Nederlandse Rugby League Bond Championship

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Nederlandse Rugby League Bond Championship
SportRugby league
Formerly known asBNRL Championship
Inaugural season2015
Number of teams6
Country Netherlands
ChampionsBrabant Bears (2nd title) (2025)
Most titles
(2 titles)
WebsiteNRLB [1]
Broadcast partnerYouTube [2]

The Nederlandse Rugby league Bond Championship, also known as NRLB Championship, is a semi-professional competition and the top-tier of rugby League of the Netherlands. As of 2025, it consists of six teams. In 2014, a two-game series was held between Amsterdam City Cobras and Rotterdam City Pitbulls for the 'NRLB Nationale Kampioenschap' with each team winning one game.[1] The first league competition began in 2015 as a joint Dutch-Belgian venture called the BNRL Championship and became a Dutch only competition the following season.[2][3]

Current clubs

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Nederlandse Rugby League Bond Championship is located in Netherlands
Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Den Haag
Den Haag
Harderwijk
Harderwijk
Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Zwolle
Zwolle
Brabant
Brabant
class=notpageimage|
Location of teams in the 2025 NRLB Championship
Club Location
Den Haag Knights Haagsche Rugby Club, The Hague
Harderwijk Dolphins Harderwijk
Rotterdam Pitbulls Rotterdamse Rugby Club, Rotterdam
Zwolle Wolves Rugby Club Zwolle, Zwolle
Amsterdam Cobras Sportpark Jagersveld, Zaandam
Brabant Bears Oisterwijk

Results

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The finals are traditionally held by the current trophy holders. Prior to the 2019 season, the Grand Final trophy was renamed the Jason Bruygoms Trophy in honour of the NRLB development officer who played a key role in developing rugby league in the Netherlands before stepping down following the conclusion of the 2018 season.[4][5]

Year Winners Score Runner-up Location Ref
Grand Finals
2015 North Brussels Gorillas 48–6 Den Haag Knights Petit Chemin Vert, Brussels, Belgium [4][6]
2016 Rotterdam Pitbulls 42–18 Den Haag Knights Dordrecht RC, South Holland [4][7]
2017 Rotterdam Pitbulls 26–24 Den Haag Knights Rotterdamse Studenten RC, South Holland [4]
2018 Amsterdam Cobras 29–28 (AET) Den Haag Knights Sparta RC, Capelle aan den Ijssel, South Holland [4][5]
2019 Den Haag Knights 20–16 Amsterdam Cobras NRCA Stadion, Amsterdam, North Holland [4]
2020 Season cancelled – Covid-19 [4]
2021 Season replaced with nines tournament [4]
2022 Zwolle Wolves 32–28 Den Haag Knights Haagse RC, The Hague [4]
2023 Amsterdam Cobras 18–16 Zwolle Wolves Rugby Club Zwolle, Zwolle [4]
2024 Brabant Bears 26–16 Zwolle Wolves SportPark Jagersveld, Zaandam, North Holland [4]
2025 Brabant Bears 28–24 (AET) Zwolle Wolves RFC Oisterwijk Oysters, Oisterwijk [8]

Champions

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Grand Final winners and runners up
Club Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
1 Amsterdam Cobras 2 1 2018, 2023 2019
2= Brabant Bears 2 0 2024, 2025
2= Rotterdam Pitbulls 2 0 2016, 2017
4 Den Haag Knights 1 5 2019 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022
5 Zwolle Wolves 1 3 2022 2023, 2024, 2025
6 North Brussels Gorillas 1 0 2015

The Double

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In rugby league, the term 'the Double' is referring to the achievement of a club that tops the league table and wins the final in the same season. To date, this has been achieved by a total two different clubs.

Club Wins Winning years
1 Rotterdam Pitbulls 1 2016
1 Den Haag Knights RLFC 1 2019

Seasons

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2015 Competition

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2015 standings[9][10][a]
Team P W D L PD Pts
1 North Brussels Gorillas 3 2 1 0 102 11
2 Den Haag Knights 3 2 1 0 22 11
3 Rotterdam Pitbulls 3 1 0 2 -36 6
4 Amsterdam Cobras 3 0 0 3 -88 2

The 2015 competition was fought out between Amsterdam Cobras, Den Haag Knights, Rotterdam Pitbulls and North Brussels Gorillas (Belgium). The North Brussels Gorillas won the inaugural competition after defeating Den Haag Knights 48-6 in the Grand Final. Rotterdam Pitbulls defeated Amsterdam Cobras 52–22 in the third-place play-off.[6]

2016 Competition

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2016 standings[11][a]
Team P W D L PD Pts
1 Rotterdam Pitbulls 4 4 0 0 172 8
2 Den Haag Knights 4 2 0 2 -28 4
3 Amsterdam Cobras 4 0 0 4 -144 0

In the 2016 season, the North Brussels Gorillas left the competition to compete in the Belgium League[12] and the Dutch league became a three-team competition. At the start of the season the NRLB announced that Harderwijk Dolphins, who had been established in late 2015, had been admitted to join the league in 2017, but would play only friendlies in 2016.[3][13]

The Grand Final took place at Dordrecht Rugby Club on 18 June 2016. It was won by Rotterdam Pitbulls who defeated Den Haag Knights 42–18 both teams qualified by finishing in the Top 2 after all league matches were completed.. In lieu of a third-place play-off, Harderwijk Dolphins played Amsterdam Cobras as the curtain raiser to the match.[7]

2017 Competition

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Main article: 2017 NRLB Championship
2017 standings[14][a]
Team P W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Den Haag Knights 6 5 0 1 6 312 100 212 16
2 Rotterdam Pitbulls 6 5 0 1 6 210 154 56 16
3 Amsterdam Cobras 6 2 0 4 4 94 238 -144 8
4 Harderwijk Dolphins 6 0 0 6 4 112 236 -124 4

The 2017 season, saw the return of a four-team competition with Harderwijk Dolphins joining the league.[15] Den Haag Knights and Rotterdam Pitbulls finished the regular season level on points, with their only losses coming against each other.[16] The finals day was a repeat of the 2016 season with Harderwijk Dolphins defeating Amsterdam Cobras in the third-place match and Rotterdam Pitbulls retaining the title with a 26–24 win over Den Haag Knights in the Grand Final.[4] At the end of the season, the NRLB hosted a touring RAF team. They played against a Dutch Development XII and two combined teams; the Dams (Amsterdam Cobras and Rotterdam Pitbulls) and KDC (Den Haag Knights and Harderwijk Dolphins) with the RAF winning all three matches.[17]

2018 Competition

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2018 standings[18][a]
Team P W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Den Haag Knights 6 5 0 1 242 90 152 10
2 Amsterdam Cobras 6 5 0 1 254 110 144 10
3 Rotterdam Pitbulls 6 2 0 4 160 214 -54 3*
4 Harderwijk Dolphins 6 0 0 6 56 298 -242 0

In the 2018 season, the Grand Final match between Amsterdam Cobras and Den Haag Knights was won 29–28 by the Cobras in golden point extra time consigning the Knights to a fourth consecutive Grand Final defeat. The third-place play-off was won 40–28 by Rotterdam Pitbulls.[4][5][19][20]

2019 Competition

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2019 standings[21][a]
Team P W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Den Haag Knights 6 4 1 1 210 130 80 9
2 Amsterdam Cobras 6 4 1 1 208 146 62 9
3 Rotterdam Pitbulls 6 2 0 4 130 162 -54 5
4 Harderwijk Dolphins 6 1 0 5 134 244 -110 2

In the 2019 season, Den Haag Knights reached the Grand Final for the fifth time and recorded their first win, 20–18 over Amsterdam Cobras, becoming the first team to lift trophy since it had been renamed in honour of NRLB development officer Jason Bruygoms. Harderwijk Dolphins took third-place after Rotterdam Pitbulls forfeited their play-off match.[4]

2020 and 2021 Competition

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The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands and due to uncertainty over ongoing restrictions the NRLB organised a rugby league nines tournament in place of the Championship.[4][22]

2022 Competition

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2022 standings[23][a]
Team P W D L PD Pts
1 Den Haag Knights 4 4 0 0 128 8
2 Zwolle Wolves 4 2 1 1 30 5
3 Amsterdam Cobras 4 1 1 2 -32 3
4 Harderwijk Dolphins 4 1 0 3 -20 2
5 Rotterdam Pitbulls 4 1 0 3 -106 2

In the 2022 season, the league expanded to five-teams with Zwolle Wolves joining the competition. The debutants defeated Den Haag Knights in the Grand Final with Rotterdam Pitbulls winning the third-place play-off against Amsterdam Cobras.[4][24]

2023 Competition

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2023 standings[25][a]
Team P W D L PD Pts
1 Zwolle Wolves 4 3 0 1 70 6
2 Amsterdam Cobras 4 2 1 2 2 5
3 Rotterdam Pitbulls 4 2 1 1 0 5
4 Den Haag Knights 4 2 0 2 68 4
5 Harderwijk Dolphins 4 0 0 3 -130 0

In the 2023 season, Amsterdam claimed a second title by defeating Zwolle Wolves in the Grand Final. In the third-place match Den Haag Knights won against Rotterdam Pitbulls.[4]

2024 Competition

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2024 standings[26][a]
Team Pts
1 Zwolle Wolves 6
2 Amsterdam Cobras 6
3 Brabant Bears 6
4 Den Haag Knights 2
5 Harderwijk Dolphins 0
6 Rotterdam Pitbulls -5

The league expanded to six teams in 2024 with the addition of Brabant Bears. They won the competition by defeating Zwolle Wolves 26–16 in the Grand Final. Amsterdam Cobras won the third-place match against Den Haag Knights.[4]

2025 Competition

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The start of the 2025 season was delayed by two weeks causing the first round of the play-offs to be cancelled and meaning teams would qualify directly for the Grand Final, 3rd/4th and 5th/6th place play-offs. In early July, Harderwijk Dolphins withdrew from the competition and all their fixtures were recorded as 30–0 losses. In the Grand Final, Brabant Bears defeated Zwolle Wolves 28–24 in golden point extra time to retain the title.[8][27][28]

Clubs by season

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<timeline> ImageSize = width:600 height:300 PlotArea = top:50 left:140 bottom:50 right:50 AlignBars = late BarData= 

 bar:BB  text:Brabant Bears
 bar:ZW  text:Zwolle Wolves
 bar:HD  text:Harderwijk Dolphins
 bar:RP  text:Rotterdam Pitbulls 
 bar:NBG text:North Brussels Gorillas
 bar:DHK text:Den Haag Knights
 bar:AC  text:Amsterdam Cobras

Colors = 

 id:BNRL value:black legend:BNRL
 id:NRLB  value:blue legend:NRLB
 id:grey  value:gray(0.4)
 id:lgrey  value:gray(0.8)
 id:vlgrey  value:gray(0.92)

DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:2015 till:2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:2015 gridcolor:lgrey ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:2015 gridcolor:vlgrey PlotData= 

 color:BNRL width:10
 bar:RP  from:2015 till:2016 
 bar:NBG from:2015 till:2016
 bar:DHK from:2015 till:2016
 bar:AC  from:2015 till:2016
 color:NRLB width:10
 bar:BB  from:2024 till:end
 bar:ZW  from:2022 till:end
 bar:HD  from:2022 till:end
 bar:HD  from:2017 till:2020
 bar:RP  from:2022 till:end 
 bar:DHK from:2022 till:end
 bar:AC  from:2022 till:end
 bar:RP  from:2016 till:2020 
 bar:DHK from:2016 till:2020
 bar:AC  from:2016 till:2020

Legend = left:150 top:20 columnwidth:90

LineData = 

 layer:front                    # all lines in front of bars unless stated otherwise
 at:2020 color:grey
 at:2022 color:grey

TextData= 

 pos:(170,260) fontsize:L text:Championship clubs (2015–)

</timeline> Notes:

  • No Championship in 2020 and 2021 seasons


See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h League table:    Qualified for Grand Final,    Qualified for semi-final

References

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