Sydney's Top Sports Teams, Grounds & Events

Sydney is Australia's largest sporting city by population and hosts the widest range of professional teams and elite events of any Australian city. The city's sporting landscape spans five football codes (NRL, AFL, Rugby Union, A-League, Rugby League), international cricket at the Sydney Cricket Ground, international tennis at Sydney Olympic Park, and the annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race start from Sydney Harbour. The 2000 Sydney Olympics infrastructure (Accor Stadium, the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, the State Velodrome) continues to provide world-class event infrastructure for major international sporting events.

NRL (National Rugby League) — Sydney is the heartland of rugby league and hosts nine of the NRL's sixteen clubs: the Sydney Roosters (Allianz Stadium, Moore Park), the South Sydney Rabbitohs (Accor Stadium and Allianz Stadium), the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, the Parramatta Eels (CommBank Stadium, Parramatta), the Penrith Panthers (BlueBet Stadium, Penrith), the Wests Tigers, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, and the St George Illawarra Dragons (Jubilee Oval, Kogarah and WIN Stadium, Wollongong). The NRL Sydney derby matches (Roosters-Rabbitohs, Panthers-Eels, Bulldogs-Tigers) are among the most attended club sporting events in Australia.

AFL (Sydney Swans) — the Sydney Swans are one of the AFL's most successful recent clubs (premierships in 2005 and 2012), playing home games at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and commanding a passionate inner-Sydney following. The SCG atmosphere for AFL, with the iconic Members Stand and the Sheridan Stand, is considered one of the finest intimate AFL grounds in the competition. The Greater Western Sydney Giants (GIANTS Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park) provide western Sydney with an alternative AFL following.

Rugby Union (NSW Waratahs) — the NSW Waratahs compete in the Super Rugby Pacific competition from Allianz Stadium (Moore Park), with the Sydney Test matches at Accor Stadium providing the city's most significant Rugby Union occasions. The Bledisloe Cup (Australia vs New Zealand) Sydney Test is one of the most attended rugby events in the Southern Hemisphere.

Major events — the Sydney Test (cricket, SCG, January), the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, the Sydney International tennis (pre-Australian Open warm-up, Ken Rosewall Arena, Olympic Park), and the annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race start (Boxing Day, Sydney Harbour) are Sydney's premier sporting calendar events.

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