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.[2] 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.
History
Wagga combined public schools team that defeated Sydney Fort Street Public School in 1906.
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.[3] Subsequently, a local competition formed in 1884 around Wagga Wagga. The competition was immensely popular and grew rapidly.
In 1905, the Wagga Football Association representative side lost a close match against the
Fitzroy Football Club at Wagga.[4]
In 1929, Riverina separated from control of the NSWFA with its own governing body, the Southern Districts Australian National Football Council headquartered in Wagga.[5]
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.[6]
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.[7]
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.[8][9]
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.[10] Rugby League successfully held schoolboy carnivals in Junee aimed at growing further south.[11] However Victoria began directing funds to help the game survive.[12][13] By 1947, the code began making a comeback in Narrandera, where rugby league had taken over.[14] By 1951, however it was once again under threat in Junee, Leeton, Griffith and Wagga.[15] 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.[16]
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.
Haydn Bunton, an Australian Football legend from the 1930s and 1940s in a photo that became the basis of a statue outside the
Melbourne Cricket Ground.
^Daniher, Terry Daniher, Neale Daniher, Anthony Daniher and Chris Daniher. The Danihers: The Story of Football's Favourite Family. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2009.
ISBN1-74175-651-0