Museum of the Riverina manager Luke Grealy (third from left) with former Scott Shield rugby league players (from left) Peter Mahoney, Greg Brentnall, John Mavroudis, Geoff McGilvray and Ian Inglis. Photos: Shri Gayathirie Rajen.
The iconic symbol of Wagga Wagga’s prestigious rugby league history is now on display at the Museum of the Riverina.
The Scott Shield was a high school rugby league competition between Wagga Wagga High and Christian Brothers, played between 1937 and 1971.
Museum manager Luke Grealy said the shield represented a bygone era in Wagga when high school football was a major event.
“It’s Wagga’s significant lost history. Not that it was ever truly lost … but now it’s available for the public again,” Luke said.
“As a physical object, it’ll attract a lot of interest because it was such a significant part of Wagga’s sporting history, and now it’s been recovered.”
Former Scott Shield players Greg Brentnall and Peter Mahoney played in the 1971 final and donated the shield to the museum.
“It almost had the same flavour as a mini-State of Origin series … a big part of Wagga’s history for a long time,” Peter said.
“There were no Sydney games on TV or anything like that back then. You didn’t go home and watch TV … local football was the big thing.”
The shield’s origin dates back to the 1930s when it was named after Lionel Scott, president of the Group 9 competition.
The shield was contested 35 times, with Wagga High winning on 21 occasions and Christian Bros on 14.
While there are claims that the foundation of Mount Austin High School in 1964 marked the beginning of the end of the Scott Shield, it’s believed that some teachers were concerned that rugby league was overshadowing other high school sports and growing disproportionately at their expense.
The final Scott Shield game was played on 10 July, 1971, and its legacy lives on as a precursor to the Hardy Shield.
In their heyday, the games attracted large crowds in their team colours, and passionate war cries echoed around the ground.
The Scott Shield was a symbol of success for Wagga’s high school rugby league teams.
Peter remembered the camaraderie among the players despite the fierce rivalry.
“We were all mates … you were hard-headed on the field, but once it was all over, you were mates,” he said. “And we used to have a dance afterwards.”
Greg Brentnall, who later joined the Bulldogs and represented Australia, played in the final Scott Shield game, while his father, Mal, played in the first.
He described the games as fierce battles on the field, marked by the rivalry between the Catholic and Protestant schools.
“It created such a community spirit. They used to have a procession down the main street,” Greg said.
“When I was very young, I still remember going to the procession where cars would drive down the main street, decorated with blue and white streamers and red and blue streamers.
“There were a couple hundred cars doing laps, beeping their horns, with 3000 to 4000 people at the game.”
The passion and importance of the games were so immense that 15-year-old Greg missed a landmark family occasion for the final match.
“The last game was played on my sister’s wedding day,” he said. “And Dad was torn between walking his only daughter down the aisle or going to the footy.”
Other big names who played in the Scott Shield include Ken McMullen, who later represented Australia in rugby union, and Geoff Kingston, who became an All-Australian Australian rules player.
Loading ...
