THE NATIONAL WATER POLO LEAGUE

The NWPL, as it has become known as, conducted its inaugural season in 1990. In the early years the competition was dominated by the Victorian Tigers who won the first four championships. The Cronulla Sharks from Sydney's south then started their record run of five championships in six years. Recently the Fremantle Mariners from Western Australia, who in 2006 set the record of ten consecutive Grand Final appearances, have won four titles. Finally in 2002 the Sydney University Lions broke through for their first NWPL title. The Lions successfully defended their title in 2003 to become the fourth team in NWPL history to win back-to-back titles. The Brisbane Sirromet Barracudas broke through for their first win in 2004 while Sydney University went on to win their third title in 2005.The Fremantle Mariners gained their fourth title in a record 10 successive grand-final appearances in 2006 but missed the medals the following year when KFC Queensland Breakers claimed gold for a first time. Wests Magpies also became a first-time winner in 2008 and Fremantle Mariners made it No 5 in 2009.

WOMEN IN NWPL

The 2004 season saw the first year of competition of the women's teams. A total of 12 teams competed with the Fremantle Marlins beating the KFC Queensland Breakers in the inaugural Grand Final. The 2005 season saw 13 women's teams with the addition of the Adelaide Jets. The Fremantle Marlins won back-to-back titles in 2005 beating the Balmain Tigers in the Grand Final. In 2006, Cronulla Sharks became the first team in NWPL history to win the flag from fifth position at the end of the home-and-away rounds. Fremantle made it three from four in 2007 and a stunning four from five in 2008. The Marlins had to seettle for bronze in 2009 when Brisbane Barracudas became the third club to secure the crown.

For details of NWPL finalists and details of all of clubs who have played in the NWPL since 1990 please click the link below:

NWPL FINALISTS 1990 TO 2009

In the 2001 season the NWPL played its 1,000th league match when two of the foundation clubs, Victoria Tigers and Brisbane Barracudas played a record goal scoring match in Melbourne. The match recorded the greatest ever number of goals scored in a quarter and the greatest number of goals scored in a match. The 2006 season saw the 2,000th NWPL match with the clash at Sutherland Pool on Thursday 2nd March 2006 between the men's teams of Cronulla Sharks and Victorian Tigers - two Foundation Clubs.

In the 2003 season, Rowan Woodburn from the Canberra/Hobart Dolphins scored the NWPL's 20,000th goal. Also in 2003 two very significant records were established. Daniel Marsden, Sydney University Lions, became the first person to score 500 goals in NWPL competition whilst Andrei Kovalenko became the first person to score 100 goals in a season when he reached a total of 105 goals in an expanded competition format.

Olympian Greg McFadden, Cronulla Sharks, was the first player to compete in 200 NWPL games (2003) and Grant Waterman, also of the Cronulla Sharks, was the first player to play 250 NWPL matches (2005). Canberra/ Wests/Victorian Tigers' Trent Birkett became the first 300+ player in 2008, having played 319. Birkett has scored 509 goals, second only to Daniel Marsden's 663. Nathan Thomas (Wests/Sydney University Lions) is stranded on 499 goals.Alistair Visch (Sydney Uni Lions) was the second player to reach 300 games in 2009.

A total of nine players have completed 250 NWPL matches.

They are: Grant Waterman (Cronulla Sharks/Brisbane Barracudas); Craig Miller (Cronulla Sharks), Alistair Visch (Sydney University Lions), Nathan Portlock (Adelaide Jets), Daniel Marsden (Sydney University Lions/Canberra Dolphins/Balmain Tigers/Victorian Tigers/Melbourne Barbarians/Brisbane Barracudas), Rafael Sterk (Adelaide Jets/Brisbane Barracudas), Trent Franklin (Sydney University Lions), Nick Falzon (Balmain Tigers), Cade Wright (Balmain Tigers).

Taryn Woods became the first woman to 250 goals, having 260 in 113 matches. Fremantle Marlins' Sharan Wheelock holds the record for most games played for women with 151 at the end of the 2009 season. 

More than 1450 players (1038 men and 426 women) from more than 25 countries have competed in the NWPL during its 19-year history. The National teams of Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea have competed in the NWPL with the New Zealand Stingrays playing for five consecutive seasons.

Official NWPL matches have been played in Adelaide, Albury, Auckland, Brisbane, Bunbury, Canberra, Fremantle, Geraldton, Gold Coast, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Singapore and Sydney.

THE HISTORY OF WATER POLO

As far back as 1876, a Scotsman named William Wilson devised the first rules for a game played between teams in the water. The first games were held in England as a reaction to the public's boredom with the swimming carnivals of the time. The game was later to be known as WATER POLO, although this name is a misnomer, being stolen from a game which preceded it. That game was played atop barrels and truly resembled the sport of polo.

Although very rough in the early days until the late 1960s, the game now is an energetic sport which emphasizes swimming ability and ball skill over toughness. It is played by both men and women and is the longest-standing team sport in the Olympic Games, being introduced in Paris in 1900. The sport is governed by FINA, the world swimming body, and is played in more than 100 countries.

THE SPORT 

The sport is the most physically demanding of all team games, requiring top performers to cover up to three kilometres in the pool during the one hour it takes to complete a game. This exertion is quite apart from the physical contact, both above and below the surface of the water that players must endure. Despite this, the sport is almost totally devoid of injury from personal contact and generally speaking is played in the spirit demanded by the stringent rules.

While the general public view water polo as a tough sport, this is not generally the case in top-class play. However, water polo players do command a respect reserved for few other athletes. The typical player is tall, well built, powerful, and possessed of outstanding endurance, mainly because of the swimming in each match.

A modified form of the game called Flippa Ball has taken off across Australia, allowing children under 10 years to engage in regular participation otherwise not possible in the past. This can only encourage more youngsters to take up the sport -- even it it's another branch of their swimming.

AUSTRALIA'S RECORD at INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

MEN:

Australia first played in the Olympic Games in 1948 and has qualified for all subsequent Games except Atlanta in 1996. We did not win a point in Olympic competition until 1972 when we drew with Bulgaria. Australia's best results in the men's competition in Olympic Games was in Los Angeles in 1984 and Barcelona in 1992 when we finished fifth on both occasions.

The Australian team won a Bronze Medal at 1993 World Water Polo Cup, held in Athens, defeating both Russia and the United States. Then in 1996, the Aussie Sharks won the prestigious, six-nation Control Cup in Hungary as well as a bronze medal at an eight-nation tournament in Italy. In January 1998, in Perth, the Australian team made the semifinals of the World Championships for the first time, losing to Yugoslavia in the bronze-medal play-off. The next big medals came in 2007 and 2008 when the team collected bronze medals at the FINA World League Super Finals in Berlin, Germany and Genoa, Italy.

Australia's breakthrough men's gold medal came at the 2009 World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia. 

WOMEN:

The Australian women's team took out the 1984 World Cup in Los Angeles, USA, and the inaugural World Championship in Madrid, Spain, in 1986. This was the only Gold Medal by Australia at the latter championships, including swimming, diving and synchronised swimming.

In 1995, the team again reached the pinnacle by claiming the World Cup in Sydney, Australia, beating five-time champion the Netherlands in the gold-medal final. Skipper Debbie Watson (NSW) has the honour of being the only member of all three world title-winning teams.

Late in 1997 the breakthrough came for the women with the sport being included for women on the Olympic program with 2000 being the debut Games.

At the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Australia lost only one game, to the Netherlands, en route to securing the historic, inaugural Olympic Games gold medal. That win galvanised the nation in the way in which it was won, Yvette Higgins slamming in a nine-metre shot from a free throw with only 1.3 seconds left on the clock. In fact, the ball crossed the goal-line 1.3s from the final hooter. Captain Bridgette Gusterson was the equal highest goal-scorer.

At the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Australia lost only one game, to the Netherlands, en route to securing the historic, inaugural Olympic Games gold medal. That win galvanised the nation in the way in which is was won, Yvette Higgins slamming in a nine-metre shot from a free throw with only 1.3 seconds left on the clock against the United States of America. In fact, the ball crossed the goal-line 1.3s from the final hooter. Captain Bridgette Gusterson was the equal highest goal-scorer.

It took another six years for Australia to regain top spot on an Olympic or FINA podium, winning the 2006 FINA World Cup in Tianjin, China. In the intervening years, the team slipped down the rankings as the leading players retired. The best result was fourth at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, losing by a goal to the USA, followed by a bronze medal at the World League Super Finals in Kirishi, Russia, in 2005, silver at Montreal, Canada and bronze at Tenerife, Spain in 2008.

In January 2006, Australia beat Canada for the Commonwealth title in Perth, Australia making it two in a row following the 2002 victory in Manchester, England. 

The brilliant run of making finals continued in  2007 when the Aussie Stingers, as the team is now known, lost to USA in the FINA World Championships in Melbourne and then later in the year in the FINA World League Super Finals in in Montreal, Canada. The silver medals were an excellent build-up towards the Beijing Olympics.

With bronze at the World League Super Finals secured, Australia looked good for a high finish in Beijing but a draw with Hungary in the preliminary round saw it finish second in the group and earn a face-off with the USA, losing by a goal in the semifinals. The Stingers then survived a tense penalty shootout to beat Hungary for the bronze.

More bronze came in 2009 when the Stingers competed in the FINA World League Super Finals in Kirishi, Russia.