Australia's Rugby Union team the Wallabies has applauded Charles Sturt University's latest geoglyph exercise as "the best support we've received from home - certainly the most unusual".

World Cup team captain John Eales sent an email from the UK tour to CSU Science and Technology lecturer Paul Frazier thanking all involved in carving the 1km plus wallaby into the countryside near Old Junee on 13 October. As follows:

Dear Paul, This certainly is the best support we've received from home - certainly the most unusual. Well done to everyone involved - I know the players will be keen to get online and check out the satellite image when it becomes available. Best wishes from the Wallabies, John Eales

The Wallaby website - which has recorded 2.6 million hits since the tour campaign started (at http://www.rugby.com.au/) also features an online diary by fullback Matthew Burke, which has twice included special mention of the Wagga Campus science project, links to the CSU OnLine News service and photographs of the exercise.

The diary for 18 October notes: "Support for the team has come in the most weird and wonderful way, but the guys at Charles Sturt Uni at Wagga Wagga, have hit the lead. They've created their own version of "Marree Man". They've carved a giant 1 kilometre long Wallaby in a field of canola as part of an assignment on something we all know heaps about "remote sensing and high-tech survey techniques"…It's all set up to be viewed from a satellite… Great work guys!

And yesterday's diary update (for Thursday 21 October) … I'm told the website has now had 2.6 million"hits" since we began this campaign which has just shattered the record books. To the schools which have done special projects on the team - a big thank you …The Wagga guys with the giant Wallaby carved into the field of canola have sent us an aerial shot which looks great. Thanks Paul Frazier and team - mission accomplished!

As a geoglyph is a design on earth big enough to be visible from space, the final test of its success will be the picture taken from 700 kilometres over the earth. The Australian Surveying and Land Information Group (AUSLIG) are supplying a Landsat image next time the satellite passes over which, weather permitting, should be available within the next couple of days (stay tuned to CSU News On-Line for more photos - www.csu.edu.au/news).