revamped Redfern Oval.

[31] Newtown would then go on to make the 2019 Canterbury Cup NSW grand final after defeating Mounties, North Sydney and minor premiers St George.

In the grand final against Wentworthville, Newtown won the premiership after scoring a try in the 88th minute of extra-time at the new Western Sydney Stadium to win 20–15.

[32] The following week in the NRL State Championship final at ANZ Stadium, Newtown player Billy Magoulias set up the winning try with just five seconds of normal time remaining.

[33] Newtown finished the 2022 NSW Cup season as Minor Premiers but fell one game short of the grand final losing to Canterbury 28-26.

In 1983, Newtown took five home games to Orana Park (now Campbelltown Stadium) ahead of a planned re-location to South Western Sydney in 1984 before the club was kicked out of the NSWRL.