<P> As clubs began touring the colonies in the late 1870s, the sport spread to New South Wales, and in 1879, the first intercolonial match took place in Melbourne between Victoria and South Australia . In an attempt to standarnise the sport across Australia, delegates representing the football associations of South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland met in 1883 and updated the code . New rules such as holding the ball led to a "golden era" of fast, long - kicking and high - marking football in the 1880s, a time which also saw the rise of professionalism, particularly in Victoria and Western Australia (where the code took hold during the colony's gold rushes), and players such as George Coulthard achieve superstardom . Now known as Australasian rules or Australian rules, it became the first football code to develop mass spectator appeal, attracting world record attendances for sports viewing and gaining a reputation as "the people's game". </P> <P> The sport was played in Queensland as early as 1866, and experienced a period of dominance there, but, like in New Zealand and areas of New South Wales north of the Riverina, it struggled to thrive, largely due to the spread of rugby football with British migration, regional rivalries and the lack of strong local governing bodies . In the case of Sydney, denial of access to grounds, the influence of university headmasters from Britain who favoured rugby, and the loss of players to other codes inhibited the game's growth . </P> <P> In 1896, delegates from six of the wealthiest VFA clubs--Carlton, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne and South Melbourne--met to discuss the formation of a breakaway professional competition . Later joined by Collingwood and St Kilda, the clubs formed the Victorian Football League (VFL), which held its inaugural season in 1897 . The VFL's popularity grew rapidly as it made several innovations, such as instituting a finals system, reducing teams from 20 to 18 players, and introducing the behind as a score . Richmond and University joined the VFL in 1908, and by 1925, with the addition of Hawthorn, Footscray and North Melbourne, it had become the preeminent league in the country and would take a leading role in many aspects of the sport . </P> <P> Both World War I and World War II had a devastating effect on Australian football and on Australian sport in general . While scratch matches were played by Australian "diggers" in remote locations around the world, the game lost many of its great players to wartime service . Some clubs and competitions never fully recovered . Between 1914 and 1915, a proposed hybrid code of Australian football and rugby league, the predominant code of football in New South Wales and Queensland, was trialed without success . World War I saw the game in New Zealand go into recess for three quarters of a century . In Queensland, the state league went into recess for the duration of the war . VFL club University left the league and went into recess due to severe casualties . The WAFL lost two clubs and the SANFL was suspended for one year in 1916 due to heavy club losses . The ANZAC Day clash is one example of how the war continues to be remembered in the football community . </P>

What is the line around a football oval known as