A researcher has uncovered evidence that Aussie Rules Football might actually have been influenced by a traditional Indigenous game called Marngrook. But others say some of the rules might actually have been based on a traditional sport played by Australia's Indigenous people for thousands of years called Marngrook. Two teams, of up to fifty people at a time, participated in the game, which was played socially rather than in competitive spirit. The so-called Half Caste Act of 1886 defined non-pure-blood Aborigines as non-Aboriginal and insisted they be removed from the reservations and become ineligible for public support on the eve of the great depression of the 1890s. The sport is concluded with a shout of applause, and the best player is complimented on his skill. The current revival of the idea of Indigenous influence on footballs origins diverts attention from another, much more uncomfortable and largely untold story about Indigenous relationships to football in the second half of the 19th century. Australian rules allows full tackling above the knees and below the shoulders, whereas Gaelic football explicitly disallows directly tackling players. Irish sources in Australia in 1889 state that the old mob football played in Ireland bore very little resemblance to modern Gaelic football which upon first appearance in 1884 was received by the Irish as more a hybrid of English and Scotch football. 1). Our interpretation may help explain why, to this day, Indigenous people believe Australian football is their game not because they invented it or contributed to its origins, but because they forced their way into it, despite all the obstacles, in the second half of the 19th century. Maribyrnong Press, 2005, Isabel Ellender and Peter Christiansen, pp45. Marngrook and its place in Australian Football: historian Jenny Hocking presents new evidence. A maximum of 15 players per side can play Gaelic football on the field at any one time, whereas Australian rules permits 18 players per side. They involved large numbers of players, and were played over an extremely large area. Col Hutchison, former historian for the AFL, wrote in support of the theory postulated by Flanagan, and his account appears on an official AFL memorial to Tom Wills in Moyston, erected in 1998. [28], In his exhaustive research of the first four decades of Australian rules football, historian Mark Pennings "could not find evidence that those who wrote the first rules were influenced by the Indigenous game of Marngrook". Marngrook. In both codes, tactical kicking is an important aspect of play. As O'Dwyer says:[14], These are all elements of Irish football. Saturday 1 May Sydney Swans v Geelong Cats. High marking or 'speckies' are one of the most important spectator attributes of Australian rules. "We are aware of this part of the game's history being contested and at some stage I hope the AFL will formally resolve this but as it stands, we now have a statement that acknowledges and accepts the link between Marngrook and Australian Rules Football. There has been much debate over the influence of various forms of kicking and catching and running games from around the world - including the public schools of England, Ireland, other cultures and Indigenous Australians (known by various names but especially marngrook). Born and raised in Surrey, England, she currently resides in Melbourne, Australia. He grew up in Australia and spent some time in England, so he'd seen a lot of different sports played. And like Aussie Rules it's a contact sport between two teams that fight for possession of a ball with kicks and catches. The indigenous people of Australia have been playing marngrook, a game very similar to AFL for decades. [23] This story has been passed down through the generations of his family.[24]. A researcher has uncovered evidence that Aussie Rules Football might actually have been influenced by a traditional Indigenous game called Marngrook. They would probably have been involved in it very quickly if they had been allowed to do so. [11], The theory hinges on evidence which is circumstantial and anecdotal. Their presence in Victorian football may be accounted for in terms of a formative influence being exerted by men familiar with and no doubt playing the Irish game. Think St Kilda's Nicky Winmar lifting his jersey to show his dark skin in response to racial vilification by Collingwood's supporters in 1993. In the AFL, players regularly run up to and even exceed 15 kilometres over the course of a match. Australian rules football was codified in 1859 by members of the Melbourne Football Club. However, the AFL says there isn't enough evidence to prove it. Recent additions to the AFL are Gold Coast (2011) and Greater Western Sydney (2012), broadening the competition to an 18-team . "The idea that [Indigenous football] was somehow a blueprint for the game that the white men developed in Melbourne around the late 1850s I have searched high and low, and many other historians have done [the same], to find out if there is substantial evidence that supports that, and really we can find none.". 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. Croke was idolised by Gaelic Football's codifier Maurice Davin. In 2008 as part of Australian Rules football's 150th anniversary celebration the AFL commissioned the historian, Gillian Hibbins, to write an essay on Australian football's origins in which she said the idea that Australian Rules football originated from Aboriginal games was "a seductive myth". Tom Wills was raised in Victoria's Western District. Photo: Tanya Hosch (right) was appointed as the AFL's diversity chief in June, 2016. June 15, 2022 Victorian rules was also known in New Zealand in the 1870s and was growing in popularity with the earlier games in Auckland played under hybrid rules of British and Victorian Rules not unlike Gaelic football, but its popularity lagged behind rugby, a game (which along with soccer) that the GAA viewed as a threat to Irish nationalism. The round ball can be kicked anyway you like, inside, outside and middle of your boot. It is not unreasonable, then, to conclude it was in the second half of the 19th century that Indigenous Australians began the prolonged process of infiltrating the white mans game of football and, most importantly, making it their own. They were restricted to remote areas. 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. The AFL's new position is in direct contrast to the previous statements of the sport's origins. Like the Victorians, the GAA worked hard to create a game that would differentiate from the popular British sports of rugby and soccer. 2. [citation needed], The first codified games of Australian rules football in 1858 used round balls.[30]. nebraska softball roster; jacksonville, fl hurricane risk; similarities between marngrook and afl. Several scholars have drawn attention to attempts, some successful, by Indigenous players and teams to break into the white mens games. 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. If an historian of football wishes to press the argument that one code must have copied the other, then this conclusion would be difficult to escape: the style of play which Gaelic and Australian football share today was visible in Australia long before it was visible in Ireland. [3][4] Some historians have cited questionable cause as a reason for the assumption, while others suggest reverse causation as a possible scenario. By that line of reasoning Gaelic football must have been the imitator. The Kurnai made the ball from the scrotum of an "old man kangaroo", the Woiworung made it of tightly rolled up pieces of possum skin. The similarities are irrefutable. Advancing the ball from one player to another (with the hands) uses a unique technique called the "hand pass." It resembles an underhand volleyball serve, except it is done with the football. Marngrook is the Gunditjmara word for 'Game Ball'. salesforce sandbox url format. I believe Marngrook played a role in the development of Australian Football. Did Indigenous warriors influence the development of Australian rules football? AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), abc.net.au/news/afl-latest-stance-proves-history-of-aussie-rules-is-in-debate/11202802, Supplied: Vern McCallum Collection (Les Mayes), Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article, Supplied: State Library of Victoria (N.J. Caire), Supplied: State Library of Victoria (Robert Stewart 1866), 'We have got the balance right': PM gives Greens' super demands short shrift, Australia's biggest drug bust: $1 billion worth of cocaine linked to Mexican cartel intercepted, After centuries of Murdaugh rule in the Deep South, the family's power ends with a life sentence for murder, 'How dare they': Possum Magic author hits out at 'ridiculous' Roald Dahl edits, Crowd laughs as Russia's foreign minister claims Ukraine war 'was launched against us', The tense, 10-minute meeting that left Russia's chief diplomat smoking outside in the blazing sun, Vanuatu hit by two cyclones and twin earthquakes in two days, Emily was studying law when she had to go to court. The first rules were devised by the Australian-born Tom Wills, who was educated at Rugby School; Englishmen William Hammersley and J. After trials in the Irish game, a limited version of the mark only for catches from kick-ins on or beyond the 45m line was introduced from 2017. 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. A documentary titled Marn Grook, directed by Steve McGregor, was released in 1996. Both codes use grassed fields of similar length, however Australian Football fields are oval shaped, slightly longer and wider, usually cricket fields. The earliest record of a recognised precursor to the modern game date from a match in County Meath in 1670, in which catching and kicking the ball was permitted. "It's worth noting that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's history, perspectives and beliefs have always been and will always be contested or undermined by some people. 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. Indigenous Australians make up three per cent of Australias population but approximately ten per cent of AFL players. The game was a favourite of the Wurundjeri-willam clan and the two teams were sometimes based on the traditional totemic moieties of Bunjil (eagle) and Waang (crow). It is often said that it is not just hard work that makes Aboriginal people such extraordinary players, but a deeper and closer connection. 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. Credits Jack Evans, Presenter Broadcast 1 May 2017 Episode #10 In this episode North Korea Threats The traditional Marngrook game between Sydney and Carlton opens Round 11 on a Friday night at the SCG. First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we Gunditjmara Elders have passed down stories of games lasting up to two days. Gaelic football deems the open hand tap to be legitimate disposal, whereas Australian rules enforces the handpass or disposal with a clenched fist. Senior Gaelic football matches go for 70 minutes consisting of two halves. But now, transcripts have been found that show Marngrook was played near where Tom Wills grew up, here in Western Victoria - Djab Wurrung country. An advanced mark was introduced in 2020, applicable when a player catches the ball cleanly on or inside a 45m line from a kick in play (i.e. Possession may change in different ways in both games:-. 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. For example, Patrick O'Farrell has pointed out that the Irish sport of hurling, which has similar rules to Gaelic football, was played in Australia as early as the 1840s, and may also have been an influence on the Australian game. Being held over two rounds in 2021, the AFL's Sir Doug Nicholls Round is shaping up to be a blockbuster event. 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. The ball is made out of typha roots (roots of the bulrush). In both games, a point may be awarded for missing the goal. Adding weight to this theory is former Gaelic footballer Joe Lennon's thorough post-doctoral research analysing of accounts of caid and GAA codified rules against the Melbourne Football Club rules of 1959 and Victorian Rules of 1866 and 1877 appear to indicate direct copying, some virtually verbatim by the GAA from Australian rules and other football codes, but primarily from the 1866 and 1877 Victorian rules. not from set-play) delivered by an attacking player on or beyond the opposing teams 45m line, that travels at least 20m and without it touching the ground[29]. Join our community of curious, worldly readers. Marn Grook is the subject of children's books, including Neridah McMullin's Kick it to Me! [27] They were by no means the only Irish Australians involved in the game at the time, there were many, many others. Drawing out the differences and similarities in AFL practice between math and AFL encompasses an emphasis to the contrasting view of summative and formative assessment. 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. 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. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. The American Federation of Labor consisted of a gaggle of autonomous national unions, whereas the IWW was a more unified organization. This is often . Nevertheless the relationship of Irish football to Australian football and a hypothetical role in the Origins of Australian rules football remains the subject of debate. And there, it was already known that he'd befriended kids from the local Indigenous community and learnt to speak their language. Associate Lecturer, Creative Writing and Literature, Lecturer / Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies, Committee Member - MNF Research Advisory Committee. Many of the positions have similar names and are very similar. Some of them will leap as high as five feet from the ground to catch the ball. 1. W. 86 13.8. bird adoption adelaide similarities between marngrook and afl. Gaelic football uses a round ball similar to a soccer or volleyball. He believed these attributes to have been introduced by English clubs Trinity (1854) and Blackheath (1862) who had their own distinctive rules, rather than from those of Melbourne. But while the origin of Aussie rules continues to be debated, no one doubts the mark the game has made on this country or the mark Indigenous athletes have made while playing it. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. Davin had other links to Australia, including his younger brother Denis, like his other brothers, an Irish athlete, who had emigrated there, and would have been familiar with the country's many customs. 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. These were gradually banned by the rules, though they did not disappear as a result. AFL was influenced by a variety of well-known sports Developed by three cricketers in the mid-19th century as a way to keep fit during the winter, AFL is influenced by early forms of soccer and rugby. These games featured punt kicking and catching a stuffed ball. Some of the skills they had honed long before the white men arrived could be used to develop different ways of playing the game: speed at ground level, rapid hand movement and brilliant handeye and footeye co-ordination, plus physical play, as well as high marking. 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. In 1984, the first official representative matches of International rules football were played, and the Ireland international rules football team now plays the Australian team annually each October. It is not thrown or hit with a bat, but is kicked up in the air with a foot. The claim that Australian Rules has its origins in Aboriginal games is largely based on Wills' childhood in country Victoria, before he was sent to Rugby School in England for seven years. Produced In: Australia. # afl # indigenous # sydney swans # marn grook # marngrook # sports # sport # australia # afl # aussie rules # afl # sydney swans # sydneyswans # marn grook # marngrook Australian rules has evolved to have sleeveless jumpers, whereas Gaelic footballers wear short sleeved outfits similar to soccer or rugby tops. These stations often had a homestead, manager, a number of staff and living quarters. Olivia Dennis is a screen and fiction writer. The oral tradition has always had difficulty with precise chronology, so modern-day Indigenous people relying on the stories handed down through the generations find it very hard to pin down when key developments occurred. Whether or not there is a link between the two games in some way for me is immaterial because it really highlights that games such as Marn Grook, which is one of the names for Aboriginal football, were played by Aborigines and should be celebrated in their own right, An 1860 eyewitness account of an aboriginal colony (likely the Taungurung) from the Broken River (between the current cities of Shepparton and Benalla) describes a "great game of football" which inaugurated festivities. And the importance of making a statement like this, with regards to the history of a sport that is held in such high esteem, is extremely valuable. He continues that it is not just about symbolismthat these formalities and acknowledgements reflect real and important change: It also speaks to a broader recognition that sport can be a great promoter of what we can and should be doing as a society., Adam Goodes, ex-Sydney Swans player and Aboriginal leader and champion, wrote about Marngrook in Geoff Slatterys book The Australian Game of Football. While Marngrook has been fiercely debated by many academics and historians within the sports community, many Aboriginal people have long considered it to be one of the inspirations behind the current game Australian rules football. 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. Within Aboriginal communities, history is shared through song and story, passed down verbally from generation to generation., Western civilisation is specific in what it demands and expects of history.
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