Football in Australia refers to numerous codes which each have major shares of the mainstream sports market, media, broadcasting, professional athletes, financial performance and grassroots participation: Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union and soccer. There are four pre-eminent professional football competitions played in Australia: the Australian Football League, the National Rugby League, Super Rugby and the A-League (soccer). Rugby League is the most watched sport in Australia based on television viewership, however, Australian football attracts larger live attendences. In the states of New South Wales and Queensland, rugby football is overall the most watched and receives the most media coverage, especially the Rugby League State of Origin contested between the two states referred to as "Australian sport's greatest rivalry". In recent times, there has been an increase in popularity in Australian football and corresponding decrease in popularity of Rugby union in New South Wales and Queensland. Soccer, while extending its lead in participation rate, particularly in the large cities, and improving its performance at the FIFA World Cup and at the FIFA Women's World Cup, continues to attract the overall lowest attendance, as well as media and public interest, of the four codes.
The Adelaide Rams was an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The team was formed in 1995 for the planned rebel Super League competition. The Rams lasted two seasons, the first in the Super League competition in 1997 and the second in the first season of the National Rugby League (NRL) in 1998. The Rams were not a successful club, winning only 13 out of 42 games. However crowd numbers in the first season were the fifth highest of any first-grade club that year, but dwindled to sixteenth in the second season. The Adelaide club was shut down at the end of the 1998 season as a result of poor on-field performances, dwindling crowd numbers, financial losses and a reduction in the number of teams in the NRL. They remain the only team from the state of South Australia to have participated in top-level rugby league in Australia.
In Australia, rugby league is a popular spectator and participation sport which has been played since 1908. It is the dominant winter football code in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. According to Ausplay in 2024, there were 174,343 adult and 93,287 children playing it across five states at a participation rate of 0.8% per capita. Just under half of adult players are female. It is governed by the Australian Rugby League Commission based in Sydney.
Marrara Oval is a sports ground in Darwin, the capital of Australia's Northern Territory. The ground primarily hosts Australian rules football, cricket, and rugby league.
The Willows Sports Complex was a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was used predominantly as a rugby league ground as the home ground of the North Queensland Cowboys National Rugby League club. The ground was also used for rugby union and soccer. From 2009 to 2011, A-League football club North Queensland Fury called it home.
Timana James Aporo Tahu is an Australian former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. He last played for Denver Stampede in the US PRO Rugby competition. A dual-code international representative three-quarter back for Australia's Kangaroos and then the Wallabies, he could also play second-row and played for New South Wales in State of Origin. Tahu started his career in the National Rugby League for the Newcastle Knights, with whom he won the 2001 NRL Premiership before moving to the Parramatta Eels. He then played for the New South Wales Waratahs in the Super Rugby competition. Tahu returned to the NRL with the Eels and then the Penrith Panthers before finishing his NRL career where it started with the Newcastle Knights.
North Hobart Oval is a sports venue in North Hobart, Tasmania. Formerly used primarily for Australian rules football widely regarded as the traditional home of Australian football in Tasmania. However since the 1950s it has also become one of the main soccer, rugby league and rugby union venues in Tasmania.
This is a list of crowd figures for 2006 Australian football codes.
Sport in New South Wales describes participation in and attendance at organised sports events in the state of New South Wales in Australia. Sport forms an integral part of the culture of the state.
Lote Daulako Tuqiri is a former professional dual-code rugby footballer who primarily played as a winger across both codes. He represented Australia in both rugby league and rugby union, and Fiji in rugby league. Tuqiri first rose to prominence as a professional rugby league footballer for the Brisbane Broncos and Queensland Maroons, as well as the Fiji and Australia national sides. He was therefore a high-profile signing for rugby union in 2002, winning 67 caps for Australia and being a part of their 2003 and 2007 World Cup squads. He played rugby union for the Waratahs in the Super 14 and Leicester Tigers in England in season 2009–10. Tuqiri's contract with the Australian Rugby Union was terminated on 1 July 2009. No immediate reason was given, and Tuqiri returned to rugby league in 2010, playing for the Wests Tigers of the NRL. In September 2013, he signed a short-term contract with Irish rugby union giants, Leinster to play in the Pro12 in a three-month deal. Just 6 weeks out from the 2014 NRL season, Tuqiri signed with his third NRL club, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, on a one-year deal.
The Barassi Line is an imaginary line in Australia which approximately divides areas where Australian rules football or rugby league is the most popular football code. The term was first used by historian Ian Turner in his 1978 Ron Barassi Memorial Lecture. Crowd figures, media coverage, and participation rates are heavily skewed in favour of the dominant code on either side. Most other sports are unaffected by the dichotomy; Australian cricket, for example, has maintained consistent national interest throughout its history, though soccer faces more competition for participation in areas where Australian rules is more popular.
This is a comprehensive list of crowd figures for Australian football codes in 2007. It includes several different competitions and matches from the following football codes: Australian rules football, rugby league, football (soccer) and rugby union.
Australia is home to four professional football codes. This is a comprehensive list of crowd figures for Australian football codes in 2008. It includes several different competitions and matches from Australian rules football, rugby league, football (soccer) and rugby union. Sydney and Brisbane have teams represented in all four codes. Hobart and Darwin are Australia's only capital cities without a professional football team.
Rugby league football has been played and watched by people in the Australian state of Victoria since the early 20th century. While for most of its history there the game's popularity has been marginal due to the dominance of Australian rules football in Victoria, rugby league's popularity has rapidly increased in recent years in the state's capital of Melbourne, due mainly to the introduction of a professional Melbourne-based team in the national competition. The governing body is NRL Victoria.
Australia is home to four professional football codes. This is a comprehensive list of crowd figures for Australian football codes in 2009. It includes several different competitions and matches from Australian rules football, rugby league, football (soccer) and rugby union. Sydney and Brisbane have teams represented in all four codes. Hobart and Darwin are Australia's only capital cities without a professional football team.
Australia is home to four professional football codes. This is a comprehensive list of crowd figures for Australian football codes in 2010. It includes several different competitions and matches from Australian rules football, rugby league, football (soccer) and rugby union. Sydney and Brisbane have teams represented in all four codes. Hobart and Darwin are Australia's only capital cities without a professional football team.
Barlow Park is a multi-sports facility and stadium in Parramatta Park, Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
Australia is home to four professional football codes. This is a comprehensive list of crowd figures for Australian football codes in 2011. It includes several different competitions and matches from soccer, Australian rules football, rugby league and rugby union. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have teams represented in all four codes. Hobart and Darwin are Australia's only capital cities without a professional football team. Crowds exceeding 80,000 gathered 11 times for football games in Australia during 2011: 9 of them for Australian rules matches and 2 for rugby league matches.
Australia is home to four professional football codes. This is a comprehensive list of 'crowd figures for Australian football codes in 2012. It includes several different competitions and matches from Australian rules football, Association football (Soccer), rugby league and rugby union and International rules football which is hybrid game played between Australian & Ireland which takes aspect from Australian rules football & Gaelic football. Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane have teams represented in all four codes. Hobart and Darwin are Australia's only capital cities without a professional football team though they are home to professional games of Australian Football.
Australia is home to four professional football codes. This is a comprehensive list of crowd figures for Australian football codes in 2013. It includes several different competitions and matches from association football, Australian rules football, rugby league and rugby union. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have teams represented in all four codes. Hobart and Darwin are Australia's only capital cities without a professional football team.
