Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 as a split from the Rugby Football Union over the issue of payments to players. Its rules gradually changed in an attempt to produce a more entertaining game for spectators. It is frequently cited as the toughest, most physically demanding of team sports.

Points get scored by carrying or kicking a ball down a field, crossing the ball over the opponent's designated goal line and grounding the ball; this is called a try. After a try, the scoring team gains a free kick to try at goal with a conversion – a kick for further points. The opposing team attempts to stop the attacking side gaining points by preventing their progress up the field by tackling the player carrying the ball.

Rugby league is among the most popular sports in England,Australia,New Zealand,France,Tonga and Papua New Guinea where it is considered the national sport. The European Super League and Australasian National Rugby League are the premier club competitions. Rugby league is played internationally, predominantly by European, Australasian and Pacific countries, and is governed by the Rugby League International Federation. The current World Cup holders are New Zealand.

Shaun Johnson is a New Zealand rugby league player who currently plays for the New Zealand Warriors. NRL commentator Phil Gould has described him as the "New Benji Marshall".

From Whangaparaoa, Johnson attended Orewa College and played many sports, including basketball and rugby union, but made his name playing touch rugby and Aussie rules. He played rugby league for the Hibiscus Coast Raiders from the age of four until signing for the Warriors. He has represented New Zealand in both touch rugby and Aussie rules and played rugby union in his school's First XV.

His mother is Laotian and his father is a Pākehā (New Zealander of European origin).

Johnson played for the Hibiscus Coast Raiders in the Auckland Rugby League competition before being signed by the New Zealand Warriors in 2009.

Johnson started his professional career playing for the Junior Warriors in the Toyota Cup. In March 2009, League great Andrew Johns commented: "I haven't been this excited about a player in a long time." He was referring to the first time he saw Stacey Jones play, which was in 1995, when Stacey was a junior. Johnson spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons with the Junior Warriors and played 45 matches, scoring 25 tries, 159 goals and 4 field goals to finish his Toyota Cup career with 422 points. He made his NSW Cup debut for the Auckland Vulcans in 2010 and also represented the Junior Kiwis that year. His final Toyota Cup match was being part of the Junior Warriors winning the 2010 Grand Final.

Josh Charnley is an English rugby league player who currently plays for the Wigan Warriors in the Super League competition. Josh showed great promise on his début against Leeds in 2010 for Hull KR and picked up the club man of the match award. He played in the Carnegie Challenge Cup Final 2011 against Leeds Rhinos at Wembley Stadium and scored the first try of the match which lead to a victory for Wigan Warriors. Josh made numerous appearances for the Under 20's in 2010 before joining Blackpool Panthers on dual registration and then Hull KR on loan.

He was a player around the fringes of a first team opportunity at Wigan before the possibility came to join Hull KR for a month. Injuries meant he was given the chance to play first team rugby by Justin Morgan making his Super League début. Charnley scored five tries in five appearances which included a hat-trick in Hull KR's home win over Castleford and the opening try in the derby clash with Hull FC.

Josh is a player with pace and is another youngster who has progressed through the Club ranks.

Samuel Levi Tomkins (born 23 March 1989) is an English professional rugby footballer who plays rugby league for the Wigan Warriors in Super League.

Tomkins was born in Milton Keynes. After his family moved north in the early 1990s, he started playing for the Chorley Panthers amateur club when he was aged seven. In order to develop his career further, Tomkins' family moved to Wigan where he played for Wigan St. Patricks, before receiving a scholarship from the Wigan Warriors with whom he signed a full-time contract at the end of 2007. In 2008 he played for Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup, becoming the first rugby league player to score five tries in a first-grade debut. He is the younger brother of Joel Tomkins, who played for the Wigan Warriors from 2005 to 2011 before switching to rugby union.

2009 would prove to be Tomkins' breakthrough year. He made his league debut against Harlequins RL and made 27 appearances during the season, scoring 15 tries. He established himself as Wigan's first choice stand-off, and was named in the Super League Dream Team, as well as receiving the club's own Player of the Year and the Super League's Young Player of the Year awards. In 2010, Tomkins switched from stand-off to fullback under Wigan's new head coach Michael Maguire, also appearing occasionally at scrum-half. That season, Wigan won its first league title since 1998; it was Tomkins' first honour as a player. Appearing in every game of Wigan's 2010 season, he retained his place in the Dream Team, and also received the Rugby League International Federation's Rookie of the Year award.