Representative matches in Australian rules football
Representative matches in Australian rules football are matches between representative teams played under the Australian rules, most notably of the colonies and later Australian states and territories that have been held since 1879.For most of the 20th century, the absence of a national club competition in Australia and international matches meant that intercolonial and later interstate matches were regarded with great importance.
Players contest a mark at the Australian Football Carnival, in 1933, at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The teams are New South Wales and Western Australia.
Victoria vs South Australia at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1879
Victoria's "Big V" team of 1928.
Victoria v South Australia at the Australian National Football Council Interstate Carnival Sydney Cricket Ground 1933
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, also called Australian football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kicking the oval ball between the central goal posts, or between a central and outer post.
A ruckman leaps above his opponent to win the hit-out during a ball-up
Statue next to the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the approximate site of the 1858 football match between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College. Tom Wills is depicted umpiring behind two young players contesting the ball. The plaque reads that Wills "did more than any other person – as a footballer and umpire, co-writer of the rules and promoter of the game – to develop Australian football during its first decade."
Engraving of a football match at the Richmond Paddock, 1866. The MCG and its first pavilion are visible in the background, as are kick-off posts, the forerunner of today's behind posts.
Engraving of the first intercolonial football match between Victoria and South Australia, East Melbourne Cricket Ground, 1879
