About Trugo

The game of Trugo was invented in the Newport Railway Workshops in the 1920s.

Rail workers used their mallets and other equipment from their worksites to improvise a game that they played in their lunch break. The object of the game was to hit a rubber ring from one end of a train carriage to the other, and score a goal.

A Yarraville man, Tom Grieves, popularised the game beyond the workshops. Tom began playing trugo near his home and soon others became interested in this new sport.

By the late 1930s, games were regularly being played in parks and gardens. The first clubs to form were Yarraville and Footscray, both in 1937.

Today the sport is played during a summer season, with a keenly-contested premiership. There are 100 players representing nine teams based in Yarraville, Footscray (two teams), Ascot Vale, Brunswick (two teams), Port Melbourne, Sandridge and South Melbourne.

Trugo is an accessible, all-ages sport that welcomes new players. For more information visit our Play Trugo page.