In the Riverina, Australian rules football is the equal most popular football code (with rugby league) and has a long history since the establishment of the Federal Football Club (founded 1861 now known as the Wagga Tigers) with the earliest recorded interclub match occurring in 1881 against the Albury Football Club (founded 1876). Unusually for New South Wales, Australian rules football is quite popular in the Murray and Southern Riverina as it is south of the Barassi Line, and there are many clubs and leagues in the district, including the Riverina Football League, Farrer Football League, Hume Football League and Northern Riverina Football League. In addition, many clubs along the border play in Victorian leagues such as the Ovens & Murray Football League, Murray Football League, Picola & District Football League and the Golden Rivers Football League. [1]
The Murray region of western New South Wales, sometimes referred to as the southern Riverina, by 2021 had become the highest per capita producer of AFL talent in the world, far surpassing Melbourne's output. [2] The "Wagga Effect" is a term that has been used frequently in the Australian media to describe the disproportionately large number of elite sportsmen and women that originate from the region. [3] It is speculated that the phenomenon may arise in rural areas where the population is large enough to sustain the presence of a large number of sporting codes, but small enough to ensure that talented individuals are exposed to adult-level competition at an earlier age.
Australian Football was introduced to the Riverina region of New South Wales in Wagga Wagga in 1881, with a match between sides from the Wagga Wagga Football Club and Albury Football Club. [4] Subsequently, a local competition formed in 1884 around Wagga Wagga. The competition was immensely popular and grew rapidly.
Further south towards the Murray River, the Ovens & Murray Football League included teams from Albury that formed as the Ovens & Murray Football Association in 1893.
In 1905, the Wagga Football Association representative side lost a close match against the Fitzroy Football Club at Wagga. [5]
In 1929, Riverina separated from control of the NSWFA with its own governing body, the Southern Districts Australian National Football Council headquartered in Wagga. [6]
In these early days, the Ovens and Murray Football League produced champion players including Haydn Bunton, Sr., who was born in Albury and played with the Albury Rovers FC, Albury Football Club, and West Albury prior to playing with Fitzroy in the VFL in 1931.
In the early 1930s, rugby league began to rapidly outgrow Australian Football in the larger centres of the Riverina. Among the main reasons was its decision to listen to the public and hold its games on Sundays and align train timetables with matches, a move which proved very popular. [7]
In 1933, the Australian National Football Council granted the Victorian Football League direct control over the Riverina, the move effectively meant that the VFL did not have to transfers for players from New South Wales, paving the way for easier recruitment. [8]
By the late 1930s, the popularity of Australian Football was booming in the smaller towns of the northern Riverina, displacing rugby league, particularly in Ungarie and West Wyalong. [9] [10]
In 1944, rugby authorities from Sydney began a campaign to oust Australian rules from the Riverina, successfully campaigning for it to be banned from public schools in Albury, Wagga, and Junee to be replaced by Rugby League in an effort to expand the code into Victoria. [11] Rugby League successfully held schoolboy carnivals in Junee aimed at growing further south. [12] However Victoria began directing funds to help the game survive. [13] [14] By 1947, the code began making a comeback in Narrandera, where rugby league had taken over. [15] By 1951, however it was once again under threat in Junee, Leeton, Griffith and Wagga. [16] However, in 1953, Australian Football was once again declared the most popular code in the region with huge crowds and gate takings across the northern Riverina including Leeton, Griffith, Narrandera and Culcairn. [17]
In 1982, at the instigation of the Victorian Country Football League (who had jurisdiction over the area at the time), the South Western District Football League, the Farrer Football League, and the Central Riverina Football League were all combined into the Riverina Football League and the Riverina District Football League. The district league reverted to the Farrer Football League in 1985. There were two divisions of the Riverina DFL / Farrer FL between 1983 and 1994. In 1995, these two leagues were part of the Murrumbidgee Valley Australian Football Association.
At the conclusion of the 2007 season, the Coreen league was disbanded with most of its clubs joining the Hume league for the 2008 season.
According to studies in the 2010s and 2020s, Australian rules football is continuing to expand north into the northern Riverina, one of the only areas of the Barassi line which are moving.
League | Years | Senior clubs | Divisions | Headquarters | Notes/References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northern Riverina Football League | 1924- | 5 | 1 | West Wyalong | |
Hume Football League | 1933- | 9 | 1 | Walla Walla | |
Farrer Football League | 1957- | 9 | 1 | Wagga Wagga | |
Riverina Football Netball League | 1982- | 9 | 1 | Wagga Wagga |
Early in the 20th Century notable players included Haydn Bunton, Denis Ryan, Gordon Strang, Doug Strang and Maurie Hunter. During the 1970s, the region produced a famous footballer family, the Danihers from the Ungarie Football Club: Terry Daniher, Neale Daniher, Anthony Daniher, and Chris Daniher. [29] In the modern era, the Riverina had many players for the VFL/AFL, including champions such as Wayne Carey, Paul Kelly, Dennis Carroll, John Longmire, Leo Barry, Shane Crawford, and Brett Kirk. Some other players from the region to have played AFL level football include Isaac Smith, Luke Breust, Zac Williams, Dean Terlich, and Sam Rowe.
Group 9 is a rugby league competition based in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, and surrounding areas. The competition is played in six grades, with these being Under 16s, Under 18s, Women's Tackle, Women's League-Tag, Reserve-Grade and First-Grade.
The Riverina Football Netball League (RFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules football competition, with these being First-Grade, Reserve-Grade and Under 17s. In the netball competition, there are five grades, with these being A-Grade, A Reserve-Grade, B-Grade, C-Grade and Under 17s. The league is the only major country league in New South Wales, and was formerly a VFL recruiting zone for South Melbourne from 1968 to 1986.
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Culcairn is a town in the south-east Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. Culcairn is located in the Greater Hume Shire local government area on the Olympic Highway between Albury and Wagga Wagga. The town is 514 kilometres (319 mi) south-west of the state capital, Sydney and at the 2016 census had a population of 1,473.
In New South Wales, Australian rules football dates back to the colonial era in 1866, with organised competitions being continuous since the 1880s. Today, it is popular in several regions of the state, including areas near the Victorian and South Australian borders—in the Riverina, Broken Hill, and South Coast. These areas form part of an Australian cultural divide described as the Barassi Line. To the east of the line, it is known as "AFL", named after the elite Australian Football League competition. AFL NSW/ACT is the main development body.
The Northern Riverina Football Netball League (NRFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing five clubs based in the northern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features four grades in the Australian rules football competition, with these being Seniors, Under 17s, Under 14s and Under 11s. In the netball competition, there are five grades, with these being A-Grade, B-Grade, C-Grade, Under 16s and Under 13s.
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Terrence "Terry" John Daniher is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the South Melbourne and Essendon Football Clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Terry was also an assistant coach for the Essendon, Collingwood, St Kilda and Carlton Football Clubs. Terry's brothers, Neale, Anthony and Chris, also played for Essendon in the AFL. He is a member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame and the Wagga Wagga Sporting Hall of Fame and is a Champion of Essendon. Terry is currently the owner of Terry Daniher Cleaning Services, a cleaning company based in Melbourne.
Boree Creek is a town in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located 539 kilometres (335 mi) south west of the state capital, Sydney and 82 kilometres (51 mi) west of the regional centre, Wagga Wagga. Boree Creek is situated in the Federation Council local government area but is closer to the town of Lockhart. At the 2016 census, Boree Creek had a population of 64.
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The Mangoplah Football Club is an Australian Rules Football club. It competes in and around the Wagga Wagga area in New South Wales, Australia. The Mangoplah Football Club was founded in 1913 by D J Lloyd, who became the club's first captain. In 1955 the club merged with Cookardinia United FC.
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The South West District Football League was a major Australian rules football competition which ran from 1910 until 1981 in the Riverina region of New South Wales.
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