Australian rules football in New South Wales

Australian rules football in New South Wales is a team sport played and observed in the Australian state. It dates back to the colonial era in 1866, with organised competitions being continuous since the 1880s. Today, it is popular in several regions of the state, including areas near the Victorian and South Australian borders—Riverina, Broken Hill, and South Coast. These areas form part of an Australian cultural divide described as the Barassi Line. To the east of the line, it is known as "AFL", named after the elite Australian Football League competition. AFL NSW/ACT is the main development body, and includes the Australian Capital Territory.

Two teams currently compete in the professional Australian Football League (AFL): the Sydney Swans and the Greater Western Sydney Giants. The Swans in 1982 became the first professional Australian sporting team to move interstate. The Giants debuted in the 2012 AFL season and compete against the Swans in the Sydney Derby (also known as "The Battle of the Bridge").

The representative team, nicknamed the Blues, played Interstate matches against other Australian states and Territories between 1881 and 1988. Its long standing rivalry with Queensland saw them evenly matched since their first meeting in 1880. The Blues defeated Victoria in 1923 and in 1990 under State of Origin rules at the Sydney Cricket Ground. WR 'Billy' McKoy holds the record for the number of representative caps for New South Wales with 31. Sydney hosted the national carnivals of 1914, 1933, 1960 and 1974. The underage Blues also claimed national AFL Under-19 Championships in 1974 and 1975 as well as a Division 2 title in 1993. The 1993 merger by the AFL into a composite NSW/ACT team ended over a century of representative competition.

Two leading pioneers of the sport, cousins Tom Wills and H. C. A. Harrison, were born in New South Wales. Hundreds of New South Welshmen have competed in the AFL, with notable players being Haydn Bunton Sr. and Jock McHale, now Legends in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. Current player Tom Hawkins holds the AFL record for playing the most games and scoring the most goals for a born and raised player with 332 games and 741 goals. Sophie Casey holds the AFL Women's record for the most games, while Haneen Zreika and Rebecca Beeson hold the record for the most goals for a female player.

History

Sydney

First clubs and matches (1865–1867)
On 26 May 1865, calls were put out to form a Sydney Football Club. The club was incorporated on 17 June 1865 with Richard Driver as its first president and up to 60 members, of whom were mostly cricketers. It played its first match shortly thereafter in Hyde Park, Sydney, and in August against Sydney University. Two other clubs, the Australian Club and a Sydney University team, played football matches against the Sydney club in 1865, though it is not known under what code de Moore (2021) notes that accounts point to strong similarities with the Victorian code but with a strong influence of rugby. Early matches were scored low, cancelled mid game, and were subjected to frequent disputes over the rules. The Sydney University club is often noted as "The Birthplace of Australian Rugby" in 1863; however, historical records show its incorporation in 1865 and that it did not begin playing regularly under rugby rules until 1869.

At its first annual meeting, the Sydney Football Club announced that it had formally adopted the Victorian football rules and encouraged Victorian clubs to travel north for intercolonial matches. On 26 May 1866, the rules were published in Bells Life in Sydney. The Australian Club formally adopted the code shortly after.

During the 1860s, Sydney had a smaller number of clubs, compared to Melbourne's 12, playing in organised competitions. Sydney, like Brisbane, could not recruit enough football players for organised football matches. As a result, the late 1860s had few clubs playing, and without intercolonial competition, newcomer clubs soon disbanded. Newcastle revised the Rules of Football (the Victorian Rules), and was published in the press in that city. The first recorded game of Australian football under codified rules was played in 1877 on the Albert Ground, Redfern between the Rugby Union Club, Waratah, and the Carlton Football Club from Melbourne.

One of the first Sydney schools to adopt the code was Newington College in 1867, before becoming the first Australian school to play rugby in 1869. With the growing rivalry between the two colonies, Sydney journalists criticized the code in 1868, protesting that the "old English game of football" would be preferable to Sydneysiders than a game imported from the rival Colony of Victoria. In 1869, Newington College replaced the codes, becoming the first Australian school to play rugby in 1869.

Despite the formation of football clubs adopting English rules, rugby footballers could manage just four matches prior to the 1870s.

Revival and rugby takeover (1868–1876)
In 1868, a new Sydney Football Club was founded with Victorian rules to play over rugby, citing the code of Melbourne. Details of matches played under the Victorian rules were scant; however, a match was held against the 60th Queen's Own Regiment on 11 July 1868. The new Sydney club would soon suffer the same fate, as its predecessor and organised football team disappeared completely.

In the 1870s, rugby was integrated into schools, later producing organised competitions between clubs. Soon after, rugby spread throughout the colony. The cause of the code's disappearance in New South Wales was that the newly formed New South Wales Rugby Union in 1874 banned member clubs from playing matches under Victorian rules.

Intercolonial competition and NSWFA era (1877–1893)

In June 1877, Sydney's Waratah Rugby Football Club (now defunct) accepted a challenge from Victoria's Carlton Football Club to reciprocal matches in their respective codes. The first match, hosted by Waratah, was played at the Albert Ground under rugby rules in front of 3,000 spectators—then the largest ever football crowd in Sydney—was won by Waratah 2–0. Defunct newspaper publication The Argus noted that the Victorians were not lacking in skills, just their knowledge of the game. The second match was played in front of a smaller crowd of about 1,500 at the Albert Ground with the result being Carlton 6–0. Among the best players were George Coulthard, who showed a particular prowess in both codes despite having never played rugby. When Waratah toured Victoria in July 1878, a crowd of 8,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground witnessed Carlton and Waratah draw scores in rugby, while a smaller crowd of 6,000 witnessed a surprise victory against Carlton by 2 goals in Victorian rules.

By 1880, Waratah and other Sydney clubs began initiating changes to rugby rules. Rugby interests, however, repeatedly rejected suggestions to switch codes or even play intercolonial matches under alternating rules against Victoria. In response, the proponents of the Australian game formed the New South Wales Football Association (NSWFA) in 1880. In 1881, the first Australian rules game between NSW and Victoria was played in Sydney. The NSWFA only had a few clubs, including Waratah which switched codes in 1882. Until 1889, competition wasn't present when clubs competed for the Flanagan Cup. Despite this, the Sydney Rugby Football Union, seeing the new competition as a threat, enforced a strict ban on every one of its member clubs playing Victorian rules.

South Melbourne was the second club to visit New South Wales in 1883, defeating Sydney by just a single goal in front of a large crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and in a goal in front of  600 spectators during a game against East Sydney Football Club. Waratah played against South Australia in 1884 at Moore Park.

New South Wales competed against Queensland in 1884, initially losing to its northern neighbour before gaining primacy in their 1886 matches. It also competed against a touring New Zealand Native football team on 29 June 1889, with the result being a 4–4 draw.

The Northern District Football Association around Newcastle began in 1886, with teams from 1888 competing for the Black Diamond Cup, though participation by local clubs continued to be sporadic from 1881.

The NSWFA had trouble gaining access to enclosed grounds and gate receipts. With its two clubs divided, it collapsed in 1893.

Post-Federation, NSW Football League era: 1903–1917
With the Federation of Australia, the Australian code was revised. The NSW Football League, later the NSW Australian Football League (NSWAFL), was formed on 12 February 1903 at a meeting held in the YMCA Hall in George St. The NSWAFL promoted the game in schools and lobbied for VFL exhibition matches in Sydney to promote the code.

The first Victorian Football League match played in Sydney was with Fitzroy Football Club 7–10, defeating the Collingwood Football Club 6–9 at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 24 May 1903. The large attendance of 20,000 saw the exhibition hailed as a success and inspired the league to continue scheduling more matches in Sydney. However, follow-up matches quickly began to attract cynicism from the Sydney football public, as a VFL push when Geelong Football Club 8.7 (55) defeated Carlton Football Club 6.9 (45) at the SCG a few months later. The matches were seen by the Sydney media as an attempt to force-feed the Victorian game to Sydneysiders who had plenty of rugby to attract their ongoing interest. The crowd of 5,000 was much smaller than those of rugby games in the city. In 1904, Melbourne Football Club 9–17 (71) defeated Essendon Football Club 6–3 (39) in front of 6,000 people. Without any interest, top-level VFL disappeared from Sydney for decades.

In contrast to the reception of the game at professional level, the grassroots level was having enormous success, growing the game in the schools with 48 in Sydney, including all the Roman Catholic schools playing Australian Football, by 1905.

In 1907, New South Wales defeated South Australian powerhouse Port Adelaide Football Club 8–9 to 5–14 in front of 4,000 spectators at Sydney Showground. Another South Australian club, Norwood Football Club, toured with Victorian club Carlton, playing a match in front of 7,000 at the Showgrounds. North Adelaide Football Club also toured in 1910 to play against New South Wales at Erskineville Oval, which attracted 2,000 spectators. In 1911, Geelong toured and played a combined Sydney side at Alexandria in front of 6,000 spectators. Dally Messenger contributed to the paid football code of rugby league; as a result, rugby established itself into the culture of Sydney in 1908.
Although Australian football remained popular, the NSWAFL was still denied access to enclosed grounds, and the new professional code of rugby league further lured players from Australian rules. By 1911, however, Australian rules were supported more than the rugby union, according to The Referee.

Interwar popularity surge, interstate success, and proposed Rugby League amalgamation: 1918–1939
Popularity peaked in 1921 when attendances at the Sydney competition grew from hundreds to thousands. While increased gate takings were funding an increase in playing standard and junior development, the local league had exclusive access only to Erskineville Oval and Hampden Oval, relatively small grounds, and had difficulty scheduling matches used by the rugby authorities.

During the 1920s, funded by a NSWAFL in Sydney and a thriving schoolboys competition, NSW defeated Victorian sides on several occasions at home, notably Melbourne Football Club on 28 July 1923, the VFL at the SCG in 1923, and again at Erskineville Oval by one point on 15 August 1925.

The Australian National Football carnival of 1933 was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Several matches drew large crowds, particularly those involving New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and West Australia.

Following the successful interstate football carnival in 1933, a proposal by the New South Wales Rugby League to amalgamate Australian football and rugby league was investigated. A report, with a set of proposed rules known as Universal football, was prepared by the secretary of the NSWRL, Harold R. Miller, and sent to the Australian National Football Council. A trial game was held in secret, but plans were never instituted.

Three of the original NSWAFL clubs are still in existence and currently play in the Sydney AFL: North Shore, East Sydney (now UNSW-ES), and Balmain, but the league remained almost entirely amateur with limited audience following and sponsorship.

Post-war decline: 1945–1981

World War II proved a massive setback for the code in Sydney; the government insisted that the league cease operations. Struggling Sydney clubs were propped up by visiting servicemen from traditional Australian rules states. Despite this, between 1953 and 1957, the game survived in parts of Sydney, Newcastle, and Wollongong. Several junior clubs and leagues were established. The St. George and Sutherland Shire Junior Australian Football Association was established in southern Sydney and consisted of Penshurst Junior Australian Football Club (JAFC) Panthers, Miranda JAFC Bombers, St. Patrick's Ramsgate (later Ramsgate JAFC Rams), Heathcote JAFC Hawks, Cronulla JAFC Sharks, Peakhurst, Como-Jannali, Boys' Town, Cronulla Blues, and St. Patrick's Sutherland.

Top level VFL returned to the SCG on 14 June 1952 when Collingwood 10–12 (72) defeated Richmond 5–6 (36) in front of 24,174 spectators. However, the league would not return for another few decades.

Sydney Swans era: 1981–present

In 1979, the VFL scheduled 2 premiership matches for the Sydney Cricket Ground. On 10 June 1979, Hawthorn 23–18 (156) defeated North Melbourne 16–9 (105) in front of a large crowd of 31,395. However, a few months later, 17,140 attended a match in which Richmond 22–20 (152) defeated Fitzroy 20–15 (135). Fitzroy Lions, in a financial struggle, was prevented from conducting a feasibility study into the possibility of moving to North Sydney; a proposal was put forward, but was voted down by its board in 1980. The VFL scheduled 4 matches for the SCG in 1980, with its purpose to test the market. The VFL's market studies found an increase in television ratings in Sydney and sustained attendance at matches. Based on the market study, the VFL stated that there was sufficient support for a Sydney team, and that it intended to have one, possibly as soon as 1982. A 1981 report by Graham Huggins concluded that there was an "untapped market" in Sydney. In 1981, the VFL had decided that it would establish an entirely new 13th VFL club in Sydney. With the results, South Melbourne announced its move to Sydney.

The first professional VFL or AFL players were from Sydney, and the Sydney AFL did not begin to emerge until the 1980s. Russell Morris was one of the earliest players, followed by Sanford Wheeler, Mark Roberts, Greg Stafford, Nick Davis and Lenny Hayes. In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in AFL players coming from the Sydney region, and in 2007, a total of 11 AFL players identified themselves as coming from this region.

Riverina 

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. Subsequently, a local competition formed in 1884 around Wagga Wagga. The league went through many incarnations including the:
 Wagga Football Association (1888–1889).
 Wagga United Football Association (1890–1897).
 Murrumbidgee District Football Association (1897).
 Wagga United Football Association (1898–1921).
 Riverina Mainline Football Association (1922).
 Wagga United Football Association (1923, 1924, 1925).
 The Rock and District Association (1926–1927), district towns based teams competition.
 Wagga and District Association (1926–1927), Wagga based teams competition.
 Wagga Football Association (1928–1957).

The South West Football League (New South Wales) was founded in 1894.

In 1905, the Wagga Football Association representative side lost a close match against the Fitzroy Football Club at Wagga.

In these early days, the Ovens and Murray Football League produced champion players including Haydn Bunton, Sr., who was born in Albury and played with the Albury Rovers FC, Albury Football Club, and West Albury prior to playing with Fitzroy in the VFL in 1931.

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.

The Farrer Football League superseded the Albury & District Football League in 1957.

During the 1970s, the region had famous footballer family the Danihers: Terry Daniher, Neale Daniher, Anthony Daniher, and Chris Daniher.

In 1982, at the instigation of the Victorian Country Football League (who had jurisdiction over the area at the time), the South Western District Football League, the Farrer Football League, and the Central Riverina Football League were all combined into the Riverina Football League and the Riverina District Football League. The district league reverted to the Farrer Football League in 1985. There were two divisions of the Riverina DFL / Farrer FL between 1983 and 1994. In 1995, these two leagues were part of the Murrumbidgee Valley Australian Football Association.

Further south towards the Murray River, the Ovens & Murray Football League included teams from Albury that formed as the Ovens & Murray Football Association in 1893.

Clubs also formed in the smaller towns around the mid to late 1890s and early 1900s and played ad hoc fixtures against each other, as well as organising formal competitions during the first half of the 1900s in Southern Riverina and Central Riverina, such as the:
 Federal District Football Association 1897–1902
 Deniliquin Football Association: 1900–1932
 McLaurin Football Competition: 1901
 Southern Riverina Football Association: 1905–1931
 Greengunyah Football Association: 1906
 Corowa & District Football Association: 1906–1907
 Central Riverina Football League: 1907
 Lockhart Football Association: 1908–1909, 1911–1914, 1921, 1925
 Coreen & District Football Association: 1909–1930
 The Rock Football Association: 1910–1911, 1914
 Culcairn & District Football Association 1910–1913, 1919–1921
 Barellan & District Football Association: 1912
 Walbundrie Football Association: 1914
 Milbrulong Football Association: 1914–1915
 Walla Walla Football Association: 1915–1916, 1919–1921
 Urangeline Football Association: 1919–1926
 Faithful & District Football Association: 1920–1939
 Borree Creek Football Association: 1922
 Hume Football Association: 1922–1926
 Lockhart Oaklands Line Football Association: 1923–1924
 Riverina Football Association: 1924–1929
 Osborne & District Football Association: 1927–1928
 Lockhart & District Lines Football Association: 1929
 Central Hume Football Association: 1929–1934
 Albury & District Football League: 1930–1957
 Corowa & District Football Association: 1931–1935
 Coreen & District Football League: 1936–2007

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.

In the modern era, the Riverina had many players for the VFL/AFL, including champions such as Wayne Carey, Paul Kelly, Dennis Carroll, John Longmire, Leo Barry, Shane Crawford, and Brett Kirk. Some other players from the region to have played AFL level football include Isaac Smith, Luke Breust, Zac Williams, Dean Terlich, and Sam Rowe.

Australian rules football is the most popular sport in Albury, but is behind rugby league as the largest sport in Wagga Wagga and Griffith.

Western New South Wales

Australian football was first played in Broken Hill in 1885 between Day Dream and Silverton. Informal competition began in 1888 between four clubs. The Barrier Ranges Football Association formed in 1890, which later became the Broken Hill Football League. In recent years, the area has players such as Dean Solomon, Brent Staker, and Taylor Walker. Steve Hywood played on the half-back flank for Richmond in the 1972 VFL Grand Final, losing to Carlton. Due to transfer problems, he resumed his career at Glenelg in 1973 and played in the 1973 Glenelg Premiership team. Hywood was seen as one of the best back flankers ever to play the game.

Newcastle 

Australian football was introduced to Newcastle, New South Wales, in 1883 when the Wallsend and Plattsburg Football Club was formed by miners from Ballarat.

In 1888, the Black Diamond Cup, Australia's oldest existing and active sporting trophy, was first awarded to the champion team in the region. In 1889, a donation of five guineas each from Northern Districts Football Association (Australian Rules) patron Mr. Stewart Keightley and the proprietors of the Newcastle Morning Herald led to the procurement of the Junior Challenge Cup. This Cup was supplied by A. J. Potter (Alfred John Potter), watchmaker, and jeweller of Hunter Street Newcastle.

Five clubs were established in the Newcastle area: Newcastle City, Wallsend and Plattsburg, Northumberland, Lambton, and Singleton.

In 1883, a touring South Melbourne Football Club defeated a combined Northern District team by only one goal. In 1888, a touring defeated Wallsend by 10–5. The following year, Wallsend defeated Fitzroy. Isaac Heeney was drafted by the Sydney Swans in 2014, making him the first Newcastle-born footballer to play in the AFL.

South Coast
The game was first played at a senior level in 1969. There are eight teams that compete in the AFLSC senior's competition and 11 teams in the reserves. In terms of junior numbers, there has been a significant expansion since 1999. AFL players originating from the South Coast include Arthur Chilcott, Aidan Riley, and Ed Barlow.

North Coast
The game was first played in the Coffs Harbour area as late as 1978. The North Coast Australian Football League was formed in 1982 and grew rapidly with up to eight clubs by 2000. In recent years, the number of clubs has declined due to Woolgoolga, Nambucca, Kempsey, and Urunga folding. North and South Coffs were forced to merge before the start of the 2015 season due to lack of player numbers. The area includes AFL player Sam Gilbert.

VFL / AFL competition in NSW

Establishment of a Sydney VFL team and relocation of the Swans
In 1977, Ron Barassi proposed the VFL setting up a club in Sydney, which he offered to coach believing that it would help spread the code in the state. The following year, the league investigated playing Sunday matches at the SCG. The VFL scheduled 2 premiership matches for the SCG in 1979. One of them, between the previous year's grand finalists North Melbourne and Hawthorn, drew a record 31,395 to the gates. Researching and testing the market, the VFL scheduled four matches for the SCG in 1980 with an average attendance of 19,000. In April 1980, the VFL stated that its market study showed there was sufficient support for a Sydney team, finding that there was an increase in television ratings in Sydney and sustained attendance at matches and that it intended to have a team in Sydney, possibly as soon as 1982. A 1981 report by Graham Huggins concluded that there was an "untapped market in Sydney which represented an excellent opportunity for the league." The report claimed that 60,000 people in Sydney had stated that they would regularly support the new club: 90% of these supporters would watch VFL on television from Sydney, 80% of these supporters had not attended rugby, and 92% believed that Australian rules could become popular in Sydney. Following the report, the VFL announced that the league had decided to put a team in Sydney in 1982. Financially struggling VFL club South Melbourne, fearing a missed opportunity to establish a new market, announced its decision to play all 1982 home games in Sydney. After playing, the VFL formally approved the Swans shift to Sydney on 29 July 1981, becoming the first team based outside of Victoria. In 1982, the club was renamed the Sydney Swans. The relocation of Swans from South Melbourne to Sydney included sponsorship away from the local Australian rules football clubs and leagues, and there was an initial decline in the sport locally. The Swans' debt, much of it to the AFL, not only hung over attempts to establish the Sydney Swans but now burdened Australian rules football in New South Wales.

On 31 July 1985, Dr. Geoffrey Edelsten, through Powerplay Limited, bought the Sydney Swans for $2.9 million in cash with debt payments, funding and other payments spread over five years. Powerplay was floated and sold shares to supports and the public, but with only a licence for the team and debts, the uptake was poor. Within less than twelve months, Edelsten resigned as chairman, and by 1988, the licence was sold back to the VFL for just $10. The AFL appointed a board to operate the team in order to take control of the club's financial losses. Board members Mike Willesee and Craig Kimberley, together with Basil Sellers Peter Weinert as a consortium known as the Private Ownership Group, purchased the licence and operated the Sydney Swans until 1993, when the AFL again took over ownership of the team.

With substantial monetary and management support from the AFL, the Sydney Swans continued and with player draft concessions in the early 1990s, has fielded a competitive team throughout the decade. In 1996, the Swans lost the grand final to North Melbourne, which had been their first appearance in a grand final since 1945. The game was played in front of 93,102 at the MCG. Since 1995, the Swans have only missed the finals five times, including in the COVID-affected 2020 season, in which they played only four home games and finished third to last on the ladder.

The culmination of the recent success was the 2005 premiership against the West Coast Eagles, played in front of 91,898 at the MCG, taking the flag to Sydney for the first time and breaking a 72-year drought for the club from when it was based in South Melbourne. It also broke the longest premiership drought in the history of the competition. Another flag followed not long after, in 2012.

The AFL had eventually established the Swans in Sydney but the model of off-loading a debt-laden team to a new market had resulted in enormous cost to the AFL passed on to its other member clubs, and ultimately supporters. Despite the eventual success of the Swans, the former Melbourne based club had struggled for many years to gain support of the Sydney public, and the AFL and Australian rules football are still far behind rugby league in the Sydney market.

Establishment of a second AFL Team: Greater Western Sydney Giants

The Australian Football League expressed intentions to invest in junior development in the growing Sydney market, particularly in Sydney's west and compete head on with the established rugby football codes.

A second team in Sydney was founded in 1999, when Sydney became a target for the proposed relocation of the North Melbourne Football Club. However, poor attendance at the club's home matches, low television viewership, and strong opposition from the Sydney Swans saw an end to the initiative.

In 2005, the AFL went on a Sydney-centric recruitment drive, offering a NSW scholarships program and young apprentice scheme. By 2007, at least two of the NSW and ACT scholarship recipients had been officially promoted to AFL rookie lists, qualifying them for selection in the senior squad in the event of long-term injury to listed players.

In 2008, the AFL stated their intention to establish a second team in Sydney to be based in the western suburbs, as part of the expansion of the competition. This process was completed with the establishment of the Greater Western Sydney Giants, who played for a season in the North East Australian Football League prior to commencing competition in the Australian Football League in 2012. The Giants struggled in their early years, winning only three games in their first two seasons, but since then, made gradual progress up the ladder, culminating in a Grand Final appearance in 2019. Although the Giants have been somewhat successful on the field, despite more than $200 million in AFL investment, the club has made little impact in growing attendance, television viewership, or participation in the region.

AFL NSW/ACT Commission Limited
The AFL established the AFL NSW/ACT Commission Limited to govern its expansion in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

AFL Women’s
GWS was awarded a license for the inaugural AFL Women's season with the Sydney Swans, deciding not to bid for entry until later.

 was awarded a license in 2021 and made its debut in round 1 AFL Women's Season 7 match against  at the North Sydney Oval. It set a new record for a crowd in a stand-alone women's Australian rules football in New South Wales on 27 August 2022, with 8,264 in attendance.

Participation
Ausplay reported that there were 69,168 regular participants in Australian rules in New South Wales in 2019.While lower than the AFL reported figure for 2011 of 131,829 (which included the ACT and 41,626 Auskick registrations), the state has now eclipsed rugby union participation in New South Wales.

In 2012, the figure was 148,230 people of which 48,965 were Auskick registrations. In 2013, the number of Australian football participants in NSW, and the ACT had jumped up to 177,949, of which 47,888 were Auskick participants.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics "Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities, Australia, Apr 2009" estimated 18,000 Australian rules football participants in NSW and 1,400 in the ACT. The ABS used a small sample size of 20,126 private dwelling in obtaining their data of participation numbers for the 2011/12 season.

In 2007, there were 7,225 senior players in NSW and the ACT and in 2006, a total of around 95,100 participants. Although Australian rules football was one of the fastest growing sports in the state, the overall participation per capita was only about one percent, the lowest in Australia.

Registered players (Excluding Auskick registrations)

Audiences

Attendance Record
 72,393 (2003). AFL Sydney Swans v. Collingwood Football Club at Stadium Australia, Sydney.

Attendances
In 2006, the Sydney Swans averaged 41,205 people through the gate per home match. In 2013, the average had decreased to 29,104, with the suggestion that this was partly due to the redevelopment of the Bradman Stand at the SCG.

Major Australian rules football events in New South Wales
 Sydney Derby, also called The Battle of the Bridge – Swans v Giants (held twice annually at ANZ Stadium starting in 2012)

Players

Past Greats and Hall of Fame members
A number of notable players have been born in New South Wales or played the majority of their junior careers in New South Wales; many of these players have been from the traditional Australian rules football areas of Broken Hill or the Riverina. Australian football pioneers Tom Wills and H. C. A. Harrison were born in New South Wales in the 1830s.

Notable players from the Riverina include: Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend Haydn Bunton, Sr. (Albury), who was the first player born in New South Wales to win the Brownlow Medal and the Sandover Medal, in 1931 and 1938 respectively; Bill Mohr of Wagga who kicked 735 league goals; Paul Kelly from Wagga the first New South Welshman to win the Brownlow, Shane Crawford (Finley) who won the Brownlow in 1999; and Wayne Carey (Wagga), won the Leigh Matthews Trophy twice in the 1990s. Notable players from Broken Hill include Dave Low, Robert Barnes and Bruce McGregor, who all won Magarey Medals in the 1910s and 1920s, and Jack Owens, a three-time South Australian National Football League (SANFL) leading goalkicker.

Many notable players have also been recruited from Sydney, with football having been played in the city since 1880, pre-dating other major sports. Despite the lack of media attention the game has received, Sydney has still generated many players of high quality. Notable people include Bob Merrick (a leading goal kicker in the 1920s recruited from East Sydney), Roger Duffy (1954 premiership player who was recruited from Newtown), Mark Maclure (multi-premiership player and Carlton FC captain), Michael Byrne (1983 premiership player with Hawthorn who was recruited from the Sydney club of North Shore), Mark Roberts (202-game AFL player from 1985 to 1999 who played junior football for Ramsgate AFC and senior football for St. George AFC before playing in the AFL for the Sydney Swans), Brisbane Bears, and North Melbourne, notably in their 1996 premiership, Greg Stafford (a 200-game player recruited from Western Suburbs in Sydney), Jarrad McVeigh (2012 AFL premiership captain) and his brother Mark (who played for ), Lewis Roberts-Thomson (2005 and 2012 premiership player for the Swans) and Lenny Hayes (2010 Norm Smith Medallist), amongst others.

Men's

Current players

AFL players from NSW

Women's

Current players

ALFW players from NSW

Representative team

The New South Wales representative team, nicknamed the Blues, played Interstate matches against other Australian states and Territories. The team wore a blue uniform with a Waratah symbol badge and, until the 1970s, was the only representative team to buck the trend of sleeveless guernseys fit with the fashions in rugby. The Blues defeated the Victoria team in 1923 and again in 1990 under State of Origin rules at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Its final appearance was at the 1988 Adelaide Bicentennial Carnival.

In 1993, the game's new governing body, the AFL Commission created a composite team with the Australian Capital Territory, the NSW/ACT Rams. Notable New South Welshmen in this team included Wayne Carey and Brownlow Medalist Shane Crawford. Senior players have not represented the state since.

NSW was an inaugural participant in the National underage titles. It competed from 1993 to 2016 as NSW/ACT, after which it was dropped from the national championships and instead now competes in the TAC Cup.

Principal venues
The following venues are the largest that meet AFL Standard criteria and have been used to host AFL (National Standard) or AFLW level matches (Regional Standard) and have hosted such matches in the last decade:

Sydney
 Sydney Cricket Ground
 Stadium Australia, Sydney Olympic Park
 Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park
 North Sydney Oval
 Blacktown ISP Oval, Rooty Hill
 Bruce Purser Reserve, Kellyville
 Ern Holmes Oval, Pennant Hills
 Henson Park, Marrickville
 Picken Oval, Croydon Park
 Trumper Park Oval, Paddington
 Monarch Oval, Macquarie Fields
 Village Green, University of New South Wales, Kensington
 Drummoyne Oval
 Gore Hill Oval
 Olds Park, Penshurst
 University Oval, University of Sydney
 Jubilee Oval, Carlton

Regional NSW
 Lavington Sports Ground, Hamilton Valley, Albury
 Newcastle Number 1 Sports Ground, Newcastle
 Coffs Harbour International Stadium, Coffs Harbour
 Narrandera Sports Ground, Narrandera
 North Dalton Park, Towradgi, Wollongong
 Robertson Oval, Wagga Wagga

Books

See also 

 Representative matches in Australian rules football

References

External links
 The Hidden Story of Australian Rules in Sydney
 NSW Footy History
 Australian Rules Almost Held Sydney
 
 Sydney Australian Football Foundation – non-profit organisation assisting development of the code in Sydney

 
New
History of Australian rules football