WE WERE once know to all and sundry across this wide brown land as the city of good sports.
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In fact, Wagga produced such a high proportion of elite athletes, a study by the Australian Institute of Sport proved our sporting talent was more than just coincidental. It was a deadset phenomenon. There was even a very important-sounding name: “The Wagga Effect”.
While we joked to anyone who would listen it was the nutrients flowing down the ‘Bidgee in the daily 5 o’clock wave that fed our young sports stars, the key to our prowess is something far removed from a comic book-style blast from an infected aqua flow.
We had a community of sports fans and coaches who put time, hard work and junior programs into effect, resulting in a generation of little Waggarians suckled on sport.
We were particularly strong on the mighty rugby league field. Some of the game’s biggest names came from the area: Mortimer, Sterling, Daley to name but a few; the biggest and best of their chosen field.
Wagga was a rugby league heartland.
Fast forward to present day and rugby league is still a popular sport in Wagga. The crowds through the gate at Equex earlier this year for the City-Country game is testament to that fact.
However, those in their ivory tower at the National Rugby League competition seem to have forsaken us.
Despite a campaign to bring one game to Wagga next year, the city has been brushed off.
In fact, NSW beyond the Blue Mountains as a whole – other than one pre-arranged game at Bathurst – has been snubbed, with the NRL gestapo instead deciding to take games to Alice Springs, Darwin and Perth ahead of where the fans actually live.
As the popularity of rugby league continues to fall and crowds hit their worst numbers in over a decade, those running the game seem intent on not giving those who love their footy what they want.
Games need to be accessible and affordable for the young lads who may one day go on to strap on the boots with their heroes.
Perhaps the NRL should take some pointers from the GWS Giants Academy, who showed a commitment to the area and its talented youngsters. That commitment was paid back in spades at last week’s AFL draft.
Riverina fans are just as loyal and true as those in the state’s capital.
And yet the local fans are left wondering why we don’t matter.