Otago rugby league team

The first game was played at Caledonia Ground in Dunedin on 3 October and used goalposts which were rented from the Otago Rugby Union.

The Otago side was made up of fullback D Bannantyne, three-quarters J Harrhy, WR Kirk and G Ogg, five-eighths EO Nees and P Walker, halfback J Coulter, and forwards J Bryant, E Manley (captain), T Mockford, W Harridge, J Campbell and Larkins.

However the public sympathy went to the fledgling code and with it came the formation of the Otago Rugby Football League that year, chaired by Dunedin dentist, John Cooper.

Subsequently, the ORFL bought up a big section of land in South Dunedin, which was later subdivided, including a ground originally called Colossal Park after one of the lotteries.

The ORFL also loaned the NZRL 820 pounds in 1927 to keep it out of the red as well as hosting a Test the following year at the Caledonian Ground, which by now was under a five-year lease of the code.

After four glorious years, the turning point for the ORFL began in 1928 when the test at the Caledonian Ground was marred by fighting by the New Zealand and English teams, causing wide negative press in the local media.

Both 1953 and 1954 saw the South Island play in Dunedin against international touring team and together with a renewed interest, the ORFL also like their 1920s counterpart was able to secure a five-year lease on a ground as its headquarters.

A year later in September 1955 Celtic played Athletic under lights at Tahuna Park and in doing so created history by becoming the first ever rugby league match in New Zealand to do so.

The arrival of ex Auckland and West Coast players in Dunedin in the mid 1970s helped Otago win a provincial tournament in Palmerston North in 1975.

Two years later, the ORFL now became known as the Otago-Southland Rugby League and soon the clubs from the deep south began to take control over their more northern rivals.

In 2014, four clubs play league in Dunedin, which includes Kia Toa and University, both of whom celebrate their 60th anniversary years, during this season.