Robert Brough-Smyth saw the game played at Coranderrk Mission Station, where ngurungaeta (elder) William Barak discouraged the playing of imported games like cricket and encouraged the traditional native game of marn grook. Some of them will leap as high as five feet from the ground to catch the ball. Tom grew up in southwestern Victoria and lived among Aboriginal communities, predominantly in his fathers many stations.A station, in this instance, refers to a large farm or cattle station. The traditional Marngrook game between Sydney and Carlton opens Round 11 on a Friday night at the SCG. Whereas Aussie-rules is more fluid where players can pretty much run around where they choose. Tom Wills was raised in Victoria's Western District. A researcher has uncovered evidence that Aussie Rules Football might actually have been influenced by a traditional Indigenous game called Marngrook. There is nothing new about that.". We meet artist Cassi Namoda, choreographer Yang Liping and lace-maker Mark Klauber. Relationship with Australian rules football, Comparisons with Australian rules football, Marn Grook and the Australian rules football term "mark", Gregory M de Moore. Possession may change in different ways in both games:-. It was a very low-scoring, low-level kicking and scrummaging game. While playing as a child with Aboriginal children in this area [Moyston] he [Tom Wills] developed a game which he later utilised in the formation of Australian Football. The ball was kept off the ground to avoid or reduce injury and this shows Indigenous influence, they claimed. Produced In: Australia. This is one of the strongest statements ever made by a sporting code concerning racism in our game and the history of our nation more broadly". We peer inside the Parisian ateliers Lesage and Lemarie, muse over the iconic lines of European chair design and celebrate the colourful woodblock prints of Japanese artist Awazu Kiyoshi. Far from any of the Hocking and Reidy argument pointing to closer links between marngrook and Australian football, it simply reveals the gulf between pre- and early-contact Indigenous games and . Marngrook and Australian Rules Football are strikingly similar AFL sticking to official history denying Marngrook influence Monash University historian Professor Jenny Hocking found transcripts placing Indigenous football, commonly known today as Marngrook, firmly in the Western district of Victoria where Australian rules founder Tom Wills grew up. The American Federation of Labor consisted of a gaggle of autonomous national unions, whereas the IWW was a more unified organization. [16], Bill Mandle notes that although it lacks evidence that Gaelic Football's come into being in 1880s is a possible indication of Irish Australian influence back home. [10] The earliest recorded inter-county match in Ireland was one between Louth and Meath, at Slane, in 1712, about which the poet James Dall McCuairt wrote a poem of 88 verses beginning "Ba haigeanta". Answer (1 of 5): 1. foot only (no restrictions in women's game), foot or shin if ball is being carried, any part if ball is loose or from a pass, When an umpire/referee awards a free kick to an opposition player. But these were not features of marngrook. What equipment (if any) were needed to play? He was befriended by them. June 15, 2022 One makes a ball of possum skin, somewhat elastic, but firm and strong The players of this game do not throw the ball as a white man might do, but drop it and at the same time kick it with their feet, using the instep for that purpose. With a great amount of Aboriginal culture under threat, or lost to bleak moments in history, this recognition can allow that culture to live on through a game that plays a formative role in Australias national identity.. Which means he could have been introduced to Marngrook before creating Aussie Rules. Roy Hay can be found on both fronts. The change was spelt out in the AFL's recent apology to Indigenous footballer Adam Goodes. In AFL you joined one of the national unions not AFL. They go on to suggest this is an example of white Australians struggling to accept Indigenous peoples "as active and intelligent human subjects".[31]. In this tribe the two exogamous divisions, Bunjil and Waa, played on opposite sides. [16] The similarities between the 10 founding rules of Gaelic football and the 1866 revised rules of Australian football were plain for all to see. Long sleeves (usually worn due to cold weather) are acceptable in both codes. Number of players: There were several variations of Irish football in existence, normally without the benefit of rulebooks, but the central tradition in Ireland was in the direction of the relatively new game [i.e. In the official history of the then Victorian Football League (VFL), now Australian Football League (AFL), the story begins with an Australian man named Tom Wills. It's a fast, free-flowing game that involves nine players on each team playing on a smaller field. Another key difference is that in Australian rules, tackling is allowed to either dispossess a player or cause the player to be caught holding the ball which results in a free kick. It has a centre circle, centre square to control player positioning at start of play, and superficial markings including the 50-metre lines and goal squares. In 2016, Jenny Hocking and Nell Reidy wrote the Australian game was different from the English games. Andrew Ireland states that symbolically, its important to recognise for Indigenous people, and it can speak to a broader recognition of Indigenous culture and contribution in Australian society. Indigenous people who played their traditional games, particularly in regional areas, saw or interacted with the white men at football. Over the decades the AFL has had variously nuanced positions on the purported influence - and links - between Marn Grook ("ball" or "game", a high-kicking Indigenous contest that was played. First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we It was called by them "mangurt". [11], The theory hinges on evidence which is circumstantial and anecdotal. If careful recalculations are correct, there may have been around 60,000 Indigenous people in the land area of the later colony of Victoria in 1780, but only around 650 as calculated in the census in 1901. The American football also has more pointy ends and a seam - making it easier to throw. Some experts still doubt the connection and Tom never actually admitted one. There are many more links between the two countries than just Croke. Howitt wrote:[19]. Born and raised in Surrey, England, she currently resides in Melbourne, Australia. 1200.[36]. It was here that he was exposed to rugby. It is a point of unwavering pride both among Indigenous players in the Australian Football League and Indigenous communities as a whole; many prominent Aboriginal personalities are starting to recognise and vocalise their ancestors contribution to Australias favourite game. [3] The Warlpiri people of Central Australia played a very similar kicking and catching game with a possum skin ball, and the game was known as pultja. Most were in the remoter parts of the colony or in reservations under the control of the protectors. Upon his return to Victoria, he published a letter calling for a football club, rifle club, or other athletic pursuits to help keep cricketers fit during the winter season. Key points: The AFL has recognised Indigenous game Marngrook as an "undoubted influence" on Australian Rules football Historians of the game have disputed the AFL's latest stance, suggesting there is no evidence to prove the link The AFL says the sharing of oral history by Aboriginal elders confirms the Indigenous connection to Australian Rules In his book The Aborigines of Victoria, Robert Brough Smyth quotes William Thomas (a Protector of Indigenous Australians, not to be confused with the later mentioned Tom Wills) in his observance of a game of Marngrook (or marn grook) in the 1840s. "Don't think DO!" John Kennedy. It would be wonderful if there was a connection between the Indigenous games of ball and football - like marngrook and pando - and the codified game now known as Australian rules. Some of them will leap as high as five feet from the ground to catch the ball. Asked on what evidence the position changed, Ms Hosch said the sharing of oral history by Aboriginal elders had changed the understanding of Marngrook within the AFL industry. When the ball is wrestled from a player's possession, distance penalties (often in multiples of 15, 25 or 50 metres), ordering off (similar to a yellow card in association football [soccer], not used in the, reporting (to be sent to a tribunal post-match for suspension from future matches and/or paying a fine), distance penalties (often in multiples of 13 metres), This page was last edited on 15 November 2022, at 18:21. Croke had ample opportunity not only to witness the Australian game being played but obtain copies of the rules which were widely published and distributed. Teams would come from all over and would be represented by different animal totems. Football as codified in Melbourne in 1859 was only a game of our own initially in the sense that it was based on a cherry-picked selection of very few of the rules of various English public schools, particularly Eton and Rugby. 1). The game that's played by the Australian Football League (AFL) has got running, kicking and tackling, and the object is to move the ball down the field to score, but that's as far as the similarities go when it comes to comparing it to the version of football played by the National Football League in the U.S.A.Most Americans have little to no idea what Australian Rules Football is (I was . If they could not protect their country, fundamental to their being, how could the few survivors penetrate the white mens effective bans on their absorption into settler society? In both games, a point may be awarded for missing the goal. Robert Brough Smyth in his 1878 book, The Aborigines of Victoria, quoted William Thomas, a Protector of Aborigines in Victoria, who stated that he had witnessed Wurundjeri Aboriginal people east of Melbourne playing the game:[14]. Gaelic football does not have such a rule. She declined the interview request, but in a statement said: "Marngrook, a high-marking game played in Victoria's western districts, pre-European settlement, undoubtedly influenced what we now understand as the modern AFL football code. For instance spectacular high marking did not become common in Australian rules football until the 1880s. ball- up if ruled not to have had prior opportunity, free kick against tackler if opponent is not in possession of the ball or if tackled too high/low, wrestling or slapping the ball from the player in possession only, any player within 5 metres (16ft) of player in possession, free kick (mark) is paid if ball travels 15 metres (49ft) or more if off a kick, play on if off a handpass or ball is touched by hand from a kick irrespective of distance. Many of the positions have similar names and are very similar. Melbourne: George Robertson (p. 176, Minister opens show exhibition celebrating Aussie Rules' Koorie Heritage, "Marngrook, Tom Wills and the Continuing Denial of Indigenous History: On the origins of Australian football", "Pompey Austin - Aboriginal football pioneer", Debate over AFL origins continues: The AFL is celebrating its 150th season and this weekend the event will be marked by an, Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association, Marn Grook, a native game on Sydney's biggest stage, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, "Genesis of footy and its Indigenous heart", ABC radio, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marn_Grook&oldid=1140398453, This page was last edited on 19 February 2023, at 23:01. By continuing to deny the influence of Marngrook on Australian rules football, we continue to carry our blighted history of Indigenous dispossession and exclusion. similarities between marngrook and afldanny sorenson paper clips. # afl # indigenous # sydney swans # marn grook # marngrook # sports # sport # australia # afl # aussie rules # afl # sydney swans # sydneyswans # marn grook # marngrook The Wotjoballuk also played this game, with Krokitch on one side and Gamutch on the other. Though reports vary as to whether Tom ever played Marngrook himself, all accounts attest to the simple fact that he witnessed the gamethat he was aware of this Indigenous pastime. Historical reports support it as a widespread activity across south-eastern Australia of the Djabwurrung and Jardwadjali people and other tribes in the Wimmera, Mallee and Millewa regions of western Victoria. Marn Grook influenced Footy, no doubt. Credits Jack Evans, Presenter Broadcast 1 May 2017 Episode #10 In this episode North Korea Threats Football rules were different from school to school. of the Port Adelaide Football Club, often refers to Australian rules football as the Indigenous game and has been unabashed in his encouragement and support of Aboriginal leadership, inclusion and development. The first rules were devised by the Australian-born Tom Wills, who was educated at Rugby School; Englishmen William Hammersley and J. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. These games featured punt kicking and catching a stuffed ball. The side which kicks it oftenest and furthest gains the game. A punt kick is the most common style of kicking in Australian rules football where the ball is dropped onto the foot of the moving player and kicked before hitting the ground. Marngrook. Just because it is not written down doesnt make it any less true, says Shelley Ware, panellist on NITVs (National Indigenous Television)Marngrook Footy Showand proud Yankanjatjara and Wirangu woman. The pattern of the game as played in the 1850s and 1860s bears little resemblance to the modern game of Australian football. Farmer's Empowerment through knowledge management. And, if so, did that influence the sport he later helped create? Sides were chosen, and the ball was passed from one to the other, the idea being to keep it in possession of those on one side, and not to let their rivals secure it. From Marngrook to Australian Rules Football - Lindsay Olivia Dennis delves into the irrefutable similarities between the Aboriginal game Marngrook and Australian rules football. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Well Aussie Rules was founded more than 150 years ago, by Thomas Wentworth Wills, who at the time was one of Australia's best cricketers. The tallest men have the best chances in this game. High marking or 'speckies' are one of the most important spectator attributes of Australian rules. B. Thompson, fellow students at Cambridge's Trinity College; and Irish Australian Thomas H. Smith, who played rugby football at Dublin University. Tom Wills was one of the pioneers of Australian rules football. This article was originally published inLindsayIssue No. It pre-dates the first European images of any kind of football, by almost ten years in Australia. With a great amount of Aboriginal culture under threat, or lost to bleak moments in history, this recognition can allow that culture to live on through a game that plays a formative role in Australias national identity. In Australian rules, penalties available (in increasing order of severity) are: In Gaelic football, the penalties available (in increasing order of severity) are: In both codes, goals can be kicked by foot or shin. (described in the opening quote) and a leaping grab for the ball (known in current football vocabulary as a mark, and known then, in Djabwurrung language, as a mumarkee, or mark for short). Recent additions to the AFL are Gold Coast (2011) and Greater Western Sydney (2012), broadening the competition to an 18-team . The AFL has adopted a new position on the origins of Australian football, now claiming it was influenced by Indigenous games. One makes a ball of possum skin, somewhat elastic, but firm and strong. Australian rules football was codified in 1859 by members of the Melbourne Football Club. [25] Like Davin, GAA founder Michael Cusack had both a brother and a sister John and Mary who had emigrated to Australia at a similar time.[26]. Because I know that when Aboriginal people play Australian football with a clear mind and total focus, we are born to play it.. According to some accounts, the range extended to the Wurundjeri in the Yarra Valley, the Gunai people of Gippsland, and the Riverina in south-western New South Wales. This continues for hours and the natives never seem to tire of the exercise.. Two teams, of up to fifty people at a time, participated in the game, which was played socially rather than in competitive spirit. Here are sporting terms for Australian Rules Football (AFL) Behind: A behind, worth one point, is awarded when the ball is kicked, handballed or otherwise taken over the line between the large goalpost and the smaller goalpost. Sign up to receive invitations to special events, exclusive offers, and occasional stories direct to your inbox. ; Drop Kick: A kick of the football where the ball hits the ground at or just after impact of the foot.This technique is not used in the modern game. Some claim that the origin of the Australian rules term mark, meaning a clean, fair catch of a kicked ball, followed by a free kick, is derived from the Aboriginal word mumarki used in Marn Grook, and meaning "to catch". Far from any of the Hocking and Reidy argument pointing to closer links between marngrook and Australian football, it simply reveals the gulf between pre- and early-contact Indigenous games and what the white men did. They involved large numbers of players, and were played over an extremely large area. The sport is played at many levels across the country with the professional competition, Australian Rules Football (AFL), standing as the nations wealthiest sporting body. The sport is played at many levels across the country with the professional competition, Australian Rules Football (AFL), standing as the nations wealthiest sporting body. O'Dwyer's argument relies heavily on the presence of Irish immigrants on the Victorian goldfields during the Victorian gold rushes of the 1850s, and a comparison of the two modern games. There are usually many more goals scored in Australian rules, as there is no goalkeeper position due to the vertically limitless scoring area. This culture of play and games continues today in contemporary forms, with marngrook likely having influenced the way AFL is played today, although this perspective is sometimes seen as controversial 4. It is more powerful, more persuasive and more noble. Unlike other forms of football, both games are notably distinct because of the absence of an offside rule. Most contemporary historians emphasise the influence of English public school football games. Given the lack of fixed documentation surrounding Toms early introduction to Marngrook, several historians have disappointingly declared the possibility that the game influenced Australian rules football to be opportunist, idealist and a seductive myth. [18], In 1889, anthropologist Alfred Howitt, wrote that the game was played between large groups on a totemic basis the white cockatoos versus the black cockatoos, for example, which accorded with their skin system. The Marngrook Footy Show, an Indigenous variation of the AFL Footy Show, began in Melbourne in 2007 and has since been broadcast on National Indigenous Television, ABC 2, and Channel 31. Australian rules uses an oval ball (a prolate spheroid), similar to a rugby ball. The match honours the indigenous . In both codes, tactical kicking is an important aspect of play. [4] North of Brisbane in Queensland in the 1860s it was known as Purru Purru. Australian rules consists of four posts without a crossbar or net, whereas Gaelic football consists of two posts with crossbar and net. It is Australia's only Indigenous football game a game born from the ancient traditions of our country.". On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Indigenous Australians claim to the game of Australian football comes by virtue of participation at grassroots level in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The instep is the most popular style based on culture, the drop punt used in Gaelic is a far superior kick in terms of distance and accuracy, but is rarely taught. But its glory is hidden by racism, the same evil that bedevils the sport to this day. The main difference is the awarding of a mark for any clean catch of over 15 metres off a kick in Australian rules, which results in a free kick or possession of the ball. Tom Wills was born on August 19, 1835, and his family settled in the Western District in 1839 when he was still only four-years-old. 60 9.6. Further to this, Johnny Connolly had connections with multiple stations in this area of Victoria, most interestingly one named Ledcourt, which was at one stage occupied by Tom Willss father, Horatio Wills. The show, which will premiere on March 18, is the product of a new partnership between the AFL and NITV forged in the wake of the two documentaries on Adam Goodes released last year that highlighted the lack of Indigenous voices within the footy organisation at the time the Sydney Swans star was being subjected to a sustained campaign of Tucked among the treasures hidden in the State Library of Victoria, the personal papers of A.W. [2], The earliest accounts emerged decades after the European settlement of Australia, mostly from the colonial Victorian explorers and settlers. Join our community of curious, worldly readers. "There is an evidence gap I've seen nothing in recent years to change my view," Dr de Moore said. Paul Vandenbergh is the director of Indigenous programs with Port Adelaide and acknowledges that recognising Marngrook as the precursor to Australian rules football would be significant and powerful. Since 2002, the Sydney Swans have played a game in the annual AFL home and away season for the Marn Grook Trophy, and comfortably celebrate and support the connection between Marngrook and Australian rules football. Collins, Tony. Did Aussie Rules Get There First? An Australian Football playing field, is oval shaped, and may be 135185 m long and 110155 m wide. "I've found nothing that documented that he saw the game. Roy Hay does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Individual players who consistently exhibited outstanding skills, such as kicking or leaping higher than others to catch the ball, were often praised, but proficiency in the sport gave them no tribal influence. Teddy Whitten. Contact Us! Although there are also many differences, the similarities have allowed a hybrid game to be played, with a regular International rules football series between top Australian AFL players and Irish GAA players. hilary farr design assistant 9, Juin, 2022 It was a popular assumption from the 1930s to the late 1980s that Irish football is the basis for Australian football, based primarily on the premise that Ireland is older than Australia and the two games look similar. [19] For example early codified Gaelic called for Australian rules style behind posts (not present in caid and later removed) with 5 point goals scoring (later changed to 3) and 1 point "behind"s all borrowed from Australian Rules, and Rule 27 in reference to kicking styles, Rule 15 relating to foul play and rules dictating playing equipment appear to be directly borrowed from the Victorian Rules. This story can be partially gleaned from evidence already available in the colonial archive. We are born to play it". They were restricted to remote areas. [8], Although the consensus among historians is that Marn Grook existed before European arrival, it is not clear how long the game had been played in Victoria or elsewhere on the Australian continent. If, as recent demographic history suggests, around the time the Europeans arrived there was population pressure in Victoria, then the subsequent destruction of the local nations must have been appalling in its severity. Marngrook should be celebrated in and of its own merit. But in formally endorsing the game as a progenitor to Marngrook, we are also able to ensure that this same history is championed for centuries to come. One is about which code came first. But did Wills ever play football with them? We believed it was important to recognise the Aboriginal origins of the game in this statement.". These similarities have led many people to believe there must be a shared history between Marngrook and Aussie Rules. The similarities included the length and width of the field, the number of players per team (20 vs 21) the distance between the posts, goals and behinds used in the scoring system, the requirement not to throw the ball and the requirement to bounce the ball, everything apart from the shape of the field. Like the Victorians, the GAA worked hard to create a game that would differentiate from the popular British sports of rugby and soccer.