The Central Riverina Football League was a minor

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

competition which ran from 1949 until 1981 in the

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 ...

region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The league contained a number of historic clubs, many of which no longer exist.

History

There was a Central Riverina Football League that was formed in 1907 in Narrandra, that was made up from the Coolamon, Hay and Narrandra football clubs. The Central Riverina Football League (CRFL) was formed in 1949 at the annual general meeting of the Milbrulong & District Football League, when it was decided to change its name to the Central Riverina Football League. The Milbrulong Football Association was reformed in 1945, after a five-year break due to

World War Two World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was active up until 1948, when the name change took place in early 1949. In 1946, Boree Creek and Collingullie joined the Milbrulong & DFL from the Lockhart & District Football League. In 1947 and 1948, some clubs arranged reserve grade matches against other teams, but there was no official competition. At the 1948 AGM, Mr. Albert Ziebell (Railway Hotel, Lockhart) promised £3/3/ towards the trophy for the best and fairest player in the CRFL. At the 1949 AGM, Mr. T Brennan of Milbrulong donated £10/10/ towards a cup for the best and fairest player in the CRFL, to be known as the Brennan Cup. On Wednesday, 12 September 1951,

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

: 20.15 - 135 defeated the Central Riverina Football League: 6.6 - 42, which was played at Lockhart. The CRFL Reserves / Second eighteen competition was introduced into the CRFL in the late 1950s. Osborne played in ten grand finals between 1945 and 1961, winning four premierships, while East Wagga played in eight grand final between 1967 and 1976, for four premierships. In 1982 the CRFL merged with the

South West Football League (New South Wales) The South West District Football League was a major Australian rules football competition which ran from 1910 until 1981 in the Riverina region of New South Wales. History The first recorded Australian Rules Football match in the Riverina area wa ...

and the old Farrer Football League to form the

Riverina Football Netball League The Riverina Football Netball League (RFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules footbal ...

and the Riverina District Football League. It was between 1983 and 1994 that the Riverina District Football League /

Farrer Football League The Farrer Football Netball League (FFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules footba ...

maintained a two division system. The Riverina District Football League changed its name to the

in 1985.

Football Clubs

;Milbrulong & District Football League (1945 - 1948) *

Boree Creek Boree Creek is a town in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located south west of the state capital, Sydney and west of the regional centre, Wagga Wagga. Boree Creek is situated in the Federation Council local ...

: "Magpies" 1946 - 1948. Joined the Central Riverina FL in 1949. *

Collingullie History Collingullie () is a village north-west of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The village is located on the Sturt Highway, between Wagga Wagga and Narrandera, at the crossroads with the road to Lockhar ...

: - 1946 - 1948. Joined the Central Riverina FL in 1949. *

Lockhart Lockhart may refer to: *Lockhart (surname) Places Australia *Lockhart, New South Wales *Lockhart River, Queensland *Lockhart River, Western Australia United States *Lockhart, Alabama *Lockhart, Florida *Lockhart, Minnesota *Lockhart, Sout ...

: 1945 - 1948. Joined the Central Riverina FL in 1949. * Milbrulong: 1945 - 1948. Joined the Central Riverina FL in 1949. *

Mittagong Mittagong () is a town located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town acts as the gateway to the Southern Highlands when coming from Sydney. Mittagong is situated at an elevation of . The town ...

: 1945 - 1948. Joined the Central Riverina FL in 1949. *

Osborne Osborne may refer to: * Osborne (name) Places Australia * Osborne, South Australia (disambiguation), places associated with the suburb in the Adelaide metropolitan area * Osborne, New South Wales, a rural community in the Riverina region Can ...

: 1945 - 1948. Joined the Central Riverina FL in 1949. * Pleasant Hills: 1948. Joined the Central Riverina FL in 1949. * The Rock: 1945 - 1947. Joined the

Albury & District Football League The Albury & District Football League was established at a delegates meeting in Culcairn in 1930 from the following Australian Rules Football clubs - Albury Rovers, Culcairn, Henty and Holbrook and folded after the 1957 football season. History Th ...

in 1948. * Yerong Creek: 1945 - 1948. Joined the Central Riverina FL in 1949. ; Central Riverina Football League (1949 - 1981) *

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

(Kapooka) "Cats": 1958 - 1972 & 1975 - 81: Merged with Junee in 1982 & joined the Riverina District Football League. *

Barellan Barellan is a small town in Narrandera Shire in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. On Census night 2021, Barellan had a population of 276. It is a quiet Riverina wheat town on the Burley Griffin Way, with characteristic silos, ...

"Kangaroos: 1973 - 81. Joined the

Riverina Football League The Riverina Football Netball League (RFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules footbal ...

in 1982. *

: 1949 - 1969 & 1980 - 1981. Played in the

Hume Football League The Hume Australian Football Netball League (HFNL), often shortened to Hume Football League, is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing twelve clubs based in the South West Slopes and southern Riverina regions of New South ...

1970 - 1975. Played in the

Coreen & District Football League The Coreen & District Football League was an Australian rules football competition in the Coreen district of the Riverina in New South Wales, initially formed in 1909. The netball competition commenced in 1972 in line with the football fixture ...

1976 - 1978 *

"Demons": 1949 - 1964. Joined the

in 1965. *

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. ...

"Blues": 1960 - 1980. Joined the

in 1981 * East Wagga Saints: 1959 - 1976: Joined the

in 1977. *

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(Forest Hill) "Cats". 1962 - 19?? & 1977 - 1981. Joined the Riverina District Football League in 1982 - 1996. Merged with North Wagga Saints in 1997. *

Junee Junee () is a medium-sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in par ...

"Bulldogs": 1958 - 1981. Merged with Army in 1982 & joined the Riverina District Football League. *

"Bombers": 1949 - 1956. Joined the

in 1957. *

Marian Dons Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queenslan ...

: 1971 - *

Marrar Marrar is a Jatt tribe of Pakistan and India. According to the book Glossary of tribes Castes of Punjab and NW Province Marrars were Sombansi Rajputs. Many Rajput tribes during wars and famine began to cultivate their lands and hence began being ...

"Bombers" 1957 - 1981. Joined the Riverina District Football League in 1982. * Milbrulong 1949 - 1958. Club disbanded. *

1949. Withdrew from the CRFL at 1950 AGM due to insufficient players. *

1949 - 1969. Joined the

in 1970. * Pleasant Hills 1949 - 1953. Withdrew at 1954 CRFL - AGM due to insufficient players. * Riverina College of Advanced Education: 1972 - 1981. - "Bush Pigs": *

South Wagga South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

- Tolland Dons: * Temora "Kangaroos": 1957 - 1960. Joined the

in 1961. *

Tumut Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...

1970 - 1977: Joined the

Upper Murray Football League The Upper Murray Football Netball League ''(UMFNL)'' is an Australian Rules Football and Netball competition based in the rural town of Corryong, Victoria, Australia. The league contains five clubs from around the townships & farming districts o ...

in 1978. *

Turvey Park Turvey Park is an inner southern suburb of Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, Australia. Its boundaries are defined by Fernleigh Road to the south, Glenfield Road to the west, Coleman Street to the north and to the east by Willans Hill. Tur ...

: 1955. Joined the South West Football League in 1956 and played there until 1981. *

Uranquinty Uranquinty is a small town approximately south of Wagga Wagga, in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The population of the town, often referred to as "Quinty", is 909. Uranquinty was used as the railway village when the railw ...

"Rosellas": 1950 - 1952. * Wagga * Whitton "Tigers" 1979 - 1981. Joined the Riverina District Football League in 1982. * Yerong Creek: 1949 - 1955. Joined the

in 1955, then Yerong Creek merged with The Rock in 1962 & remained in the A&DFL. *

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

: 1976 - 1977. Young joined the Northern Riverina FL in 1978.

Football Grand Finals

;Seniors ;Seniors *1985: The Riverina District Football League changed its name to the

in 1985 and maintained a Farrer FL Division One competition & Farrer FL Division Two competition up until 1994. ;Central Riverina Football League ;Reserves *1946: Mittagong *1947: Yerong Creek: 7.7 - 49 d Mittagong: 5.6 - 36 *1948: RAAF: 8.8 - 56 drew Central Riverina FL U/21: 8.8 - 56 (curtain raiser) *1949:

: 7.12 - 54 drew Central Riverina FL: 9.0 - 54 (curtain raiser) *1952: Lockhart v MIlbrulong *1953: Osborne v Milbrulong *1959: Army: 13.8 - 86 d Temora: 9.8 - 62 *1960: East Wagga: 7.6 - 48 d Junee: 2.3 - 15 *1961: Junee d RAAF *1962: Army d RAAF *1963: Army d RAAF *1964: RAAF d Cootamundra *1965: RAAF d Army *1966: Marrar d East Wagga *1967: Army d East Wagga *1968: Army d Junee *1969: Army d RAAF *1970: East Wagga d Cootamundra *1971: Army d East Wagga *1972: East Wagga d RAAF *1973: East Wagga d RAAF *1974: East Wagga: 56 d Cootamundra: 46 *1975: East Wagga d RAAF *1976: East Wagga d RAAF *1977: Barellan United d Marain Dons *1978: Marrar d South Wagga Tollard *1979: Barellan United d Marrar *1980: Barellan United d Junee *1981: ;Riverina DISTRICT Football League (1982) ;Reserves *1982: Junee: 9.18 - 72 d TRYC: 7.11 - 53 ;Central Riverina FL - Most Senior Premierships / Runners Up (1949 - 1981) * 1946 - 1950: Senior Premiership Cup: Donald Ross Cup * 1946 - 1953: Reserves Premiership Cup: Cooper Cup * RCAE - Riverina College of Advanced Education

Leading Goalkickers

*1976 - P. Carroll - East Wagga - 113 *1977 - Rod Milthorpe - Cootamundra - 82 *1978 - B. Spencer - Junee - 72 *1979 - C. Griffiths - RAAF - 62 *1980 - C. Eaton - Cootamundra - 82 *1981 - Neil Diggleman - Barellan United - 54

Best & Fairest Award

;Senior Football *1985 - RDFL changed its name to the Farrer FL. ;Milbrulong & DFL *1947 **1st: Charles Doig - Osborne: 38 votes **2nd: Ross Garrett - Lockhart: 33 **3rd: N Taylor - The Rock: 19 * 1948 **1st: Ross Garrett - Mulbrulong: 34 **2nd: Kevin Terlich - Pleasant Hill's: 20 **3rd: K Gorman - 18 ;Central Riverina Football League - *Brennan Cup (1949) *Coghill Medal * 1949 - Charles Doig - Osborne *1950 - 59: Unsure if there was a CRFL best and fairest award between 1950 and 1959. *1953 - Merv Priest - Collingullie, 2nd: Jim Stockton - Milbrulong. *1960 - B. Smith - Osborne *1961 - Peter Wilson - Boree Creek *1962 - Peter Wilson - Boree Creek *1963 - Peter Wilson - Boree Creek *1964 - B Douglas - Osborne *1965 - B Douglas - Osborne *1966 - G Smith - Army *1967 - B McCaffery - Army *1968 - G Buchanan - Army & *1968 - D Rowlands - Army *1969 - N Jarvis - Army *1970 - N Jarvis - Army *1971 - Reg Hamilton - Marrar *1972 - B Murphy - RCAE *1973 - B Harper - Marrar *1974 - B Harper - Marrar *1975 - B Harper - Marrar *1976 - K Forbes - Cootamundra *1977 - K Forbes - Cootamundra *1978 - M Briggs - Junee *1979 - Errol Boots - Whitton *1980 - P Butterworth - RCAE *1981 - Errol Boots - Whitton *1985 - RDFL changed its name to the Farrer FL.

Officer Bearers

References

Links

Australian rules football in New South Wales Australian rules football in New South Wales dates back to 1866 with organised competition being continuous since the 1880s. Today, in several regions, the sport is moderately popular, including Broken Hill near South Australia, and the Riveri ...

* Central Hume Football Association *

Hume Football Netball League The Hume Australian Football Netball League (HFNL), often shortened to Hume Football League, is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing twelve clubs based in the South West Slopes and southern Riverina regions of New Sout ...

Riverina Football Association The Riverina Football Association was an Australian rules football competition formed in 1924 from the following clubs - Balldale, Brocklesby Culcairn, Henty Town, Henty Rovers, Holbrook and Walla Walla. History The Riverina Football Association wa ...

Central Riverina FL - "CRFL Weekly Record"
{{Aussie Rules in New South Wales Defunct Australian rules football competitions in New South Wales Sport in the Riverina Sports leagues established in 1949 1949 establishments in Australia 1981 disestablishments in Australia