In this country football league, every game is derby day. 

The Ravensthorpe and Districts Sports Association play on the isolated south coast of Western Australia, and may be the only league in the country where players are guaranteed a ticket to the grand final before the season begins. 

“As far as I know we’re the only two-team comp in the country,” Hopetoun Sharks captain Damon Jones said.

The competition is made up of players from the farming towns of Ravensthorpe, Hopetoun, and Lake King, but with a dwindling population Lake King only fields a netball team.

But it is the footy that draws the loudest crowd, with the Sharks and the Ravensthorpe Tigers facing off each and every week during winter.

Special rivalry between small towns

Mr Jones, who is also the association’s president, acknowledged the competition was a unique one.

“It’s good to play Ravy week after week,” he said. 

“It is a pretty special rivalry that’s been going on for years and years.”

With fielding a team the biggest challenge for the towns, the league has opened its doors to anyone and everyone who can kick a ball. 

“We have kids from 14 and up, no upper age limit, and no requirement for skill,” Mr Jones said.

Ravensthorpe Tigers vice-president Steven Bertola says while they aim to make it onto the footy oval, the soccer field is an option if players are sparse.

“We do have to share players from time to time, and we try to play 14 a side,” he said. 

But things get a bit more serious when it comes time to decide which town takes home the flag or the wooden spoon.

“On grand final day if you live in Hopey you play for Hopey, and if you live in Ravy and surrounds you play for Ravy. Serious stuff,” Mr Jones said.

“We’re very aware that we’ve all got to play each week so we can’t go getting too rough with each other.”

Portia Chambers, who never misses a footy game, said the stakes are high on grand final day.

“Tigers had the premiership for quite a few years, so when Souths [Sharks] got it, it was crazy,” she said.

“Playing the footy, and the hockey and the netball all together is really important. It’s so social where the three towns can get together.”

Rivalry flows into hockey too

Carly Jones, who plays for the Sharks hockey team, said the rivalry between the two best teams in the comp continued on the turf.

But that’s where it stayed. 

“Because we all know each other, we have to keep it PG.”

League continues amid mining rollercoaster

The league has also been faced with the challenges of a waxing and waning population driven by the region’s boom and bust mining industry.  

In April, First Quantum Minerals put its Ravensthorpe nickel mine into care and maintenance and 330 roles were made redundant.

Despite the economic blow to the close-knit communities, Mr Jones said the competition would go on.

“It really is the biggest day of the week for a lot of people around here,” Mr Jones said.