Barassi Line
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
that divides areas where Australian rules
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
is the dominant winter code of football from those where rugby football
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
codes are most popular. The line runs from the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
-Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
border, south through Birdsville, Queensland
Birdsville, Queensland
-External links:*...
, through southern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
north of the Riverina
Riverina
The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...
, bisecting Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
and on to the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
at Cape Howe
Cape Howe
Cape Howe is a coastal headland in Australia, forming the south-eastern end of the Black-Allen Line, the border between New South Wales and Victoria.-History:...
on the border of New South Wales and Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. Despite Australia's relatively homogeneous culture, the dichotomy existing in the country's sporting culture as represented by the line has endured since the founding of Australian Rules in the 1850s. Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
is the most popular football code played to the west and south of the line, with centres in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
and Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, while the rugby football
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
varieties, rugby league
Rugby league in Australia
Rugby league football is one of the most popular sports in Australia. It is the dominant winter sport on the eastern seaboard of Australia, including the states of New South Wales and Queensland as well as the Australian Capital Territory, which together comprise around half of the country's...
and rugby union
Rugby union in Australia
Rugby union is the third most popular winter sport in Australia, with its history dating back to 1864.The principal competition in Australian rugby union is Super Rugby, which is a multi-regional competition across the southern hemisphere...
are the most popular codes on the other side, with centres in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
and Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. Coincidentally, each side represents roughly half of the Australian population, due to the concentration of population on the east coast
Eastern states of Australia
In Australia, the term eastern states refers to the states adjoining the east coast of Australia. These are the mainland states of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. The Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory, while not states, are also included. The term usually includes the...
.
At the time it was first used, there were no professional teams or leagues located on each code's opposite side of the line. However, in the years since, the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
in Australian rules, the National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
in rugby league and the Super Rugby competition in rugby union have all expanded their competitions to include teams from both sides of the line, although overall attendance rates and overall participation are still skewed towards each sport's traditional areas.
The exact location of the line may be disputed, and the stylised straight line is not particularly accurate. It is yet to be shown that any of Queensland favours Australian football over rugby codes, and in the Riverina area of New South Wales both codes vie for dominance. In the Canberra area there are two professional teams playing rugby codes, the Canberra Raiders
Canberra Raiders
The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership since 1982...
and the Brumbies, whereas there is no AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
side in Canberra and only a few matches are played there each year, even though many Australian rules teams compete in Canberra at levels lower than the AFL.
Other major team sports in Australia, such as cricket
Cricket in Australia
Cricket is one of the most popular sports in Australia, at international, domestic and local levels. Unlike most other sports played in Australia, cricket generates equal interest in all states of the nation. In 2007, a survey by Sweeney Sports found that 52% of the Australian public have an...
, basketball
Basketball in Australia
Basketball is a sport played both indoors and outdoors in Australia. Basketball remains one of the most popular participation sports in Australia, having a larger participation base than Cricket, Australian Rules Football, Rugby League and Rugby Union...
, netball
Netball in Australia
Netball is the most popular women's team participation sport in Australia. In 1985, there were 347,000 players. In 1995, there were over 360,000 Australian netball players. Throughout most of Australia's netball history, the game has largely been a participation sport; it has not managed to become...
, field hockey
Field hockey in Australia
- Australian Hockey League :The national level of competition is the Australian Hockey League, which was made from the former Men's and Women's National Hockey League in 1991...
and soccer have less variation in their popularity by location.
Origin
The Ron Barassi Memorial Lecture was a series of lectures given between 1966 and 1978 by Professor Turner, a Professor of History at Monash UniversityMonash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
, that were named after Ron Barassi, Sr.
Ron Barassi, Sr.
Ronald James Barassi was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the VFL. His grandfather came from Italy and Ron was the father of Hall of Famer Ron Barassi, Jr. who was signed to the club under the Father-Son rule.Originally from Castlemaine, Barassi was a rover and made his...
. Barassi played a number of Australian rules football games for Melbourne
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
in the Victorian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
(VFL) before enlisting to fight in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and subsequently dying from shrapnel wounds.
The Barassi Line itself was named after Ron Barassi
Ron Barassi
Ronald Dale Barassi, Jr AM is a former Australian rules football player and coach. During a long and decorated career, Barassi has been one of the most important figures in the history of Australian football. His father, Ron Barassi, Sr., was the first Australian footballer killed at Tobruk during...
, Jr., the former Barassi's son. Barassi Jr. was a star player for Melbourne and Carlton
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
, and a premiership-winning coach with Carlton and North Melbourne
Kangaroos Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
. He believed in spreading the Australian rules football code around the nation with an evangelical zeal, and became coach and major supporter of the relocated Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
. He foresaw a time when Australian rules football clubs from around Australia, including up to four from New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, would play in a national football league with only a handful of them based in Melbourne. At a time when the VFL consisted of 11 clubs in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and one in regional Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Barassi's prognostications were largely ridiculed.
Primarily due to the distances involved, the leagues of both rugby codes and Australian rules were based around city competitions, not inter-city national leagues as is the case in most countries. Each major city had one league as the highest profile with the greatest interest and attendance. In Sydney and Brisbane, the most followed competitions were rugby league's New South Wales Rugby Football League and Brisbane Rugby League premiership. In Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart and Darwin, the Australian rules football leagues of the Victorian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
, South Australian National Football League
South Australian National Football League
The South Australian National Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the governing body for the sport of Australian rules football in South Australia....
, West Australian Football League
West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...
, Tasmanian Football League
Tasmanian Football League
Tasmanian State League is the highest ranked Australian rules football league in Tasmania, Australia.The league has a long and convoluted history which dates back to its founding on 12 June 1879 Tasmanian State League (TSL) (formerly known as the Tasmanian Football League (TFL), Tasmanian...
and Northern Territory Football League
Northern Territory Football League
The Northern Territory Football League is an 8 team Australian rules football semi-professional league operating in Darwin in the Northern Territory.The premier grade is the largest Australian rules football league in the Northern Territory...
were the most popular. Australian rugby union clubs were also based around city leagues, primarily in Sydney and Brisbane. In most cities, however, the non-dominant sports had amateur leagues that operated for many years.
Expansion
The pursuit of national exposure for sports is influenced by the ratings systems used by Australian television. By the late 1980s, the main football codes in Australia realised that in order to garner the desired high national ratings, and increase the value of their product for television and sponsors, they needed to maximise their national exposure. This meant heavy investment in grassroots development and in the support of clubs on the "other" side of the Barassi Line.Australian rules football
The first club to cross the Barassi Line was the Sydney SwansSydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
, who relocated from South Melbourne in 1982. The Swans endured limited success and a series of wooden spoons
Wooden spoon (award)
A wooden spoon is a mock or real award, usually given to an individual or team which has come last in a competition, but sometimes also to runners-up. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous events...
in their first decade in Sydney before rallying for a series of good years in the 1990s and 2000s, culminating in their premiership in 2005. The Brisbane Bears
Brisbane Bears
The Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...
were founded as an expansion team in 1986 and also suffered from poor results with back-to-back wooden spoons until they were the beneficiaries of a forced merger with the Melbourne-based Fitzroy Lions
Fitzroy Football Club
The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
in 1996. The Brisbane Lions
Brisbane Lions
The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...
consolidated and became the first triple-premiership winner in 43 years, winning in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
In 1990, the Victorian Football League changed its name to the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
(AFL) to pursue a more national focus. By 1997, six of sixteen AFL clubs were based outside of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, although only two, the Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
and the Brisbane Lions
Brisbane Lions
The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...
were behind the Barassi Line. A gradually increasing number of players have been produced from the other side of the Barassi line, mostly due to interstate migration trends and developing grassroots participation in the sport, especially from Cairns
Cairns, Queensland
Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...
, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and the Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
, and more recently Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. The AFL has increasingly scheduled matches in Canberra, Cairns, and the Gold Coast to increase its importance beyond the Barassi line. The next wave of expansion by the AFL is on the opposite side of the line. A second Queensland team on the Gold Coast joined the competition in 2011, and a second New South Wales team, based in Western Sydney, is slated to join the AFL in 2012. Upon the establishment of these clubs, Ron Barassi Jr.'s prophecy of a national Australian Rules football league with four teams in NSW and Queensland would be fulfilled.
Rugby football codes
The rugby football codes have also attempted to expand beyond the Barassi line with mixed results.In 1995 the Australian Rugby League
Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
(ARL) created four new expansion teams including one in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, resulting in the first rugby league club whose home was on the wrong side of the Barassi Line, the Western Reds. By the time the breakaway Super League
Super League war
The Super League war is the common name given to the corporate dispute that was fought in and out of court during the mid-1990s between the Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation-backed Super League and the Kerry Packer and Optus Vision-backed Australian Rugby League organisations over broadcasting...
started in 1997, a second club on the opposite side of the line was created, the Adelaide Rams
Adelaide Rams
The Adelaide Rams were 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, which eventually ran parallel to the rival Australian Rugby League competition in 1997...
. A third club on the opposite side of the line, the Melbourne Storm
Melbourne Storm
The Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Melbourne. They are the first fully professional rugby league team based in the Australian rules football-dominated state of Victoria....
, was due to be created in 1998 to play in the second season of Super League, but in the meantime the opposing leagues made restitution and established the National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
(NRL). Part of the agreement to form a new league included a reduction of clubs in the league, especially those recently established in difficult markets, and the clubs in Perth and Adelaide were disbanded, although the Melbourne Storm continued with success in the new competition.
Professional rugby union clubs have been tried in Perth and Melbourne. While the unsuccessful Australian Rugby Championship
Australian Rugby Championship
The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC , was a domestic Rugby union football club competition in Australia which ran for only one season in August–October 2007...
containing the Melbourne Rebels
Melbourne Rebels (ARC)
The Melbourne Rebels were an Australian rugby union football club that competed in the now defunct Australian Rugby Championship in 2007. The team colors were white and blue....
and Perth Spirit
Perth Spirit
The Perth Spirit was an Australian rugby union football club based in Perth, Western Australia. Perth Spirit was one of eight clubs that competed in the Australian Rugby Championship which ran in 2007. Perth Spirit played at the Members Equity Stadium. The players in the squad adopted an...
lasted just one season, the Super Rugby club Western Force
Western Force
Western Force is a rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia playing in the international Super Rugby competition. They first competed in the 2006 season and finished with the wooden spoon in that year, however their performances greatly improved in 2007. In 2008 they finished in 8th...
, founded in 2005, continues to exist successfully in Perth on the other side of the Barassi Line, with more members than any other club in the competition. A new Melbourne club, also called the Rebels
Melbourne Rebels
The Melbourne Rebels are a professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They are the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia...
, became the 15th team in Super Rugby in 2011.
The Australian leg of the IRB Sevens World Series
IRB Sevens World Series
The IRB Sevens World Series, known officially as the HSBC Sevens World Series as of the 2010-11 season, through sponsorship from banking group HSBC, and also sometimes called the World Sevens Series, is a series of international rugby union sevens tournaments organised for the first time in the...
, an annual series of tournaments for rugby union sevens
Rugby sevens
Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...
national teams, was held beyond the Barassi Line in Adelaide
Adelaide Sevens
The Adelaide Sevens is a rugby union sevens tournament, part of the IRB Sevens World Series. The competition is currently held at the Adelaide Oval, South Australia. The inaugural competition, the 2007 Adelaide Sevens, took place on 7 and 8 April and replaced the Singapore Sevens...
from 2007 through April 2011. Starting in November 2011, the event will move to the rugby side of the Barassi Line; it will be held in the Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
for at least four years.
Current situation
As of 2011, three professional clubs in Australian rules football, two in rugby union, and one in rugby league operate on the 'other' side of the Barassi Line, each with mixed success. All three codes continue to seek opportunities to expand their presence on the other side of the line. Notably, the AFL will add a fourth club on the rugby side of the line in 2012.Australian Rules beyond the Barassi Line
| State & Territory | Australian Capital Territory Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory... |
New South Wales New South Wales New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales... |
Queensland Queensland Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean... |
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| Governing Body | AFL NSW/ACT AFL NSW/ACT AFL NSW/ACT is the governing body of Australian rules football in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.The body is officially affiliated with the Australian Football League.-External links:*... |
AFL NSW/ACT AFL NSW/ACT AFL NSW/ACT is the governing body of Australian rules football in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.The body is officially affiliated with the Australian Football League.-External links:*... |
AFL Queensland AFL Queensland AFL Queensland is the governing body of Australian rules football in Queensland. It was formed in 2000 after the previous governing body for the sport in Queensland, the Queensland Australian Football League , went into voluntary liquidation... |
| Clubs | Sydney Swans Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney... (AFL Australian Football League The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football... : 1982-Present) |
Brisbane Bears Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995... (AFL Australian Football League The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football... : 1987-1996) |
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| Greater Western Sydney Giants (AFL DEBUT Australian Football League The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football... : 2012) |
Brisbane Lions Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996... (AFL Australian Football League The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football... : 1997-Present) |
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| Gold Coast Suns (AFL Australian Football League The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football... : 2011-Present) |
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Rugby League beyond the Barassi Line
| State & Territory | Northern Territory Northern Territory The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions... |
South Australia South Australia South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland... |
Tasmania Tasmania Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart... |
Victoria Victoria (Australia) Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively.... |
Western Australia Western Australia Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east... |
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| Governing Body | Northern Territory Rugby League Northern Territory Rugby League The Northern Territory Rugby League is responsible for administering the game of rugby league in the Northern Territory. It controls the Darwin Rugby League, Darwin Junior Rugby League and the Central Australian Rugby Football League.... |
South Australia Rugby League | Tasmanian Rugby League Tasmanian Rugby League The Tasmanian Rugby League is responsible for administering the game of rugby league in the Australian state of Tasmania. Tasmania is an Affiliated State of the overall Australian governing body the Australian Rugby League.... |
Victorian Rugby League Victorian Rugby League The Victorian Rugby League is responsible for administering the game of rugby league in the Australian state of Victoria. Victoria is an Affiliated State of the overall Australian governing body the Australian Rugby League... |
Western Australia Rugby League Western Australia Rugby League The Western Australia Rugby League is responsible for administering the game of rugby league in Western Australia. Western Australia is an Affiliated State of the overall Australian governing body the Australian Rugby League.... |
| Clubs | Adelaide Rams Adelaide Rams The Adelaide Rams were 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, which eventually ran parallel to the rival Australian Rugby League competition in 1997... (NRL National Rugby League The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand... : 1997-1998) |
Melbourne Storm Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Melbourne. They are the first fully professional rugby league team based in the Australian rules football-dominated state of Victoria.... (NRL National Rugby League The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand... : 1998-Present) |
WA Reds (NRL National Rugby League The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand... : 1995-1997) |
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Rugby Union beyond the Barassi Line
| State & Territory | Northern Territory Northern Territory The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions... |
South Australia South Australia South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland... |
Tasmania Tasmania Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart... |
Victoria Victoria (Australia) Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively.... |
Western Australia Western Australia Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east... |
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| Governing Body | Northern Territory Rugby Union Northern Territory Rugby Union The Northern Territory Rugby Union is responsible for rugby union in the Australian region of the Northern Territory, and is part of the Australian Rugby Union.-External links:* *... |
South Australia Rugby Union South Australia Rugby Union The South Australia Rugby Union is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in the State of South Australia, Australia. It is a member of the Australian Rugby Union. The SARU is a 11 team Rugby Union amateur league operating in Adelaide, South Australia.The premier grade is the largest... |
Tasmanian Rugby Union Tasmanian Rugby Union The Tasmanian Rugby Union Est. 1933 is responsible for rugby union in the Australian state of Tasmania, and is part of the Australian Rugby Union.... |
Victorian Rugby Union Victorian Rugby Union The Victorian Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in the state of Victoria, Australia. The VRU manages 26 clubs in metropolitan Melbourne, regional Victoria,and the border region of NSW which compromises 156 junior, senior mens and women's teams.-History:The Victorian Rugby Union was... |
RugbyWA RugbyWA RugbyWA, formerly known as the Western Australia Rugby Union, is the governing body for rugby union in the state of Western Australia, Australia. In 2004, RugbyWA successfully secured the fourth Australian Super 12 licence, entering a team in the expanded Super 14 competition from 2006, called the... |
| Clubs | Melbourne Rebels Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels are a professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They are the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia... (SR: 2011–Present) |
Western Force Western Force Western Force is a rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia playing in the international Super Rugby competition. They first competed in the 2006 season and finished with the wooden spoon in that year, however their performances greatly improved in 2007. In 2008 they finished in 8th... (SR: 2006–Present) |
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Future
Most recently, the AFL has pursued the development of two new teams on the opposite side of the line - the Gold Coast Football Club and the Greater Western Sydney Football Club.During its time as Super 12 and Super 14, the rugby union competition now known as Super Rugby constantly discussed expansion into areas on both sides of the line, including Perth, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Western Sydney. The first expansion into Perth still contributes one side, the Western Force
Western Force
Western Force is a rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia playing in the international Super Rugby competition. They first competed in the 2006 season and finished with the wooden spoon in that year, however their performances greatly improved in 2007. In 2008 they finished in 8th...
, and the Melbourne Rebels
Melbourne Rebels
The Melbourne Rebels are a professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They are the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia...
joined the competition in 2011, making two out of five Australian Super Rugby teams on rugby's non-traditional side of the Barassi Line.
On the other hand, in the aftermath of the Super League war
Super League war
The Super League war is the common name given to the corporate dispute that was fought in and out of court during the mid-1990s between the Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation-backed Super League and the Kerry Packer and Optus Vision-backed Australian Rugby League organisations over broadcasting...
, the NRL is very guarded when it comes to expansion for rugby league. Despite this, there are official bids for expansion teams on both sides of the line, in Brisbane, Rockhampton and the Central Coast on the home side, as well as Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea and Wellington in New Zealand, and from Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
on the other side. The only NRL club on the non-traditional side of the Barassi Line remains the Melbourne Storm.