A Cultural History of Australian Rules Football in Rural South West Victoria during the Interwar Years Nicholas T.S. Marshall A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Institute for Health and Sport Victoria University Melbourne, Victoria September 2019 ii Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... v Declaration .............................................................................................................................. vi Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................. vii List of Acronyms and Abbreviations .................................................................................. viii List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... ix Chapter One ............................................................................................................................. 1 Literature, Methodology, and Objectives .............................................................................. 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 Masculinity, Australian History, and Sport ........................................................................... 4 Rurality and Australian History ........................................................................................... 10 Australia and the Interwar Years ......................................................................................... 15 The History of South West Victoria .................................................................................... 21 Memory and Australian History .......................................................................................... 27 Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 31 Thesis Outline ...................................................................................................................... 39 Chapter Two ........................................................................................................................... 42 ‘Clean Football Meant the Promotion of Good Citizenship’: Tracking the Emergence of Country Football’s Wholesome Identity .............................................................................. 42 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 42 Imagined Communities, Imaginary Grandstand, and Countrymindedness ......................... 45 Professional Versus Amateur ............................................................................................... 49 The Value of Winning ......................................................................................................... 59 Contesting Values of the Rural Football Identity ................................................................ 65 Complicating the Wholesome Identity of Football in South West Victoria ........................ 68 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 75 iii Chapter Three ........................................................................................................................ 78 ‘No Pangs of Conscience’: Nostalgia, Race, Masculinity, and the Emergence of Australian Rules Football in Rural South West Victoria ...................................................................... 78 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 78 Tracking the Memory of ‘Old Eaglehawk’ .......................................................................... 83 Nostalgia’s Secrets ............................................................................................................... 88 Football as a Site of White Cultural Adoption ..................................................................... 92 How Local Pioneers Played the Game ................................................................................. 97 ‘Those Men Must Have had a Sense of Duty to their Club’ .............................................. 104 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 108 Chapter Four ........................................................................................................................ 111 ‘See the Conquering Heroes Come’: Local Footballers as Exemplars of Masculinity after World War I in Rural South West Victoria ...................................................................... 111 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 111 Perceptions of Soldiers during the War in Rural South West Victoria .............................. 115 Perceptions of Soldiers following the War in Rural South West Victoria ........................ 120 The Evolution of Revered Figures in Rural South West Victoria ..................................... 123 ‘Go Out and Play in the Colin Watson Spirit’ ................................................................... 132 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 141 Chapter Five ......................................................................................................................... 144 ‘A Splendid Citizen’: Interwar Monumental Memorialisation of Football Identities in Rural South West Victoria .................................................................................................. 144 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 144 Monuments as Sites of Memory ........................................................................................ 147 Gates as Monuments of Memorialisation .......................................................................... 151 Local Football Lives of Joe Kane and John Goodall ......................................................... 154 Fixing the Memory of Kane and Goodall .......................................................................... 157 Warning of a New Threat .................................................................................................. 163 Reading the Gates: Motives, Meaning, and Implicit Messages ......................................... 168 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 174 iv Chapter Six ........................................................................................................................... 176 ‘A Fine Manly Game’?: Negotiating the Masculinity and Violence of Australian Rules Football in Rural South West Victoria during the Interwar Years ................................ 176 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 176 Pre-Match Build-Up and Expectations of Supporters ....................................................... 178 The Match: Incidents On and Off the Field ....................................................................... 181 Spectator Reactions ............................................................................................................ 188 More Spectator Reactions .................................................................................................. 193 ‘A Certain Class of Cheap Barracking’ ............................................................................. 198 Boundary Umpire Baxter’s Rough Time ........................................................................... 200 Perceptions from the Press ................................................................................................. 203 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 205 Chapter Seven ...................................................................................................................... 208 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 208 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 217 Primary Sources: ................................................................................................................ 217 Secondary Sources: ............................................................................................................ 217 v Abstract Australian Rules football has been played for over 160 years. Originating in Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, the code is the most popular winter sport in the state and much of the nation. The game’s popularity has led to burgeoning historical literature of its origins, development, and expansion. Yet, the majority of these investigations have focused on metro-