Australian rules football in New South Wales

Australian rules football in New South Wales
Two ruckmen contest the bounce in a suburban western Sydney AFL game between the East Coast Eagles AFC and Campbelltown Kangaroos AFC.
Governing body	AFL NSW/ACT
Representative team	NSW/ACT
First played	Sydney 17 June 1865; 159 years ago (17 June 1865)[1]
Registered players	71,481 (2023)[2]
Club competitions
Sydney AFL AFL Hunter Central Coast AFL Canberra AFL Sapphire Coast AFL South Coast AFL North Coast AFL North West AFL Central West Farrer Football League Riverina Football League Northern Riverina Football League AFL South Coast Hume Football League Broken Hill Football League
Audience records
Single match	72,393 (2003). Sydney Swans Football Club v. Collingwood Football Club. (Telstra Stadium, Sydney)

In New South Wales, Australian rules football dates back to the colonial era in 1866, with organised competitions being continuous since the 1880s. Today, it is popular in several regions of the state, including areas near the Victorian and South Australian borders—in the Riverina, Broken Hill, and South Coast. These areas form part of an Australian cultural divide described as the Barassi Line. To the east of the line, it is known as "AFL", named after the elite Australian Football League competition. AFL NSW/ACT is the main development body.

Two teams currently compete in the professional Australian Football League (AFL): the Sydney Swans and the Greater Western Sydney Giants. The Swans in 1982 became the first professional Australian sporting team to move interstate. The Giants debuted in the 2012 AFL season and compete against the Swans in the Sydney Derby (also known as "The Battle of the Bridge").

The representative team, nicknamed the Blues, played Interstate matches against other Australian states and Territories between 1881 and 1988. The long standing rivalry with Queensland has been evenly matched since their first meeting in 1880. The Blues defeated Victoria in 1923, and in 1990 under State of Origin rules at the Sydney Cricket Ground. WR 'Billy' McKoy holds the record for the number of representative caps for New South Wales with 31.^[3] Sydney hosted the national carnivals of 1914, 1933, 1960 and 1974. The underage Blues also claimed national AFL Under-19 Championships in 1974 and 1975 as well as a Division 2 title in 1993. The 1993 merger by the AFL into a composite NSW/ACT team ended over a century of representative competition.

Two leading pioneers of the sport, cousins Tom Wills and H. C. A. Harrison, were born in New South Wales. Over 400 New South Welshmen have competed in the AFL including two Legends in the Australian Football Hall of Fame: Haydn Bunton Sr. and Jock McHale. Current player Tom Hawkins holds the AFL record for playing the most games and scoring the most goals for a born and raised male with 332 games and 741 goals. Sophie Casey and Zarlie Goldsworthy hold the record for the most games (63) and most goals (16) respectively for a born and raised female.