This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.
Site-level location · 34.2850° S, 146.5737° E
FIELD GUIDE
The story
A 13.8-metre replica of Evonne Goolagong Cawley's own Dunlop racquet, at twenty times scale, on the main street of the town she grew up in.
Goolagong Cawley is a Wiradjuri woman, born in the Riverina in 1951, who grew up in Barellan and at thirteen moved to Sydney to live with her coach Vic Edwards and his family. She went on to win seven grand slam singles titles including Wimbledon twice, and she did it while the country she represented was still arguing about whether Aboriginal people should be counted in the census.
The local farmer David Irvin was the driving force behind the racquet, built to mark Barellan's centenary and the town's association with her.
Replicating her actual signature racquet rather than a generic one is the decision that makes it. A twenty-to-one scale model of a specific player's specific equipment is a portrait by proxy – the object she held, at a size that makes the achievement visible from the other end of the street.
Barellan is a small Riverina town, and a monument of this scale in a place that size is a considerable statement. It stands at 76 Yapunyah Street in the Evonne Goolagong Cawley Park precinct, with facilities on site.
It is among the more significant objects in this catalogue. Very few oversized things commemorate a living person, fewer still commemorate an Aboriginal sporting figure, and almost none do it at twenty times life size in the town where she learned to play.
Photograph
This is a photograph, shown separately from the illustration artwork.
NSW Government and Narrandera Shire sources confirm the Big Tennis Racquet at 76 Yapunyah Street in the Evonne Goolagong-Cawley Park precinct, with car and coach parking and public amenities.
ACCESS
Navigate to Evonne Goolagong-Cawley Park at 76 Yapunyah Street. Use the listed car/coach parking and approach the racquet within the park precinct.
