Gavin Coote reported this story on Friday, July 11, 2014 12:46:00

TANYA NOLAN: Rugby league football clubs in some of the most remote parts of New South Wales say they're having success in changing domestic violence attitudes among men.



Police in the outback mining town of Broken Hill say football is proving a useful tool in helping drive down rates of domestic violence in the community.



Gavin Coote has this report.



(Sounds from a football game)



WAYNE TURLEY: Just take anger out on the field, go to training. Take your violence out on a rugby ball than take it out on your missus.



GAVIN COOTE: Wayne Turley plays with the Outback Rugby League, based in the far-west of New South Wales. On the field he's known as Diesel.



In recent years, Diesel's seen several of his team mates sidelined for their behaviour off the field.



WAYNE TURLEY: Yeah, it's been a hard road for most of them. They were getting sent to jail and some of the good players of the game are sitting out because of the suspension, like, through the domestic violence program.



GAVIN COOTE: Around the outback mining town of Broken Hill, domestic violence rates are more than twice the state average.



Five years ago, the league adopted a new state-wide code: any player convicted of a domestic violence offence is forced to stand down from play.



DAVE GALLAGHER: Well, when it first started five years ago, we were the poster side for all the wrong reasons, totally wrong.



GAVIN COOTE: Dave Gallagher's the president of the Outback Rugby League and he's also a local police officer.



DAVE GALLAGHER: A lot of our players committed offences and had incidents reported against them, which resulted in banning and time on side, and some players actually got suspended from the grand final because they didn't actually tell the Outback Rugby League of the incidents. And that's their penalty was their grand final and that was their world to those players.



GAVIN COOTE: The bans are self imposed, but the bans aren't the only motivating factor in curbing violence.



The New South Wales Government's sponsored all of the teams, and anti-domestic violence logos are on each team's jersey.



The clubs have also set up their own leadership committees, where players can seek out mentoring and referrals for the appropriate support.



And the number that do take that up is growing. Dave Gallagher says attitudes have clearly changed, with no reported domestic violence within the whole league for the past two months.



DAVE GALLAGHER: Since that time, we've progressed. We now, we are the poster side for the right reasons.



GAVIN COOTE: Jeffrey Hall has been involved in the league for more than three decades, first as being a player and now a club vice-president.



But he says he's seen a rapid culture shift over the past five years alone.



JEFFREY HALL: It involves the women more. When I was playing, I mean in 10 years I think my wife came and watched me play one game. This way, with this domestic violence thing, the wives can talk to each other too and then it can come to the committee through the players, through the wives talking, you know?



GAVIN COOTE: Stuart Ayres is the New South Wales Minister for Police, as well as Sport and Recreation. He says the league initiative has transformed local sporting stars into community role models - a small-town version of a national effort.



STUART AYRES: We all look to leaders in our community, like your David Peacheys, like your Adam Goodes, but if you're in a community like Broken Hill it's the local heroes, the people that are strapping the boots on every weekend that are going out to play for their local teams like the Saints or the Broken Hill Geebungs or even Broken Hill United. Anyone getting involved in those clubs, they have a profound impact on their community.



So having people playing for those clubs out there, sending the message out against domestic violence is as powerful, if not more powerful than it coming from Adam Goodes or a David Peachey.



(Sound of a football game)



GAVIN COOTE: The program, funded by the State's Office of Communities, is set to finish this year. The league's unsure whether sponsorship will dry up, but clubs are determined to keep the policy going.



President of the Broken Hill Saints, Paul Kemp.



PAUL KEMP: At the end of the day it's not about the money, it's around the attitude and if we change that, well we're all winners here.



GAVIN COOTE: League president Dave Gallagher agrees.



DAVE GALLAGHER: I'm sure the rugby league community will keep it going. Even though there mightn't be funding, you know, the initiatives are in and we'll keep it going.



GAVIN COOTE: Diesel says he's proud to have played a part in the push.



WAYNE TURLEY: It promotes Broken Hill a bit more and it just shows that, you know, we're behind it 100 per cent.



TANYA NOLAN: And that's Wayne "Diesel" Turley ending that report from Gavin Coote in Broken Hill.