Cannington Raceway
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Cannington Raceway, Perth, Australia — opened 12 December 1974 (construction began January 1974, on the former Canning Agricultural Society Showgrounds site), 1 rugby league games hosted, home of Not a rugby league venue: primarily a greyhound (and originally also harness/agricultural showground) racing venue operated by the Western Australian Greyhound Racing Association. No dedicated rugby league tenant; it hosted occasional Perth-area rugby league fixtures, including at least one WA club Grand Final in 1989..
Ground facts
| Opened | 12 December 1974 (construction began January 1974, on the former Canning Agricultural Society Showgrounds site) (At the time of the October 1982 rugby league match, a Western Australian rugby league history source refers to the venue as 'Cannington Central' rather than 'Cannington Raceway', suggesting the Rugby League Project venue name may be a later or more general label rather than the ground's exact contemporary name; this is flagged rather than resolved.) |
| Home club | Not a rugby league venue: primarily a greyhound (and originally also harness/agricultural showground) racing venue operated by the Western Australian Greyhound Racing Association. No dedicated rugby league tenant; it hosted occasional Perth-area rugby league fixtures, including at least one WA club Grand Final in 1989. |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 1 |
| Top recorded crowd | 3,000 |
| Capacity | 5,000 as a racing venue (opening night in 1974 drew a record 15,000); no rugby-league-specific capacity figure is documented |
| Floodlights installed | Not confirmed for rugby league use, though racing venues of this type are conventionally lit for night racing; the 1982 match, played on a Saturday, was very likely a daytime fixture |
| Surface | The racing track itself later used imported river sand; rugby league would have been played on an adjacent grass infield or sportsground rather than on the racing track, though the exact infield surface is not documented |
| Years used | 1982 |
| Location | Perth, Western Australia |
Name history
- Cannington Central — 1974-1983, per Wikipedia; used contemporaneously by a WA rugby league history source for both a 1982 match and a 1989 Grand Final at the same site
- Cannington Greyhounds / Cannington Raceway — from around 1983; the original 1974 facility closed in 2015 and a rebuilt venue on a nearby footprint opened 23 March 2016
Rugby league history
On 2 October 1982, a composite Western Australian representative side lost 5-57 to a touring Australian squad in front of 3,000 fans, the only match Rugby League Project records at the venue. The fixture was part of the send-off program for the famous 1982 Kangaroos 'Invincibles' tour of Great Britain and France: roughly half the full squad, led by vice-captain Wally Lewis, played this Perth match while the other half played in Papua New Guinea, with winger Eric Grothe scoring four tries. Cannington was, at the time, a racing and showground venue occasionally used for rugby league in Perth's small but persistent rugby league scene.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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