Read more about the Old Mate here - this post itself is about the why.

As MLR grew, several rivalry trophies quickly established themselves. Wikipedia lists: Texas Cup, Lone Star Champs, Cali Cup (original), Champagne Cup, Cuisine Solutions Cup, Gillys Cup, Fire and Ice Cup, Chowdah Cup, I-45 Feud, Dog Bowl, Hargest Bowl, Cali Cup, Coffee Cup, and Freedom Cup. Of these, only the Coffee and Freedom cups remain contestable due to the departure of so many teams. At the same time, Alex Magleby has consistently spoken about the importance of storytelling as part of the way to draw in new audiences to MLR and keep them. A rivalry cup isn’t the only story worth telling, but it is a natural one.

With a new Sunday Night Rugby show uniquely positioned to recap the weekend, the thought occurred that a rivalry (or challenge) cup that could be contested almost every single week could be a compelling story, especially if it could be traced back to the original MLR match.

The obvious inspirations behind the MLR Supporters Challenge Cup are the existing lineal trophies - Ranfurly, Raeburn and Utrecht shields. These are inspirations but different - Ranfurly is only required to be contested at home, where as our cup is contested at every match - regular and post season. Raeburn and Utrecht are contested home and away, but World Rugby has yet to recognize them - our cup is officially recognized, and Mags not only named the cup but purchased it as well, making sure that it is a cup that is large enough to have a handover ceremony but small enough to travel with the teams to away matches. The reveal of the cup happened in Ep 3 of Inside MLR. Make sure you watch the full episode, not just the clip I shared.

Credit to the TJRS Discord crew (especially Chris Lind, Phil Harris, Dave McVey, Chris Cotter, and James Horkan) where we hashed out some of the details to overcome one skeptic (and gain an unofficial nickname). TK for validating the idea and providing some potential names, James Deeley for verifying the statistics, Mags for recognizing the concept and immediate action, and the MLR socials crew for the announcement series!