Barassi Line: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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~~{{Original research|discuss=Template talk:Original research#discuss parameter|date=November 2017}}~~

[[Image:Barassi Line.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The "Barassi Line", as proposed by Ian Turner in 1978. The line divides the regions where Australian rules football (southwest) and rugby league (northeast) are the most popular football codes. Dots mark the locations of cities with at least one club that deviates from the Barassi Line; hollow dots mark the locations of cities that formerly had a club.]]

The "'''Barassi Line'''" is an imaginary line in [[Australia]] which divides areas where [[Australian rules football]] is more popular than [[rugby league]] and [[rugby union]] anad vice versa. It was first used by historian Ian Turner in his "1978 [[Ron Barassi, Sr.|Ron Barassi]] Memorial Lecture".<ref>Referenced in {{cite book | last = Hutchinson | first = Garrie | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1983 | title = The Great Australian Book of Football Stories | publisher = Currey O'Neil | location = Melbourne | id = }}</ref> Crowd figures, media coverage, and participation rates are heavily skewed in favour of the code that is most dominant on either side of the line.<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/allprimarymainfeatures/1F8FAC9C2C7B1623CA2568A900139417?opendocument 4174.0 - Sports Attendance, Australia, 2005-06]; Australian Bureau of Statistics; 25 January 2007: "Notably, the states and territories which had low attendance rates for rugby league had the highest attendance rates for Australian rules football."</ref>

Despite Australia's relatively homogeneous culture, the dichotomy existing in the country's sporting culture as represented by the line has endured since Australian rules football and [[rugby football]] developed distinct identities. Australian rules football is the most popular football code played to the west and south of the line, with centres in [[Melbourne]], [[Perth]] and [[Adelaide]], while rugby league and rugby union are more popular on the other side, with centres in [[Sydney]] and [[Brisbane]]. Each side represents roughly half of the Australian population, due to the concentration of population on the [[Eastern states of Australia|east coast]].~~{{Original research inline|date=November 2017}}~~

At the time the term was first used, there were no professional teams or leagues located on each code's opposite side of the line. However, in the years since, the [[Australian Football League]] (AFL) in Australian rules football and the [[National Rugby League]] (NRL) in rugby league have expanded their domestic competitions to include teams from both sides of the line. In addition, the multinational body [[SANZAAR]], which organises the [[Super Rugby]] competition in rugby union, has expanded its Australian presence on the opposite side of the line.~~{{Original research inline|date=November 2017}}~~

The line runs from the [[Northern Territory]]-[[Queensland]] border, south through [[Birdsville, Queensland]], through southern [[New South Wales]] north of the [[Riverina]], through [[Canberra]] and on to the [[Pacific Ocean]] at [[Cape Howe]] on the border of New South Wales and [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]].<ref name="Marshall">{{cite news|last1=Marshall|first1=Konrad|title=Where do rugby codes' strongholds turn to rules? At the 'Barassi Line', of course...|url=http://www.smh.com.au/sport/where-do-rugby-codes-end-and-rules-begin-at-the-barassi-line-of-course-20160225-gn3lbe.html|accessdate=11 November 2017|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=26 February 2016}}</ref> The exact location of the division may be disputed and the stylised straight line is not particularly accurate in representing the division. No areas of Queensland favour Australian rules football over rugby league and, in the Riverina area in southern New South Wales, both codes vie for dominance. In the Canberra area, there is one professional team playing rugby union, the [[Brumbies]], and one rugby league team, the [[Canberra Raiders]], whereas there is no AFL side in Canberra, and only a few matches are played there each year, even though many Australian rules football teams compete in Canberra at levels lower than the AFL.~~{{Original research inline|date=November 2017}}~~

Other major team sports in Australia, such as [[Cricket in Australia|cricket]], [[Basketball in Australia|basketball]], [[Netball in Australia|netball]], [[Field hockey in Australia|field hockey]] and [[Soccer in Australia|soccer]] have less variation in their popularity by location.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/subscriber.nsf/log?openagent&41740_table6_2005-06.xls&4174.0&Data%20Cubes&DF19970B67025839CA25726D0075CD5D&0&2005-06&25.01.2007&Latest |title=Cat. No. 4174.0 2005-06 Sports Attendance, Australia, Table 6. Persons Attending Main Sports, By State Or Territory |date= |accessdate=2017-09-01}}</ref> Cricket has been played on a national scale by state representative teams for over 100 years, and in 1977 soccer became the first sport in Australia to start a club based [[National Soccer League|national league]].<ref name="Warren2011">{{cite book|author=Johnny Warren|title=Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tHAbdB5JzgEC|year=2002|publisher=Random House Australia|isbn=1-74051-121-2|p=179}}</ref>

==Origin==

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The Barassi Line itself was named after [[Ron Barassi]], the former Barassi's son, who was a star player for Melbourne and [[Carlton Football Club|Carlton]] and a premiership-winning coach with Carlton and [[North Melbourne Football Club|North Melbourne]]. He believed in spreading the code of Australian rules football around the nation with an evangelical zeal, and became coach and major supporter of the relocated [[Sydney Swans]]. He foresaw a time when Australian rules football clubs from around Australia, including up to four from [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]], would play in a national football league with only a handful of them based in Melbourne, but his prognostications were largely ridiculed at the time.<ref>Hess, Rob and Nicholson, Matthew. Beyond the Barassi Line: The Origins and Diffusion of Football Codes in Australia</ref>

==League structures and expansions==

Primarily due to the distances involved, the leagues of Australian rules football and rugby league were all originally based around suburban competitions, not inter-city national leagues as is the case in many other countries. Each major city had one league as the highest profile with the greatest interest and attendance. In Sydney and Brisbane, the most followed competitions were rugby league's [[New South Wales Rugby Football League]] and [[Brisbane Rugby League premiership]]. In Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin, the Australian rules football leagues of the [[Australian Football League|Victorian Football League]], [[South Australian National Football League]], [[West Australian Football League]] and [[Northern Territory Football League]] respectively were the most popular. Tasmania had three separate regional leagues; the [[Tasmanian Football League|Tasmanian Australian National Football League]], [[Northern Tasmanian Football Association (1886–1986)|Northern Tasmanian Football Association]] and [[North West Football Union]]. In most cities, the non-dominant sports had amateur leagues that operated for many years.

===Australian rules football===

The first professional club to cross the Barassi Line was the [[Australian Football League|Victorian Football League]]'s South Melbourne Football Club, which relocated to Sydney and became the [[Sydney Swans]] in 1982. The Swans endured limited success and a series of [[Wooden spoon (award)|wooden spoons]] in their first decade in Sydney before rallying for a series of good years in the mid-1990s onward,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Halloran|first1=Jessica|title=Bloods, sweat and tears: how the Swans became pride of Sydney - AFL - Sport|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/afl/bloods-sweat-and-tears-how-the-swans-became-pride-of-sydney/2005/09/22/1126982178837.html|accessdate=16 November 2017|work=www.smh.com.au|date=23 September 2005|language=en}}</ref> culminating in premierships in 2005 and 2012. The [[Brisbane Bears]] were founded as an expansion team to the VFL in 1986 and also had poor results, with back-to-back wooden spoons until they were the beneficiaries of a forced merger with the Melbourne-based [[Fitzroy Football Club|Fitzroy Lions]] in 1996. The [[Brisbane Lions]] were formed and became the first triple-premiership winner in 46 years, winning in 2001, 2002 and 2003.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rucci|first1=Michelangelo|title=The fall of AFL football in Queensland, once the pride of the national game|url=http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/expert-opinion/michelangelo-rucci/the-fall-of-afl-football-in-queensland-once-the-pride-of-the-national-game/news-story/e5a40ed9295bd623ad8d1c40d3abf795?nk=88c3a474a5685eebe33c774794f67798-1510846981|accessdate=16 November 2017|work=The Advertiser|issue=May 8, 2015}}</ref>

In 1990, the Victorian Football League changed its name to the [[Australian Football League]] (AFL) to pursue a more national focus. By 1997, six of sixteen AFL clubs were based outside of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], but only two on the Rugby League side of the Barassi Line.

The next wave of expansion by the AFL was on the opposite side of the line. A [[Gold Coast Football Club|second Queensland team]] on the Gold Coast joined the competition in 2011, and a [[Greater Western Sydney Giants|second New South Wales team]], based in Western Sydney, joined the AFL in 2012. With the establishment of these clubs, Ron Barassi Jr's prophecy of a national Australian rules football league with four teams in New South Wales and Queensland has been fulfilled. A major reason for the expansion into these non-traditional areas has been to increase both the number of games played each week, and the potential television audience. This resulted in income from [[television rights]] rising dramatically.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tensport.com.au/news/theroar/AFL-Why-AFL-expansion-really-is-worth-all-the-risks.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2012-07-30 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603114106/http://tensport.com.au/news/theroar/AFL-Why-AFL-expansion-really-is-worth-all-the-risks.htm |archivedate=2012-06-03 |df= }}</ref><ref name="Pay2Play">{{cite news|last1=Hawthorne|first1=Mark|title=Pay to play: how sports bodies keeping winning the TV great rights battles|url=http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/pay-to-play-how-sports-bodies-keeping-winning-the-tv-great-rights-battles-20170323-gv58z9.html|accessdate=16 November 2017|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=25 March 2017}}</ref>

In 2011 the AFL also created the [[North East Australian Football League]] (NEAFL), a second level league comprising the reserve teams of the four AFL teams based in Queensland and New South Wales, along with high-level teams from the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. A junior academy system was also introduced with the aim to increase the participation rate of players from NSW and Queensland.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cordy|first1=Neil|authorlink1=Neil Cordy|title=‘The only level playing field is a cemetery’|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/teams/sydney/sydney-swans-chairman-andrew-pridham-continues-fight-for-northern-academies/news-story/787319cc1099f3ce7b7dbf1d572264bf?nk=88c3a474a5685eebe33c774794f67798-1510845828|accessdate=16 November 2017|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=7 May 2016|language=en}}</ref>

[[Image:Players of Melbourne Storm after the 2007 NRL grand final.jpg|thumb|right|267px|Melbourne Storm players after the 2007 Grand Final.]]

===Rugby league===

In 1995 the [[Australian Rugby League]] (ARL) created four new expansion teams including one in [[Perth]], resulting in the first major rugby league club based on the Australian rules football side of the Barassi Line, the [[WA Reds|Western Reds]]. By the time the breakaway [[Super League war|Super League]] started in 1997 a second club on the opposite side of the line was created, the [[Adelaide Rams]]. A third club on the opposite side of the line, the [[Melbourne Storm]], was due to be created in 1998 to play in the second season of Super League but, in the meantime, the opposing leagues made restitution and established the [[National Rugby League]] (NRL).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ipkkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8DEDAAAAIBAJ&dq=national+rugby+league&pg=1881,3576150|title=Peace deal brings end to three disastrous years|author=|date=Dec 27, 1997|publisher=The Nation|website=news.google.com}}</ref> Part of the agreement to form a new league included a reduction of clubs in the league, especially those recently established in difficult markets, resulting in the disbanding of the clubs in Perth and Adelaide.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iJkkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8DEDAAAAIBAJ&dq=national+rugby+league&pg=6368,2849683|title=Rivals bury the hatchet in Australia|author=|date=Dec 25, 1997|publisher=The Nation|website=news.google.com}}</ref> The Melbourne Storm continued with success in the new competition, achieving their first premiership win in [[1999 NRL season|1999]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nrl-grand-final-countdown-no3-1999-melbourne-storm-v-st-george-illawarra/story-e6frg6n6-1225780998619|title=NRL grand final countdown No.3: 1999, Melbourne Storm v St George Illawarra|first=Christopher|last=Boyd|date=30 September 2009}}</ref>

In the aftermath of the [[Super League war]], the NRL is very guarded when it comes to expansion for rugby league.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/tv-money-puts-brakes-on-nrl-expansion-20091123-iwz1.html|title=TV money puts brakes on NRL expansion|date=November 20, 2009|author=Brad Walter|publisher=Sydney Morning Herald

|archiveurl=https://archive.is/20141002022656/http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/tv-money-puts-brakes-on-nrl-expansion-20091123-iwz1.html|archivedate=2 Oct 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/lack-of-player-talent-delaying-nrl-expansion-aspirations-say-leading-rugby-league-identities/news-story/e22065c5dd3bbe3204fd146b55e2f5e2|title=Lack of talent delaying expansion dreams|author=David Riccio|date=March 22, 2014|website=dailytelegraph.com.au}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/expanded-18team-competition-and-two-new-conferences-would-bring-back-tribalism-to-nrl/story-e6frf3ou-1226870163071?nk=2a73943d00782061639e8bcaf0b11407|archiveurl=http://archive.is/2014.10.02-022231/http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/expanded-18team-competition-and-two-new-conferences-would-bring-back-tribalism-to-nrl/story-e6frf3ou-1226870163071?nk=2a73943d00782061639e8bcaf0b11407|title=Expanded 18-team competition and two new conferences would bring back tribalism to NRL|archivedate=2 October 2014|author=Phil Rothfield|date=April 1, 2014|publisher=Fox NRL|accessdate=11 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-expansion-being-dropped-from-agenda-until-at-least-2015/news-story/341fd0f998ab99b1ed95a3e0b44c8d55|title=NRL expansion being dropped from agenda until at least 2015|author=Todd Balym|date=October 25, 2012|publisher=Herald Sun|accessdate=11 November 2017|website=heraldsun.com.au}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Kerr|first1=Jack|title=The key battlefronts in the football expansion wars|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-02/kerr-the-football-expansion-wars/7213618|accessdate=16 November 2017|work=ABC News|date=2 March 2016|language=en-AU}}</ref>

Despite this, there are official bids for expansion teams on both sides of the line; in Brisbane, the [[Central Coast (New South Wales)|Central Coast]], [[Rockhampton]], [[Port Moresby]] in Papua New Guinea and [[Wellington]] in New Zealand on the home side, as well as from [[Perth]] on the other side.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-15/flo-casts-doubt-on-perth-nrl-bid/3832910|title=Flo casts doubt on Perth NRL bid|date=15 February 2012|website=www.abc.net.au}}</ref> The only NRL club on the non-traditional side of the Barassi Line remains the Melbourne Storm.

[[Image:Rugby Sevens Melbourne 2006.jpg|thumb|left|267px|[[Rugby sevens]] being played at the [[2006 Commonwealth Games]], which was held at [[Melbourne]]'s [[Docklands Stadium]].]]

===Rugby union===

Rugby union has also attempted to expand on the Australian football side of the Barassi Line, with mixed results. Shortly after the sport went professional in August 1995, the [[Australian Rugby Union]] (ARU) joined forces with the [[New Zealand Rugby Union|New Zealand Rugby Football Union]] (now NZRU) and [[South African Rugby Union]] (SARU) to create the Super 12 competition. It began in [[1996 Super 12 season|1996]] with five regional franchises from New Zealand, four provincial teams from South Africa, and three state/territory teams from Australia. The three Australian teams were all on the traditional side of the Barassi Line—the Brisbane-based [[Queensland Reds|Reds]], the Canberra-based Brumbies and the Sydney-based [[New South Wales Waratahs|Waratahs]]. The league expanded by two teams, one each in Australia and South Africa, for [[2006 Super 14 season|2006]], with the competition then becoming Super 14. Significantly, the new Australian team, the [[Western Force]], was based in Perth on the opposite side of the line.

The following year, the ARU sought to create a national domestic competition, launching the [[Australian Rugby Championship]] (ARC). It launched with eight teams, with the [[Melbourne Rebels (ARC)|Melbourne Rebels]] and [[Perth Spirit]] based on the opposite side of the line. However, the ARC lasted only one season.

The next expansion of rugby union on the opposite side of the line came in [[2011 Super Rugby season|2011]], when the current [[Melbourne Rebels]] were added as Australia's fifth team in the newly renamed Super Rugby.

Neither the Western Force or the Melbourne Rebels have qualified for the finals series in either the Super 14 or Super Rugby, while the Brumbies, Waratahs and Reds, from the traditional areas have all won championships. In 2017, the Western Force was cut from the Super Rugby competition for the 2018 season.<ref name="Western Force culled from Super Rugby competition">{{cite news | url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/rugby/western-force-culled-from-super-rugby-competition/news-story/5b379907a78f05c2fc1b554862cd9ffc | title=Western Force culled from Super Rugby competition | work=Daily Telegraph | date=11 August 2017 | accessdate=11 August 2017}}</ref>

==Current situation==

Four professional Australian football clubs, one rugby union Super Rugby club and one rugby league club, exist on the non-traditional side of the Barassi Line.

Am academic study conducted from 2007 to 2011 shows that the traditional divide remains evident between the two sections of the Barassi Line. The study found:

{{Blockquote|Results indicated demarcation of viewer loyalty to each code based on geographic boundaries, [was] consistent with the existing notion of "the Barassi line". Both codes were shown to be largely reliant on traditional markets for driving television viewership figures, with little evidence to suggest either code expanded its national reach during the period, despite vastly contrasting broadcast strategies.|Fujak, Hunter <ref>{{cite thesis |url=http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/research/bitstream/handle/10453/23386/02whole.pdf |title=An Analysis of Broadcasting and Attendance in the Australian Football Industry |date=November 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224112408/http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/research/bitstream/handle/10453/23386/02whole.pdf|type=Master of Arts (Sport Studies) |archivedate=2013-12-24 |first=Hunter |last=Fujak| publisher=[[University of Technology, Sydney]]}}</ref>}}

===Australian rules football east of the line===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! style="width:200px;"|'''State & Territory'''

! style="width:200px;"|[[Australian Capital Territory]]

! style="width:200px;"|[[New South Wales]]

! style="width:200px;"|[[Queensland]]

| '''Governing Body'''

| colspan=2| [[AFL NSW/ACT]]

| [[AFL Queensland]]

| rowspan=3 |'''Clubs'''

| colspan=2| [[Greater Western Sydney Giants]] ([[Australian Football League|AFL]]: 2012–present) ''play four home games in Canberra per season''

| [[Brisbane Bears]] ([[Australian Football League|AFL]]: 1987-1996)

| [[Sydney Swans]] ([[Australian Football League|AFL]]: 1982–present)

| [[Brisbane Lions]] ([[Australian Football League|AFL]]: 1997–present)

| [[Gold Coast Football Club|Gold Coast Suns]] ([[Australian Football League|AFL]]: 2011–present)

===Rugby league west of the line===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! style="width:200px;"|'''State & Territory'''

! style="width:200px;"|[[Northern Territory]]

! style="width:200px;"|[[South Australia]]

! style="width:200px;"|[[Tasmania]]

! style="width:200px;"|[[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]

! style="width:200px;"|[[Western Australia]]

| '''Governing Body'''

| [[Northern Territory Rugby League]]

| [[South Australia Rugby League]]

| [[Tasmanian Rugby League]]

| [[Victorian Rugby League]]

| [[Western Australia Rugby League]]

| '''Clubs'''

| [[Adelaide Rams]] ([[National Rugby League|NRL]]: 1997-1998)

| [[Melbourne Storm]] ([[National Rugby League|NRL]]: 1998–present)

| [[WA Reds]] ([[National Rugby League|NRL]]: 1995-1997)

===Rugby union west of the line===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! style="width:200px;"|'''State / Territory'''

! style="width:200px;"|[[Northern Territory]]

! style="width:200px;"|[[South Australia]]

! style="width:200px;"|[[Tasmania]]

! style="width:200px;"|[[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]

! style="width:200px;"|[[Western Australia]]

| '''Governing Body'''

| [[Northern Territory Rugby Union]]

| [[South Australia Rugby Union]]

| [[Tasmanian Rugby Union]]

| [[Victorian Rugby Union]]

| [[RugbyWA]]

| '''Clubs'''

| [[Melbourne Rebels]] ([[Super Rugby]]: 2011–present) [[Melbourne Rebels (ARC)|Melbourne Rebels]] ([[Australian Rugby Championship|ARC]]: 2007) [[Melbourne Rising]] 2014 - [[National Rugby Championship]]

| [[Western Force]] ([[Super Rugby]]: 2006–2017) [[Perth Spirit]] ([[Australian Rugby Championship|ARC]]: 2007) [[Perth Spirit]] 2014 - [[National Rugby Championship]]

== References ==

==External links==

*[https://colinross.co/2016/05/05/the-barassi-line/ The Barassi Line] Investigation by Colin Ross

[[Category:Football in Australia]]