Hume Football League

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, 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, or 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. Lavington had a reputation in those days of being a dirty sniping bunch of mongrels. 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 team mates behaved and were dissolution 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 Border Morning Mail: Monday 5th September 1938^[1]

Post-War

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.

• 1946: Gerogery and Jindera reformed and joined, Balldale moved to the Coreen & District Football League.
• 1947: Balldale returned, Burrumbuttock reformed.
• 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 1998 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.^[2]

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. The draw for the 2016 season is umlauted but the Hume league has reportedly release a provisional draw for all clubs in the league should the merger go ahead. Voting for the proposed merger took place on Monday 7 March (2016). The 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 of the joint venture. The club’s new name and colours will be discussed at a committee meeting at Walbundrie on the night of Tuesday 8 March (2016). The Hume league is expected to release the revised draw to the public with-in the next week. ^[3]

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.

Current clubs

Club		Moniker	Home Ground(s)	Established	Joined [4]	Premierships: HFL Seniors	Premiership Years: HFL Seniors [5]
Current
Billabong Crows Club Website		Crows	Victoria Park Oaklands Recreation Ground	2005 as Merged Club	2008-	0	-
Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock Club Website		Saints	Brocklesby Recreation Reserve Burrumbuttock Recreation Reserve	2006 as Merged Club	2006-	2	2013, 2015.
Coreen-Daysdale-Hopefield-Buraja United Club Website		Power	Coreen Park Buraja Recreation Reserve (training; rarely used)	2006 as Merged Club	2008-	0	-
Culcairn Club Website		Lions	Culcairn Sportsground	1895	1992-	2	1993, 2007.
Henty Club Website		Swampies	Henty Showground	1895	1992-	5	1984, 1986, 1990, 1996, 2014.
Holbrook Club Website		Brookers	Holbrook Sports Complex	1882	1999-	1	2004.
Howlong Club Website		Spiders	Howlong Oval - Lowe Square	1898	1953-	6	1954, 1971, 1977, 1997, 2002, 2010.
Jindera Club Website		Bulldogs	Jindera Sports Ground	1930's	1933	11	1946, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1975, 2008, 2011.
Lockhart Club Website		Demons	Lockhart Recreation Ground	1920's	1982-	2	1982, 2003.
Murray Magpies Club Website		Magpies	Urana Road Oval	1997	2007-	0	-
Osborne Club Website		Cats	Osborne Recreation Reserve	1933	1970-	13	1985, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012.
Rand-Walbundrie-Walla [6] Club Website		Giants [7] [8]	Rand Recreation Reserve Walbundrie Showground Walla Walla Sportsground	2016 as Merged Club	2016-	0	-

Previous Clubs

• Balldale: contested 1946–1947 & 1949–1974 seasons - folded in 1975.
• Brocklesby: contested 1945-2005 seasons - merged with Burrumbuttock in 2006.
• Boree Creek: contested 1970–75 seasons - joined the Coreen & District Football League in 1976 - folded in 1979.
• Burrumbuttock: contested 1934-2005 seasons - merged with Brocklesby in 2006.
• Coleambally: contested 2008-2010 seasons - joined the Farrer Football League in 2011.
• East Albury "Rovers": contested 1948 season - joined Ovens & Murray Football League in 1949 - folded in 1951.
• East Lavington: contested 1977–1997 seasons - folded in 1998.
• Gerogery: Foundation member - contested 1933-1948 seasons - folded in 1949.
• Lavington "Saints": contested 1975–1976 seasons - joined the Farrer Football League in 1977 - joined Ovens & Murray Football League in 1979.
• North Albury Seconds "Hoppers": contested 1951–52 seasons - joined Ovens & Murray Football League Seconds in 1953.
• Rand "Pigeons" : contested 1945–83 seasons - joined the Coreen & District Football League in 1984 - merged with Walbundrie in 2006.
• Rand-Walbundrie "Tigers" (Yellow, Blue & Black): contested 2006–2015 seasons - merged with Walla Walla in 2016.
• Rennie "Hoppers": contested 2008 season - joined the Picola & District Football League in 2009.
• St. Paul's College: Junior / Thirds Club only - contested 1950–1985 seasons; folded in 1986.
• Walbundrie "Tigers": contested 1934-2005 seasons - merged with Rand in 2006.
• Walla Walla "Hoppers" (Green & White): contested 1935–2015 seasons - merged with Rand-Walbundrie in 2016.
• Bethanga "Saints": contested 1934 season - joined the Tallangatta & District Football League (predecessor) in 1935.

Premierships: Football

Seniors: 1933-2016

Reserves: 1976-2016

Juniors: 1950-1975 / Thirds: 1976-2016

Fourths: 1990-2016

Players

Footballers from the HFL who are currently playing in the AFL include:

• Tony Armstrong (Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock)
• Sam Schulz (Culcairn)
• Anthony Miles (Howlong)
• Adam Schneider (Osborne)
• Dean Terlich (Osborne)
• Sam Rowe (Walla Walla)

See also

• AFL NSW/ACT
• Australian rules football in New South Wales
• Coreen & District Football League
• Farrer Football League
• Ovens & Murray Football League
• Picola & District Football League
• Tallangatta & District Football League

References

Sources

• Wegener, Leon (editor) Walla Walla Football Club 1903–1978 (1978)

External links

• Official Hume Football League website