|
|
|
Rugby in the Colony of Western Australia Sean Fagan In comparison to the rugby on the eastern side of Australia, little research has been carried out into its history in Western Australia. The code suffered a sporadic existence until the 1930s, and without popular support (Australian rules being preferred), much of its early history was long-forgotten. Rugby matches were played in the late 1860s between British military regiments and civilians in Perth and Fremantle. Interest was apparently high enough for The Fremantle Herald to publish the rules. However, rugby did not take hold, and through the 1870s 'football' under locally agreed rules was played in Perth. The first rugby match was apparently played in June 1881, between the 'High School' and 'Town' sides. This re-introduction of rugby rules in Perth is credited to former Rugby School 'old-boy', Thomas Breama Beuttler. Further matches ensued that winter, and the following year (1882) five rugby clubs were formed: Perth, Rovers, Fremantle, Unions, and the 'Fearnoughts'. As in NSW and Queensland, a battle for the loyalty of footballers erupted between rugby and Victorian rules. In 1885, most clubs began playing both codes. Three years later the Western Mail lamented that football was being 'kept back by the practice of two distinct games being played by the same players'. Victorian rules gained the upper-hand though as the 1880s drew to a close. Rugby did not die-out, receiving a timely boost by the discovery of rich seams of gold in the colony in the early 1890s. With the eastern seaboard in the midst of an economic downturn, thousands of men travelled to Western Australia seeking their fortune. While many came from Victoria, others came from the rugby-playing NSW, Queensland and New Zealand colonies. In and around Perth in 1892 there was enough interest in rugby to commence a club competition, and the following season the Western Australian Rugby Union (WARU) was founded. Interest waned though by the start of the 20th century, and after the 1901 season rugby was no longer played, and the WARU disbanded. Interestingly, one New Zealander who worked the goldfields of Kalgoorlie during this time was George Gillett - an Auckland representative rugby player. He is believed to have played Victorian rules during his time in Western Australia, and may have been a member of the Goldfields Association representative team. By 1905 Gillett was back home, where he was selected in the 'All Blacks' team that toured Great Britain (and in 1911 Gillett was one of four Kiwis in the Australian 'Kangaroos' rugby league team). The NSWRU Minutes of March 1907 record that the Union 'co-operated in movements for the introduction of rugby football in Western Australia' the previous season. It was announced shortly afterwards that a NSW team would be undertaking a four-match tour of Western Australia in late July 1907. The tour coincided with the visit of the New Zealand 'All Blacks' to NSW and Queensland, resulting in a 'second-string' NSW team sailing to Perth (though two of its members, Arthur McCabe and Bede Daly, were selected in the first Wallabies team a year later). The NSW team won all four matches, defeating 'Metropolitan', 'Gold Fields', and Western Australia (twice). On their way to Great Britain in August of 1908, the Wallabies played a Western Australian team in Fremantle. After leading 30-0 at half-time, the Wallabies completed the rout with a 58-6 win. The home team included numerous ex-pats from the east (including New Zealand), which was a pointer to the problems rugby was facing in Western Australia. Without any support in the schools, the code had few local players coming through, and no prospects of growth. After the Wallabies' visit, interest in rugby rapidly declined, and by 1912 it was gone. References. Rugby History Article © Sean Fagan |
|
Copyright © Sean Fagan
All rights of the author are asserted.
No content may be reproduced without written permission from the author.
ABN 24 944 193 945
www.ColonialRugby.com.au
