The Hume Football Netball League (HFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing twelve clubs based in the South West Slopes and southern Riverina regions of New South Wales, Australia. The league features four grades in the Australian rules football competition, with these being First-Grade, Reserve-Grade, Under 17s and Under 14s. In the netball competition, there are six grades, with these being A-Grade, B-Grade, C-Grade, C-Reserve Grade, Intermediates and Juniors.
Currently, a home and away season consisting of 18 rounds is played. The best six teams then play-off according to the McIntyre System, culminating in the HFL Grand Final, which is traditionally hosted by Walbundrie.
History
Prior to the formation of the Hume Football League, various football associations and leagues had been organised in the southern Riverina area since the late 19th century, including the Central Hume Football League, the Albury and District Football League and the Riverina Football Association. The latter was organised in the 1920s amongst clubs in towns that lay on the railway spur from the main Sydney-Melbourne line at Culcairn as far west as Balldale, as in the years pre-World War II, cars were still a relatively uncommon form of transport, with horses still being prevalent in the area.
Appropriately, it was over concerns about travel times that caused the formation of the Hume Football League. The league was formed in 1933 by Jindera, Lavington, Gerogery and Border United (from Albury), who were disgruntled about the amount of travel required in the existing Central Hume League. Gerogery won the inaugural season, winning the deciding Grand Final against Jindera.
In 1934, Border United withdrew after one season to be replaced by Bethanga, and Gerogery won their second premiership in a Grand Final against Lavington. In 1935, Walla Walla, Walbundrie and Burrumbuttock joined from the Central Hume League, which was dissolved.
The league's roster was relatively unstable in early years as clubs transferred from one local league to another, formed or disbanded.
1936: Wagga Road joined.
1939: Wagga Road and Bethanga left.
1940: Lavington withdrew.
1941–1944: Recess due to World War II.
1938 Bloodbath Grand Final
The Hume Football League Grand Final was held at Jindera on 3 September 1938. Bethanga's Captain Jack Mortlock and player Jim Stapleton were felled behind play in the first quarter and sent to hospital. Back then teams only had 19 players with just one interchange player so that left Bethanga with 17 fit players for the remainder of the match. The umpire was threatened and intimidated by the Lavington players so he made no reports during the Grand Final and they went on to record an easy win. Some of the Lavington players were disgusted with the way some of their teammates behaved and were disillusioned with their victory.
HUME LEAGUE. LAVINGTON PREMIERS. BETHANGA OVERWHELMED IN ROUGH GAME. From start to finish there was only one team in it. Furthermore on various occasions blows were struck, and in one instance, the umpire, who rushed in to stop a melee, was violently thrown aside. Tripping and elbowing, which appeared deliberate, was an order of the day, and only on rare occasions was good and systematic play in evidence. By way of comparison, this match was miles behind the first semi final played on the same ground between Bethanga and Walbundrie the three weeks previously. Lavington won the toss, and with the help of a strong breeze blowing diagonally across the ground soon had Bethanga in difficulties. The side was on the defense throughout the quarter, and failed to score. Opening with several behinds L. O'Connell then kicked two goals, which were followed by a string of seven behinds. Only on one occasion did the ball cross the centerline in Bethanga's favor. Rough and congested play excluded good football, and the game was held up several times in order to quell disturbances caused by pugilistic encounters. At the change Lavington led by 21 points to nil. It was expected that with the wind in its favor, Bethanga would make up the leeway in the second quarter, but supporters were disappointed when Lavington quickly added three goals to their score (T Farley-1 goal, Rowley Gulson-2 goals). Play was again interrupted by fighting and when the goal umpire fell over a boy who got in his road, he was unable to signal the score, and play ceased for about 10 minutes to give way to arguments and explanations. Order being restored, play was resumed and Bethanga seemed to wake up. Wally Butler kicked two goals and several behinds gave them more points. Then the game swerved in Lavingtons favor again, and with the help of 4 behinds and a goal by Jack Livermore, they led by 35 points at half time. Although Bethanga opened the third quarter well, and early scored several points they were for the most part defending desperately and were unable to add further to their tally. Lavington was now definitely on top, and did as it liked. By adding 4 goals (Jack Livermore 2 goals, T Farley, Spud Prater 1 goal each) and eight behinds, they drew away from their opponents, who were beaten in the ruck, in the air, in fact anywhere. The issue was no more in doubt, and the players, realizing that the game was won and lost, managed to keep their ruffled tempers in check. As in the previous quarter Bethanga again scored first in the last term. Wally Butler raised the two flags. Rowley Gulson replied with a sixer, and Tom Barnett gave Bethanga another goal. W. Dawson, T. Farley and L. O'Connell in turn kicked correctly, and Tom Barnett once more gave Bethanga a goal. Three goals by Lavington (Jack Livermore, Spud Prater, Harold McIntosh) made the margin still wider, and large numbers had already left the ground when the final bell proclaimed Lavington premiers of the Hume League for 1938.
The scores: first quarter, Lavington 2-9 Bethanga nil. Second quarter, Lavington 6-13 Bethanga 2-2. third quarter, Lavington 10-21 Bethanga 2-4. Final scores. Lavington, 17 goals 23 behinds (125 points). Bethanga, 5-6 (36 points). Goal kickers-Lavington. L. O'Connell 4, T. Farley, Rowley Gulson, Jack Livermore and Spud Prater 3 each, W. Dawson and Harold McIntosh 1 each. Bethanga, Wally Butler 3, Tom Barnett 2. Best Players. Lavington, Rowley Gulson, E. Collins, L. O'Connell, T. Farley, W. Dawson, Charlie Lee, A. Lord. Bethanga. Jack Sommer, Tom Barnett, Jack Mortlock, Norm Martin, Joe Packer, Arthur Dower, Wally Butler
The league reconvened in 1945 towards the end of the war with the following clubs: Balldale, Brocklesby, Rand, Walbundrie and Walla Walla. As before, the league's membership continued to fluctuate in subsequent years.
1947: Balldale returned, Burrumbuttock reformed. Mr. Kelly Joseph Azzi, Balldale Football Club President and Delegate first donated the Azzi Medal in 1947 for the fairest and best player award[3]
1948: Gerogery disbanded, East Albury Rovers joined.
1949: East Albury Rovers left, North Albury Seconds joined.
1953: North Albury Seconds left, Howlong joined from Chiltern & District Football League.
After the admission of Howlong, the make-up of the league remained stable until 1970 when Boree Creek joined from the Coreen & District Football League and Osborne joined from the Central Riverina Football League (the precursor to the Riverina Football League). At this point the competition had ten teams.
Balldale disbanded in February, 1975, causing a bye. In 1975, Lavington fielded a team in the Hume Football League, in addition to the Tallangatta & District Football League, for two years. In 1976, a reserves competition was introduced and Boree Creek moved back to the Coreen & District Football League. After two seasons, the Lavington side moved to the Farrer Football League in 1977 (to later join the Ovens & Murray Football League in 1979), with a new club, East Lavington, taking their place.
Modern Era
Since the 1970s and 1980s, increased mobility has meant that the original motivations behind the league's formation have lessened, and the league has taken in more teams from beyond its original domain, to cover more of the rural area between the regional cities of Albury and Wagga Wagga. Henty joined the Hume Football League in 1980, and Lockhart joined in 1982, both from the Farrer Football League. Rand moved to the Coreen & District Football League in 1983. Culcairn and Holbrook joined the league from the Tallangatta & District Football League in 1992 and 1999 respectively. East Lavington disbanded at the end of 1997.
At the same time, economic concerns and the effect of migration from rural areas on the number of participants, leading to difficulties fielding teams, has meant that clubs from smaller neighbouring towns are electing to merge rather than disband completely, thus in 2006 two merged entities competed for the first time, the Brocklesby Burrumbuttock Football Club and the Rand Walbundrie Football Club.
In recent years on the playing arena, Osborne has tended to dominate the competition, though the league remains fairly competitive with most clubs providing a challenge.
Due to the disbanding of the neighbouring Coreen & District Football League, most of its teams were moved to the Hume Football League, bringing the number to fifteen for the 2008 season; these were Billabong Crows (a merger of the former Urana and Oaklands Football Clubs), Coleambally, Coreen-Daysdale-Hopefield-Buraja United (CDHBU), Murray Magpies and Rennie. Rennie retained the "Hoppers" nickname, sharing it with Walla Walla.
With the increasing size of the competition, an initial proposal to split the league into two pools for the 2009 season, organised geographically into western and eastern divisions and possibly including other nearby clubs was tabled in July 2007. This may be considered as part of an overall independent review of Australian football in the Riverina.[4]
Rennie moved to the Picola & District Football League in 2009.
Coleambally moved to the Farrer Football League in 2011.
During the 2015/16 off season both the Walla Hoppers and Rand-Walbundrie Tigers football clubs entered merger talks for 2016 Hume Football League season. Voting for the proposed merger took place on Monday 7 March (2016). Walla Walla Hoppers members voted 100 per cent in favour of the joint venture; while The Rand-Walbundrie Tigers voted 83 per cent in favour. The merged club commenced in 2016 playing home matches at Rand.[5]
Current Finals System
The HFL & HNA currently uses the "McIntyre system". The final series is played over four weekends, with the Grand Final traditionally being played on the third Saturday of September. Traditionally since 1976 all finals for both Football & Netball have been played at the Walbundrie Showground. Since then the only final to be played elsewhere was the 1989 Grand Final at East Lavington.
Greater Hume Shire is a local government area in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in 2004 incorporating Culcairn Shire, the majority of Holbrook Shire and part of Hume Shire. The shire had an estimated population of 10,137 as at 2012.
Howlong is a town 28 kilometres (17 mi) west of Albury, and is situated on the Murray River which separates the Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria. The town is located on the Riverina Highway. There is a bridge across the Murray into Victoria. Howlong is in the Federation Council local government area. At the 2011 census, Howlong had a population of 2,551.
Culcairn is a town in the south-east Riverina 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 2006 census had a population of 1,120.
The Coreen & District Football League was an Australian rules football competition in the Coreen district of the Riverina in New South Wales. The league was disbanded at the end of the 2007 season after 77 years of competition, and the six remaining clubs joined the following leagues during the 2007 post-season.
Walla Walla is a town in Greater Hume Shire Council in New South Wales, Australia. It is about 39 kilometres (24 mi) north of Albury-Wodonga and 130 kilometres (81 mi) south of Wagga Wagga.
The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales and the Ovens and Murray area. The name comes from the Ovens River, the river in the part of north-eastern Victoria covered by the league, and the Murray River, which separates Victoria and New South Wales.
The Walla Walla Football Club was an Australian rules football club that played in the Hume Football League in southern New South Wales. The club's nickname is the Hoppers, the guernsey design consisted of green and white stripes on the front with an all green rear. Their home ground was the Walla Walla Sportsground in Walla Walla.
Mangoplah is a town approximately 36 kilometres (22 mi) south of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2016 census, Mangoplah had a population of 309. The name of the town is believed to mean "Kooris singing" in the Wiradjuri aboriginal language.
Balldale is a town in the mid-southern part of the Riverina in New South Wales, Australia. It is about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north-east of Corowa and about 18 kilometres (11 mi) west of Brocklesby.
The Tallangatta and District Football League (TDFL) is an Australian rules football competition in north-east Victoria and the southern border area of Riverina region of the New South Wales. The clubs compete across four competitions, two of which are age restricted.
The Culcairn - Corowa railway line is a closed railway branch line in southern New South Wales, Australia. It branched off of the Main Southern railway line at Culcairn and headed south-west to the town of Corowa on the Murray River. The southern terminus was near the Victorian Railways Springhurst - Wahgunyah railway, but no bridge was ever provided over the river.
Jim Sandral is a former Australian rules football player who played for Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
The John Woodman Memorial, otherwise known as the Wagga to Albury, is an annual bicycle handicap race that runs between the New South Wales cities of Wagga Wagga and Albury. The event was first run in the 1930s, leaving the Wagga Railway Station and travelling via Tarcutta and Holbrook to finish outside the Globe Hotel in Albury. In 1948 the race was changed to run via the Olympic Way and finish in Dean St. It ran this way until its conclusion in 1963. In 1987 the event was revived and has run every year since. The event is organised by the Albury Wodonga Cycling Club (AWCC) and for 2013, the race will be held on 28 July.
The Lavington Panthers Football & Netball Club is an Australian rules football and netball club competing in the Ovens & Murray Football League.
The Wodonga Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Bulldogs, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the city of Wodonga, Victoria.
Albert Anderson was an Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
The Wodonga Saints Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing their home games at Martin Park in Wodonga, Victoria, Australia.
Culcairn Shire was a local government area in the eastern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia.
Hume Shire was a local government area in the eastern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
