{"id":508913,"date":"2026-02-28T03:50:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T03:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/508913\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T03:50:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T03:50:17","slug":"fifo-workers-keep-football-leagues-alive-in-pilbara-towns-with-transient-populations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/508913\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFO workers keep football leagues alive in Pilbara towns with transient populations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local football leagues in Western Australia’s Pilbara are thriving thanks to fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers who, in turn, are reaping the physical and mental benefits of team sport in the remote region.<\/p>\n

Leagues in Karratha and Newman, 1,200 kilometres north of Perth, offer a FIFO permit, which allows players such as the Karratha Falcons’ Cody Rodgers to play in local competitions while away on shift.<\/p>\n

Back home, the 24-year-old plays with the Augusta-Margaret River Hawks.<\/p>\n

“I thought it would make being away from home doing FIFO a bit more enjoyable \u2026 play some footy and make some new mates,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Hopefully [I can] win two grand finals.”\"dozens<\/p>\n

The North Pilbara Football League says team numbers fluctuate due to the transient workforce in the Pilbara. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Regular training gives FIFO workers a break from long shifts in the scorching heat, and a chance to be part of a community. It also helps maintain their physical fitness.<\/p>\n

The North Pilbara Football League estimates 60 to 70 men and women will utilise the FIFO permit across the league’s six teams.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Jesse Mason celebrates a Newman Tigers premiership with his partner and son. (Supplied: Jesse Mason)<\/p>\n

Two leagues, one season<\/p>\n

Jesse Mason was quickly snapped up by a local team soon after starting work at Newman, a remote iron ore town of about 7,000 people in the East Pilbara.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“One of the fellas there caught wind that I’ve played a bit of footy in Perth so he was pretty quick in putting a Tigers polo shirt on my desk and getting me down to training,” the 26-year-old construction manager said.<\/p>\n

Mason said joining the Newman Tigers allowed him to stay fit so he could play for his home team, Roleystone Football Club, when he was back in Perth.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Newman National Football League is made up of the Tigers, Centrals, Pioneers and Saints. (Supplied: Newman Tigers)<\/p>\n

“They’re pretty good with cutting the fees down for FIFO players because they want more and more players to actually join the community and play in Newman as well,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It sometimes feels like you’re not just trapped at work, you actually get to do stuff and enjoy another little life while you’re away.”\"People<\/p>\n

Thousands of men and women fly in and out of the Pilbara each week. (ABC News: Cody Fenner)<\/p>\n

Propping up leagues<\/p>\n

While it is hard to pin down exact numbers, the Pilbara Development Commission estimates there are 25,000 FIFO workers in the region at any one time.<\/p>\n

Football WA’s executive manager of country football Brent Hedley said the FIFO permit had been best utilised in mining regions across the Pilbara and Goldfields.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Friday night sport is popular in Newman, with cricket in summer and football in winter. (ABC Pilbara: Jane Murphy)<\/p>\n

“We know that participation from a mental health and wellbeing perspective is enormous in terms of what it provides for those participants,” Mr Hedley said.<\/p>\n

“Obviously it’s great for the community, it’s great for the individuals involved and we really want to support regional leagues.”<\/p>\n

\"orange<\/p>\n

WA Football says the FIFO permit is best utilised in the Pilbara and Goldfields regions. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

In Newman, the local footy league is made up of four senior men’s teams, a number that would not be possible without FIFO workers, according to Newman National Football League president Kallan Hutchinson.<\/p>\n

“I think at each football club, you probably just about turn over half your list every year just because it’s just the way the community is,” Mr Hutchinson said.<\/p>\n

“It’s the camaraderie and the friendship that people make while they’re in the community in a town like this, especially in a remote town.<\/p>\n

“It gives everyone a bit of an outlet to go out and have fun and be around their mates.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Local football leagues in Western Australia’s Pilbara are thriving thanks to fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers who, in turn,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508914,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,167162,740,20761,255250,255253,255251,596,255255,51516,6827,255254,213130,56122,255252,85],"class_list":["post-508913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-community-sport","tag-cricket","tag-fifo","tag-fifo-sport","tag-fifo-workers","tag-fly-in-fly-out","tag-football","tag-iron-ore-bhp-life","tag-membership","tag-mining","tag-mining-life","tag-newman","tag-regional-sport","tag-remote-and-regional","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}