Preseason Cup

The Craven Mild Cup was a competition held by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) in Australia before the start of the season proper, from 1962 until 1981. From 1962 to 1969 it was simply known as the Preseason Cup, before tobacco company W.D. & H.O. Wills took up sponsorship - with the competition rebranded the Wills Cup - in 1970, and the Craven Mild Cup for its last four seasons, from 1978 to 1981.

The Preseason Cup first took place over March 1961, with matches played at night under lights at the Sydney Sportsground, Redfern Oval and Lidcombe Oval. The halves were played 35 minutes each.^[1] In March 1962, the Berries won the Preseason Cup, beating Western Suburbs 14-10 under floodlights at the Sydney Sportsground.^[2]

In 1972, an estimated 251,000 spectators watched matches in the competiion.^[3]

The NSWRL competition clubs made up the participants, except in 1970 when Wentworthville and Sydney Uni took park as well.

The competition was discontinued in 1982 due the increased length of the NSWRL regular season with its expansion to 14 clubs.^{[citation needed]}

Year	Winner	Score	Loser
1962	Canterbury	14-10	Western Suburbs
1963	St George	17-6	Balmain
1964	St George	41-14	North Sydney
1965	St George	15-7	Western Suburbs
1966	South Sydney	11-3	North Sydney
1967	Balmain	11-10	Manly-Warringah
1968	Penrith	28-12	Newtown
1969	South Sydney	19-7	Western Suburbs
1970	Canterbury	20-11	St George
1971	St George	20-7	Cronulla-Sutherland
1972	South Sydney	11-10	Eastern Suburbs
1973	Newtown	17-15	St George
1974	Eastern Suburbs	43-0	South Sydney
1975	Parramatta	11-5	Manly-Warringah
1976	Balmain	17-5	Manly-Warringah
1977	Eastern Suburbs	13-9	North Sydney
1978	South Sydney	10-3	Canterbury-Bankstown
1979	Eastern Suburbs	12-9	Balmain
1980	Manly-Warringah	21-12	Balmain
1981	Eastern Suburbs	12-3	Parramatta