City v Country (NSW) History

Sean Fagan of RL1908.com

Clive Churchill - played for Country Seconds in 1947.

Football games between “Countrymen” against “Townsmen” are almost as old as our nation itself, having been first played in Sydney in the 1830s.

Rugby league’s annual City v Country game continues a football tradition in Australia in the 1830s – decades before the first notions of forming clubs and football codes were even contemplated.

The first recorded football games in Australia were in Sydney in 1829 and in the decade that followed. Still closely tied to their British origins, the people of NSW indulged in the traditional folk football games of their former homelands.

Football games were special occasions; the playing of them was linked closely to community festivals, fetes and holidays, particularly Shrove Tuesday ("Pancake Day"). Predominantly a young man's game, two teams were usually picked along social lines such as “soldiers v tradesmen”.

The very first instances of territorial match-ups in folk football, which ultimately led to the idea of district based football clubs and representative matches, were football games played out between "Countrymen" against "Townsmen".

Very much like the country and city crowds drawn to the Royal Easter Show, it made sense to organize the men (and supporters) into football teams at Sydney's holiday festivals along the natural divide of bush v city.

While folk football died out, the tradition and rivalry continued across NSW when organised football began, by the 1880s annual battles between "Combined Countrymen" against "Metropolis" were being played in Sydney.

In 1886 the Southern Rugby Football Union (renamed later as the NSWRU) stated: "With a view to the selection of the best possible material, it is recommended that a Test Match - Combined Countrymen versus Metropolis - should be played before the final selection for Inter-colonial (NSW) honours."

By 1899 the teams had become known by the names of 'Combined City' and 'Combined Country'. 'Country Week' was an annual fixture in early 1900s rugby in NSW. The event would see 'District XV' sides from regional NSW travel to Sydney for matches. These games ultimately led to the selection of Combined Country, NSW and Australian representative sides.

By the start of the 1911 season though, in the wake of rugby union's plummeting income from poor gate-takings, the NSWRU announced that 'Country Week' would be abandoned due to the costs.

As with many old rugby traditions in NSW, 'City/Country' found a permanent home in rugby league. Looking to build on the NSWRU's decision to drop the Country representative matches, the NSWRL scheduled the first ever rugby league 'City v Country' match for June 10, 1911.

Confirmation of this match's existence was only recently uncovered. Hidden on the under-card of the opening inter-state match of 1911, it was long forgotten. Advertisements found for the day refer to the teams as 'City' and 'Country', leaving no doubt this was the first match of this great tradition. City won 29 to 8.

The Country team's jersey colours were recorded as black and white. No notation was made of the City team's colours, which suggests they probably wore the usual red and black of the 'Metropolitan' representative side that played against visiting Queensland and overseas teams.

Although there is evidence rugby league had by then spread to Illawarra, West Wyalong, and the far north coast of NSW, only two League branches had been established - 'Hunter' (Maitland) and 'Northern' (Newcastle). The Country team of 1911 was comprised entirely of footballers from just these two branches.

The match was not repeated until the 1920s, when rugby league began to entrench itself across country NSW. In a return to the old rugby union tradition, the NSWRL arranged for regional teams to visit Sydney for a week of matches against each other. At the end of the week, a 'City v Country' match was held in 1920, 1923, 1925 and 1927.

However, the NSWRL credits 1928 as the beginning of the annual 'City v Country' series.

The 1928 game saw the entire South Sydney side (wearing red and black jerseys) represent City. The Country side included five-eighth Eric Weissel and lock Jack Kingston who would both tour with the 1929 Kangaroos. The City side was defeated by Country 35-34.

The 1930s established the match as a permanent fixture of the season, particularly following the formation of the NSW Country Rugby League in 1934.

The history of the jersey colours - maroon and gold for Country, blue and gold for City - is somewhat sketchy and requires further research. The teams have continuously worn these colours since before WW2.

Herb Narvo - played for City in 1944.

In the pre-Origin period (1928-86) the annual City v Country day comprised two matches, with a 'Firsts' and 'Seconds' games on the program usually held at the Sydney Cricket Ground or occasionally at the Sports Ground. These games meant up to sixty players were given a chance to impress selectors, and the tradition was continued until the end of the century.

For Country players in particular an appearance against Sydney's best was a cherished opportunity. Clive Churchill illustrates in his autobiography the significance of such games to Country players.

"I continued playing in Newcastle in the early part of the 1947 season, and performed well enough to be chosen in the Country II team to play City II on the Sydney Showground before a 55,000 crowd. I was told the South Sydney talent scouts were present and were much interested in me. Anyhow I played well and was favourable mentioned in the press."

It was not an uncommon practice for lesser known players from the Sydney competition to move to a NSW country club in an effort to gain higher representative honours.

Newtown front rower Gordon MacLennan played the early games of 1937 with the Bluebags, before signing on with Cooma. From there he gained a position in the Country team for the match against City. In the City-Country clash he impressed the NSW selectors with a fine display against the best forwards in Sydney. After one game for NSW MacLennan won the prize of a place in the 1937 Kangaroos to England.

The few years that the 'Seconds' sides did not play were all during WW2, when the City 'Firsts' v Country 'Firsts' match was the only representative football not to be suspended at some stage. The first game after the War produced a record crowd of 52,366 at the SCG to see City beat Country 31-10.

Wins by Country over City have been rare, particularly in the pre-Origin period. Country were victors only ten times between 1928 and 1986. Arguably, two of those wins were fortunate given they came in the second match of a rarely held two game City-Country series - held only in five seasons.

Country's biggest win came in 1961 when they won by 19-5. Under the coaching of English Test player Phil Jackson, the Country side won its only ever back-to-back titles when it defeated City 18-8 in 1962.

The final Country win of the pre-Origin era was in 1975 when Mick Cronin from Gerringong (on the south coast of NSW) scored a try and kicked five goals to seal a 19-9 win over City. Cronin held out for a while, but like most of Country's best players, he fell to the Sydney competition and its big spending clubs.

By the late 1970s the significance of the match to NSW and Test selection began to drop considerably. For the most part, selection in the powerful City side led to almost certain selection in the Australian side - the strength of the Sydney competition saw few players from NSW Country and Queensland 'get a look-in'.

In 1978 Steve Morris (a half back from Dapto) became the final NSW Country player to progress to the Australian Test side. At the end of that season the Kangaroos - for the first time since City v Country began - toured England without a NSW Country player in the side.

The inclusion of Canberra and Illawarra into the Sydney competition in the early 1980s, followed by Newcastle a few seasons later, hurried the demise of the Country side.

By the mid-1980s the NSW side saw its final Country players selected - Phil Duke in 1982 (a winger from Moree Boomerangs) and Rex Wright in 1984 (a hooker from Newcastle Norths). No player would ever again be selected for NSW while still appearing for a NSW country club.

The introduction of the Origin concept to City-Country matches in 1987 did nothing to stop City's dominance, though games were certainly closer. Arguments over the eligibility of players from Canberra, Illawarra and Newcastle gave rise to heated selection disputes as players changed between City and Country in different seasons.

Failures by NSW in Origin football saw attacks on the usefulness of the City-Country matches increase - Queensland players watched on gleefully as their upcoming opponents tore into each other in the lead up to the first interstate game of the season.

The continued dominance of City over Country in the results table added fuel to the fire that the game had become an anachronism and belonged in the past. The rapid inclusion of non-NSW clubs to the premiership competition made arguments in support of the match's retention seem weak.

Timely wins though by Country in 1992 and 1994 kept at bay those who were calling for the scrapping of the game. The taking of matches to regional centres also proved popular with country NSW rugby league fans. The ARL & NSWRL supported the continuation of the match despite the difficulties of 1997, taking the game to Newcastle.

However, in 1998 the National Rugby League saw differently and the City-Country match was brought to an end after 70 seasons - and it was seemingly permanent.

The absence of the match simmered with the public and some officials who could see the attraction of this lower-tier rep game to encourage 'fringe representative' players. The City-Country match was restored in 2001 and produced impressive TV ratings and interest.

NSW Country delivered their biggest ever win over City by 42-10, although a number of 'certain-selections' for the NSW side were not chosen for the game. This practice was again implemented in 2002 with nine players 'excused', leaving many confused as to the importance and role of the game.

For season 2003 the NSWRL ensured that all NSW-eligible players were available for selection in the City or Country sides. Though some critics claimed the match was hardly a real trial for the upcoming Origin series and that City-Country was nothing like the game once was.

However, they forget that in many seasons in the 1970s City players progressed en masse to the NSW side with few, if any, Country players ousting their metropolitan opponents. Under the Origin era, such an unbalance will never occur and competition for Blues places is fierce during City-Country matches.

City v Country results: 1928 - present

Primary References.
Sean Fagan, The Rugby Rebellion
Contemporary newspapers
ARU Archives
Clive Churchill, Clive Churchill's Colourful Story