It has long been argued that Canberra has been either AFL or NRL heartland, but for much of its history it has been delicately poised as neither.
Neither one of Australia’s main codes are on top. Indeed, you could actually throw rugby into the mix and nearly describe the city as union heartland such is the relative closeness between the three codes.
A relative overview of the city’s footballing history would probably put Australian football on par or even slightly ahead of RL from the 1920s through to the 1980s, but that was when league slipped quite comfortably ahead, due to the addition of the Canberra Raiders.
That lead has been worn down in the last few years with GWS’ success and the Raiders’ struggles.
The city was built on the back of Victorian working class labourers and tradesman, along with plenty of transferring Victorian middle class public servants from the 1920s as Parliament moved from Melbourne.
But Canberra was surrounded by league-centric working class towns such as Queanbeyan, Goulburn, Yass and smaller hamlets. Farm labourers were needed and plentiful whom and in general they followed the rugby codes.
This leads us to a Canberra Times article where AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has stated a grand five-year plan to make Australian football the most dominant sport in Canberra, boosted by soaring participation numbers.
This plan comes on the back of where AFL Canberra boasted 125 junior teams this year – the first time they’ve had that many since 1984 and GWS selling out Manuka Oval in five of the club’s seven games at the venue.
However, let’s dig a bit deeper across local community football in Canberra and see what we find as far as numbers of senior teams goes. It is always a decent gauge of community interest, although that gauge as everywhere is somewhat tempered at a senior level because of work, injury concerns, families, time constraints and other factors that lead many capable adults to still follow a particular code but not necessarily play it.
In 2017 playing senior football within Canberra district competitions there were:
43 senior Australian football teams (11 women’s teams)
35 senior rugby league teams (7 women’s teams – inaugural women’s comp)
54 senior rugby union teams (6 women’s teams and a far wider geographical spread than either AF or RL)
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
What do these stats tell us? They tell me that the football demographics in Canberra are particularly split.
League, possibly due to the brutal collision sport that it is, is not the market leader. Unon is bigger than I thought it would be but includes many teams from NSW areas that AFL and rugby league have other leagues in, so is somewhat of an outlier.
As far as senior team numbers and sheer numbers go, rugby union is probably the market leader, at any rate it would be close.
Which brings us back to the AFL’s plan and bold statement. It is one thing for a code to think they want to become the market leader, but another to boldly state it. How will the AFL go about it?
They have suggested they will upgrade Manuka Oval and have big games at the venue, do more development work in schools, seek greater media exposure and strengthen the GWS academy to include more local boys and girls.
The above are all standard ideas and ideas that may or may not happen and there is probably stacks more I haven’t listed, but realistically without a AFL team based in Canberra I am not sure that even with a very liberal dose of optimism that the AFL will become the dominant market leader.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Personally I see the status quo remaining, the other codes will fight tooth and nail to retain their market share and that is more than fair enough, it is actually a good thing for kids.
Both rugby codes have the perpetual ace up the sleeve of actually having a truly representative Canberra team. GWS will never be truly representative of Canberra and is more of a team that fulfils a footy fix for many people, although future generations may grow up barracking for GWS from Canberra as kids are now.
It did occur to me that Gillon has made these claims to put pressure on rival codes to use their resources to shore up heartland areas rather than branch out into new areas. Let’s face it, Gillon’s claims in three months let alone five years will probably be forgotten and he may not be even be at the AFL anymore.
Whatever happens, Canberra is definitely a curious case as far as football goes.
Simon
Guest
I find the sheer delusion of AFL supporters something behold. To think that AFL is anywhere near the popularity of League in the ACT. As if AFL was dominant until the sudden creation of the Canberra Raiders in 1980 . One might ask why the hell a professional rugby league team would establish itself in the capital rather than an AFL team if the city was so much in favour of Aussie Rules. Complete and utter delusion. I've even heard a Mexican claim that Cairns is now 50/50 between AFL and rugby league. What are AFL supporters smoking? The ACT is surrounded completely by Rugby League loving communities. There is no way that Aussie Rules compares to the ingrained grassroots love for rugby league in Canberra and the surrounding areas. Now we actually have a competent and aggressive administrator in Peter V'landys, I think we'll see the AFL really struggle to make inroads into League heartland. He's not asleep at the wheel like the other RL administrators had been, and he will stick it right up the fumblers. League has got much more going for it than AFL will ever have. In the South Pacific region alone, you have the largest territories by population as League heartlands - NSW 7.5 million, PNG 8.5 million and QLD over 5 million. Then you throw in South Auckland and Polynesian communities in NZ. AFL has got absolutely nothing on that. Then go to the north of England and south of France. AFL will never come close to the appeal that League's got.
Simmo
Guest
Yep, this was a very strangely argued article. It used a weird metric to argue its point (why only men's teams? other people play sport too lol). And totally ignored the biggest football code in town. As later illustrated by the Canberra Times, soccer football is the biggest Winter sport in the ACT, and also the second largest sport in Summer: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/grounds-for-concern-capital-football-struggling-to-cater-for-boom-20180430-p4zcec.html
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
In 2017 playing senior football within Canberra district competitions there were: 43 senior Australian football teams (11 women’s teams) 35 senior rugby league teams (7 women’s teams – inaugural women’s comp) 54 senior rugby union teams (6 women’s teams and a far wider geographical spread than either AF or RL) I think you forgot something. 185 senior Football teams (59 womens teams, all figures not including Masters teams)
terrence
Guest
In Canberra the three sports are: politics (blood sport) public service grade levels (blood sport) getting out of canberra on the weekend to the coast or snow fields (competitive sport). All other sports don't matter or rate.
Larry1950
Guest
BBL
clipper
Guest
To be fair, you have talked up NZ league, whereas the reality is that Kiwis go above and beyond to beat Australia and interest will always be high when the two nations are playing, but beyond that league is pretty weak in NZ and if the Warriors were to go there would be little interest there. Rugby in Australia has a long history, but has not moved on from the cosy private school set, where it has always been strong.
clipper
Guest
Super league war has been over for quite a while now, can't keep bringing that in - next thing you'll be spouting about Vichy!
Aligee
Guest
The Riverina is like Canberra, it is generally split, however the further South you go the stronger AF is, interestingly and sort of the opposite to Canberra is that RL's strongpoint is in the towns in the Riverina and AF stronger in the rural communities, that is because from around the 1880's onwards settlers from the South settled the farming lands and the towns over a period of time had postmasters, teachers, public servants Police etc moving from the North bringing the rugbies. It has changed a bit these days with less labour required on farms and people heading to cities AF Clubs like Grong grong, Ganmain and Matong and plenty of others North of wagga were formed in the early 1890's from small farming communities, Rugby league clubs were not really formed like that in the riverina, around Canberra they were however.
RandyM
Guest
You just sound bitter than League got a professional club in before the AFL did. There is healthy League grassroots in canberra, at least when I lived there in the early 90s. Maybe Canberran's only started playing League when the Raiders were invented, who cares? Canberra has since produced many NRL players, as has country NSW including the Riverina (another area AFL supporters claim as its heartland).
Nat
Roar Guru
He never does. He adds salty one-liners across all sports forums.
Nat
Roar Guru
republican, you keep using the term "commercial illusion" to describe the Raiders and now Storm. Try google RL in Vic and you will find literally dozens of clubs start (some fold too) since the inception of the Storm. Within that research you will note many RL rep players who have learned their trade in Vic.
republican
Guest
......good news indeed. That said, you should wait your turn in my opinion. Traditional heartlands of which Tassie and Canberra both are, deserve consideration over Newcastle truth be told. This sort of top down approach is incredibly disenfranchising to respective codes, while both the afore mentioned options are certainly viable commercially, when you consider the money the AFL have committed to GWS which could be viewed as an irresponsible use of resources akin to punting. Both Tassie and Canberra are well established markets and especially the former, with ready to go patronage while Newcastle and GWS are not.........
republican
Guest
........how local exactly? I have lived here since age 7, arriving in 1963. While the GR of Soccer nationally and locally is dominant, Australian Football remains as much an influence and integral to the sporting DNA of this fine city, as any of its competitors. The presence of an elite commercially concocted brand i.e. the Brumbies and Raiders in any demographic, does not necessarily translate to support on the ground, as you have alluded to regards Soccer in Canberra. This is also the case in re. to the indigenous code in this town, which is as strong if not stronger than either Rugby code at the GR, while its historical footprint is more compelling than RL. This is further evidenced by the gates at Giants fixtures, which are on par and often greater than either of the supposed home Rugby teams and this for an entity the isn't a Canberra one...........
republican
Guest
..........I played footy for Manuka Bullants as a junior circa1963 to 1970. A good account of two rival clubs from south of the lake, Manuka (long subsumed by the latter) and Eastlake is 'Kick it Long' by Keith Miller. This includes a chapter dedicated to the beginnings of the code here, covering the years 1926 - 2012........
Aligee
Guest
http://www.nowuc.com.au/2015/07/the-evolution-of-australian-rules-football-in-canberra/ More Canberra footy history From 2015
Chris
Guest
The AFL and the Swans in Sydney have had the luxury of not having a Super League war.
Memphis
Guest
There are less Melbourne adult RL teams than there were 20 years ago though they have made some inroads in country Victoria
Memphis
Guest
Canberra has zero chance of having a soccer or AFL team - a lot of RL supporters live outside Canberra so if u mean Canberra and district then RL attracts more fans. Tasmania with an NRL team -ru serious - even for you republican that is bizarre???
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
They didnt act like it either. The AFLs mistake was that they did promote it properly - this was noted on twitter by several current and former Mathildas during the opening Carlton v Collingwood game. I mean god forbid that a sports organisation with the resources of the AFL would actually use those resources to promote a womens competition,.
Aligee
Guest
Pretty sure everyone guessed it was sarcasm, but really its people who appear jealous who make these claims, the AFL has not and no footy fan i know claims it, everyone just seems happy for the girls and happy to spruik it. This country has a fantastic record of female athletes representing us all the way back to Fanny Durack, Australian born daughter of an Irish Publican and winner of gold medals in swimming in the 1912 Olympics. But there is no doubt AFLW was a huge huge success all over the country, why play it down ?, replicating it will be the hard part IMO.