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.

Hume Football Netball League

Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1933
President	Merv Wegener
No. of teams	12
Most recent champion(s)	Osborne (15)
Most titles	Osborne (15) Walla Walla (15)
Official website	humefl.com.au

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, with 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, 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. 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 teammates behaved and were disillusioned 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 Chiltern & District Football Association[2]
• 1947: Balldale returned, Burrumbuttock reformed. Mr. Kelly Joseph Azzi, Balldale Football Club President and Delegate first donated the Azzi Medal in 1947 for the fairest and best player award[3]
• 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 1999 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.[4]

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. Voting for the proposed merger took place on Monday 7 March (2016). 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. The merged club commenced in 2016 playing home matches at Rand.[5]

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.

2019 Finals Series

	Week One					Week Two					Week Three				Week Four
							Second Semi-Final
						1	Osborne	7.8 (50)
						2	Brock-Burrum Saints	9.12 (66)							Grand Final
															Osborne	11.6 (72)
		First Elimination Final									Preliminary Final				Brock-Burrum Saints	5.6 (36)
	3	Culcairn	10.6 (66)								Osborne	14.14 (98)
	6	Billabong Crows	8.8 (56)				First Semi-Final				Culcairn	12.8 (80)
							Culcairn	14.9 (93)
		Second Elimination Final					Holbrook	9.13 (67)
	4	Rand-Walbundrie-Walla	8.16 (64)
	5	Holbrook	12.16 (88)
				Key:         Losing team progressing     Winning team progressing

Current clubs

Club	Colours	Moniker	Home Ground(s)	Established	Joined [6]	Premierships: HFL Seniors		Premiership Years: HFL Seniors [7]
						Total	Most recent
Billabong Crows		Crows	Oaklands Recreation Ground	2005 as Merged Club	2008	0	—	—
Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock		Saints	Brocklesby Recreation Reserve Burrumbuttock Recreation Reserve	2006 as Merged Club	2006	4	2018	2013, 2015, 2016, 2018
Coreen-Daysdale-Hopefield-Buraja United		Power	Coreen Park Buraja Recreation Reserve	2006 as Merged Club	2008	0	—	—
Culcairn		Lions	Culcairn Sportsground	1895	1992	2	2007	1993, 2007
Henty		Swampies	Henty Showground	1895	1980	5	2014	1984, 1986, 1990, 1996, 2014
Holbrook		Brookers	Holbrook Sports Complex	1882	1999	1	2004	2004
Howlong		Spiders	Howlong Oval	1898	1953	6	2010	1954, 1971, 1977, 1997, 2002, 2010
Jindera		Bulldogs	Jindera Sports Ground	1930s	1933	11	2011	1946, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1975, 2008, 2011
Lockhart		Demons	Lockhart Recreation Ground	1920s	1982	2	2003	1982, 2003
Murray Magpies		Magpies	Urana Road Oval	1997	2007	0	—	—
Osborne		Tigers	Osborne Recreation Reserve	1901	1970	15	2019	1985, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2017, 2019
Rand-Walbundrie-Walla		Giants [8][9]	Rand Recreation Reserve Walbundrie Showground Walla Walla Sportsground	2016 as Merged Club	2016	0	—	—

Former Clubs

Club	Colours	Moniker	Formed	First Year	Last Year	Premierships		Premiership Years	Details
						Total	Most recent
Balldale				1945	1974	2	1972	1962, 1972	Contested 1945-1974 seasons (except 1946 [10]). Folded in 1975.
Brocklesby		Kangaroos		1945	2005	2	1958	1950, 1958	Merged with Burrumbuttock in 2006.
Boree Creek				1970	1975	0	-	-	Joined the Coreen & District Football League in 1976. Folded in 1979.
Burrumbuttock		Swans	1911	1934	2005	2	1969	1951, 1969	Merged with Brocklesby in 2006.
Coleambally		Blues		2008	2010	0	-	-	Joined the Farrer Football League in 2011.
East Albury		Rovers		1948[11]	1950	0	-	-	EAFC merge with Albury Rovers in 1947,[12] joined Hume FL in 1948. Folded in 1951.[13]
East Lavington				1977	1997	2	1988	1979, 1988	Folded in 1998.
Gerogery				1933	1948	4	1936	1933, 1934, 1935, 1936	Foundation member. Folded in 1949.
Lavington		Saints		1975	1976	1	1938	1938	Joined the Farrer Football League in 1977. Joined the Ovens & Murray Football League in 1979.
North Albury Seconds		Hoppers		1951	1952	0	-	-	Joined Ovens & Murray Football League Seconds in 1953.
Rand		Pigeons		1945	1983	1	-	1945	Joined the Coreen & District Football League in 1984. Merged with Walbundrie in 2006.
Rand-Walbundrie		Tigers		2006	2015	0	-	-	Merged with Walla Walla in 2016.
Rennie		Hoppers		2008	2008	0	-	-	Joined the Picola & District Football League in 2009.
St Paul's College				1950	1985	0	-	-	Junior football club (thirds and fourths only). Folded in 1986.
Walbundrie		Tigers		1934	2005	8	1989	1937, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1967, 1968, 1978, 1989	Merged with Rand in 2006.
Walla Walla		Hoppers		1935	2015	15	1987	1939, 1940, 1948, 1953, 1959, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1987	Merged with Rand-Walbundrie in 2016.
Bethanga		Saints		1934	1934	0	-	-	Joined the Tallangatta & District Football League (predecessor) in 1935.

Premierships: Football

Seniors

• 1933: Gerogery
• 1934: Gerogery
• 1935: Gerogery
• 1936: Gerogery
• 1937: Walbundrie
• 1938: Lavington
• 1939: Walla Walla
• 1940: Walla Walla
• 1941: Recess - World War II
• 1942: Recess - World War II
• 1943: Recess - World War II
• 1944: Recess - World War II
• 1945: Rand
• 1946: Jindera
• 1947: Walbundrie
• 1948: Walla Walla
• 1949: Walbundrie
• 1950: Brocklesby
• 1951: Burrumbuttock
• 1952: Walbundrie
• 1953: Walla Walla
• 1954: Howlong
• 1955: Jindera
• 1956: Jindera
• 1957: Jindera
• 1958: Brocklesby
• 1959: Walla Walla
• 1960: Jindera
• 1961: Jindera
• 1962: Balldale
• 1963: Jindera
• 1964: Jindera
• 1965: Walla Walla
• 1966: Walla Walla
• 1967: Walbundrie
• 1968: Walbundrie
• 1969: Burrumbuttock
• 1970: Walla Walla
• 1971: Howlong
• 1972: Balldale
• 1973: Walla Walla
• 1974: Walla Walla
• 1975: Jindera
• 1976: Walla Walla
• 1977: Howlong
• 1978: Walbundrie
• 1979: East Lavington
• 1980: Walla Walla
• 1981: Walla Walla
• 1982: Lockhart
• 1983: Walla Walla
• 1984: Henty
• 1985: Osborne
• 1986: Henty
• 1987: Walla Walla
• 1988: East Lavington
• 1989: Walbundrie
• 1990: Henty
• 1991: Osborne
• 1992: Osborne
• 1993: Culcairn
• 1994: Osborne
• 1995: Osborne
• 1996: Henty
• 1997: Howlong
• 1998: Osborne
• 1999: Osborne
• 2000: Osborne
• 2001: Osborne
• 2002: Howlong
• 2003: Lockhart
• 2004: Holbrock
• 2005: Osborne
• 2006: Osborne
• 2007: Culcairn
• 2008: Jindera
• 2009: Osborne
• 2010: Howlong
• 2011: Jindera
• 2012: Osborne
• 2013: Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock
• 2014: Henty
• 2015: Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock
• 2016: Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock
• 2017: Osborne
• 2018: Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock
• 2019: Osborne
• 2020: N/A

Reserves

• 1976: Jindera
• 1977: East Lavington
• 1978: East Lavington
• 1979: Walla Walla
• 1980: Walbundrie
• 1981: Henty
• 1982: Jindera
• 1983: Brocklesby
• 1984: East Lavington
• 1985: Jindera
• 1986: Henty
• 1987: Jindera
• 1988: East Lavington
• 1989: East Lavington
• 1990: East Lavington
• 1991: Walbundrie
• 1992: Walla Walla
• 1993: Culcairn
• 1994: Walla Walla
• 1995: Burrumbuttock
• 1996: Culcairn
• 1997: Walla Walla
• 1998: Osborne
• 1999: Lockhart
• 2000: Holbrook
• 2001: Jindera
• 2002: Osborne
• 2003: Osborne
• 2004: Osborne
• 2005: Osborne
• 2006: Lockhart
• 2007: Osborne
• 2008: Osborne
• 2009: Culcairn
• 2010: Culcairn
• 2011: Jindera
• 2012: Howlong
• 2013: Jindera
• 2014: Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock
• 2015: Henty
• 2016: Osborne
• 2017: Jindera
• 2018: Rand-Walbundrie-Walla
• 2019: Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock

Juniors: 1950-1975 / Thirds

• 1950: St Paul's College
• 1951: Walla Walla
• 1952: Walla Walla
• 1953: Walla Walla
• 1954: Howlong
• 1955: Howlong
• 1956: Howlong
• 1957: Howlong
• 1958: Howlong
• 1959: Howlong
• 1960: Jindera
• 1961: St Paul's College
• 1962: Corowa
• 1963: St Paul's College
• 1964: Walla Walla
• 1965: Walla Walla
• 1966: Rand
• 1967: St Paul's College
• 1968: Walbundrie
• 1969: Jindera
• 1970: Walla Walla
• 1971: Walla Walla
• 1972: St. Paul's College
• 1973: Walla Walla
• 1974: Walla Walla
• 1975: St. Paul's College
• 1976: St. Paul's College
• 1977: East Lavington
• 1978: St. Paul's College
• 1979: Wabundrie
• 1980: Henty
• 1981: Henty
• 1982: Henty
• 1983: Henty
• 1984: Walla Walla
• 1985: Osborne
• 1986: Henty
• 1987: Osborne
• 1988: Walla Walla
• 1989: Walla Walla
• 1990: Walla Walla
• 1991: Walla Walla
• 1992: Henty
• 1993: Lockhart
• 1994: Lockhart
• 1995: Walla Walla
• 1996: Walla Walla
• 1997: Walla Walla
• 1998: Walla Walla
• 1999: Howlong
• 2000: Culcairn
• 2001: Henty
• 2002: Henty
• 2003: Henty
• 2004: Henty
• 2005: Osborne
• 2006: Culcairn
• 2007: Culcairn
• 2008: Murray Magpies
• 2009: Jindera
• 2010: Holbrook
• 2011: Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock
• 2012: Rand-Walbundrie
• 2013: Osborne
• 2014: Osborne
• 2015: Osborne
• 2016: Henty
• 2017: Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock
• 2018: Osborne
• 2019: Holbrook

Fourths

• 1990: Lockhart
• 1991: Lockhart
• 1992: Lockhart
• 1993: Walbundrie
• 1994: Walla Walla
• 1995: Walla Walla
• 1996: Osborne
• 1997: Osborne
• 1998: Brocklesby
• 1999: Holbrook
• 2000: Lockhart
• 2001: Henty
• 2002: Lockhart
• 2003: Osborne
• 2004: Howlong
• 2005: Holbrook
• 2006: Henty
• 2007: Holbrook
• 2008: Holbrook
• 2009: Howlong
• 2010: Rand-Walbundrie
• 2011: Osborne
• 2012: Osborne
• 2013: Osborne
• 2014: Coreen-Daysdale-Hopefield-Buraja United
• 2015: Henty
• 2016: Holbrook
• 2017: Osborne
• 2018: Rand-Walbundrie-Walla
• 2019: Osborne

Players

Footballers from the HFL who currently play or have played 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

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "1946 - Chiltern & DFA Draw". Trove Newspapers. Border Morning Mail. 25 April 1946. p. 6. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
3. "1947 - Hume FL Azzi Medal". Trove Newspapers. The Corowa Free Press. 22 August 1947. p. 4. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
4. Kohlhagen, Brett (23 July 2008). "Hume Split". The Border Mail. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 31 July 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
6. Footypedia – Hume Football League
7. HFL History
8. Giant opportunity awaiting joint venture
9. Giant news out of Hume League
10. "1947 - Balldale FC - AGM". Trove Newspapers. The Corowa Free Press. 21 March 1947. p. 4. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
11. "East Albury Rovers withdraw from Albury & DFL". Trove Newspapers. The Henty Observer & Culcairn Shire Register (NSW). 16 April 1948. p. 8. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
12. "Albury District Football Season To Start On May 3". Trove Newspapers. The Henty Observer & Culcairn Shire Register (NSW). 4 April 1947. p. 8. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
13. "1951 - Hume FL Draw". Trove Newspapers. The Corowa Free Press (NSW). 22 May 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 28 October 2020.

Sources

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

External links

• Official Hume Football League website
• 1938 - Hume FL Premiers - Lavington FC team photo