 Rugby league was first played in Hay during 1931, a tentative beginning in a township where the dominant football code was Australian Rules.It wasn't until 1936 that Hay Rugby League Club was officially formed and matches scheduled on a more regular basis.The core advocates of the new club were the young school-teacher Sam Willis, three publicans ‘Silver’ Sullivan, Dan Sutherland and Jim Dixon, and a road-contractor, Bill Jackson.