Anyone for Wogball?

To a cavernous pub in Canberra last night with a few colleagues for a sporting occasion, the first of the State of Origin games. It’s Rugby League we’re talking about, which is more popular here than Rugby Union. Anyway, every year New South Wales and Queensland each put up a team of professionals and they play three matches. The attraction is not necessarily the rugby – because they’re virtually scratch sides, they’re not used to playing together – but the tribalism.

A newcomer could easily feel that the two states were separate countries, which they virtually were until federation, and not just when it comes to rugby. A newcomer might also ask “what about the other states?” Well, to use the vernacular, they don’t give a rat’s arse about Rugby League. They go for Australian Rules Football, which few understand and no other country plays.

It’s not to be confused with soccer, which is becoming a mainstream sport, helped by Australia qualifying for the World Cup for the first timen since 1974. Tonight the Socceroos play European champions Greece in a friendly in Melbourne, which has a large Greek community. For many years, soccer was played only by European immigrants and I’m grateful to this morning’s Sydney Morning Herald for telling me it was once (and possibly still is) known as “wogball.”

By the way, Canberra has seasons, unlike the Coffs Coast, and now it’s winter. The trees are bare, it’s freezing, and I need a coat, scarf and gloves to walk to Parliament House from our lodgings. It’s quite a change.