History of sport in Australia
Robert Knopwood, Tasmania's first chaplain, was part of the 'shooting and hunting set of the young Viscount Clermont' in England and lost none of his love of sport in the new colony.
Sport for Aboriginal peoples was inseparable from ritual and daily life; hunting and tracking were part of both work (acquiring food) and leisure.
Aboriginal sporting traditions included wrestling, spear-throwing contests, sham fights, various types of football using possum-skin balls, spinning discs and stick games.
In 1835, the British Parliament banned blood sports except fox hunting in a law that was implemented in Australia; this was not taken well in the country as it was seen as an attack on the working classes.
[3] In the case of Western Australia, rugby union was initially the more popular sport; however, it was later replaced by Australian Rules football.
[15][16] Sport was receiving coverage in Australian newspapers by 1876 when a sculling race in England was reported on in the Sydney Morning Herald.
With the lack of a national competition for most of the 20th century, interstate matches were given great importance as they showed which state produced the best players.
The team from the USS Baltimore wore white shirts with a large upper case black B on the front and centre of the chest and grey trousers with red socks.
The game was played in two 15-minute halves, using a red ball made from gutta-percha and curved heavy-headed sticks as used in English field hockey at the time.
[30] New South Wales was represented by a newly formed team in 1909 and traveled to Melbourne on 29 August 1909, which marked the first national interstate competition for senior men's hockey in Australia.
The Victoria state team won the inaugural tournament to become the first Goodall Cup Champions, with Robert Jackson as the captain, who scored three goals in the second half of the final game.
This was a direct cause of the foundation of the New South Wales Rugby League in 1907 by JJ Giltinan and legendary cricketer Victor Trumper.
When Messenger and the All Golds returned from Great Britain in 1908, they helped the new clubs adapt to the rules of rugby league before the inaugural 1908 NSWRFL season.
[33] The team won gold at the 1908 London Olympics; however, the majority of the squad joined rugby league clubs upon returning to Australia.
The following year, an American promoter encouraged him to go to the United States at a time when Australia was actively recruiting young men for the armed services.
It was determined that for medical reasons, some girls should not be allowed to participate in tennis, netball, lacrosse, golf, hockey, and cricket.
[42] The first interstate women's ice hockey championship tournament was held in the first week of August 1922 between New South Wales and Victoria.
Between 1956 and 1966 the St. George Dragons set an Australian and world sporting record by winning eleven consecutive NSWRL premierships.
[54] During the 1970s, Australia was routinely defeated in major international competitions as Eastern Bloc countries enjoyed strong government support for the sport.
Competitors involved included Ron Barassi, NSWRL player Johnny Raper and horse trainer Tommie Smith.
[57] In 1980, the annual three-match interstate rugby league series between New South Wales and Queensland adopted for the final match 'state of origin' selection rules.
[59] That year, the Liberals used Australian tennis star John Newcombe and race car drivers Peter Brock and Alan Jones in their political advertising.
During the 1990s, soccer in Australia faced a challenge in attracting youth players because of the ethnic nature of the sport at the highest levels of national competition.
At the same time, rival football codes were intentionally trying to bring in ethnic participants to expand their youth playing base.
A media war between Channel 9 and News Limited over the pay TV rights for the game exposed deep structural problems and resulted in two competitions – the ARL and breakaway Super League.
In 1995, rugby union became professional in Australia following an agreement between SANZAR countries and Rupert Murdoch regarding pay television rights for the game.
Wild Oats XI set a record by winning line honours in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race four years in a row, from 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
[72] In 2008, Australia hosted the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and the Kangaroos lost to New Zealand 20–34 in the final at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
In 2009, the rugby league club Melbourne Storm were found to have been systematically breaching the NRL salary cap rules over five years.
[75] Notable wins included the 2012 Diamond Jubilee Stakes, as well as being named the top sprinter from 2010 to 2012 in the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings and entering the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.
