FOOTBALL IN AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19736, 8 September 1927, Page 15

FOOTBALL IN AUSTRALIA.

EFFORT TO DISPLACE RUGBY. FUTURE OF AUSTRALIAN CODE. [from our own correspondent. ] SYDNEY. Aug. 25. Knowing the efforts that are being :made to' foster, here the ope sport that may be said to be indigenous, peculiar to Australia—the Australian rule's game of football—and knowing the indifference to the game in New South Wales and Queensland, where it can hardly ever hope to displace the brawny Rugby codes, it was surprising to note the great crowd that attended the Sydney Cricket Ground the other day to watch Geelong play Carlton.

These two Melbourne teams had come over to make a holiday fixture of the match and their display was enjoyed by many who had never watched this interesting aerial game played before. With its swiftness, its fleet handling of the ball, its lack qf tackling and off-side, it was all very confusing, but the play was so uniformly attractive that it provided »n explanation of the great hold that the sport has in the southern States and in Western Australia.

It has often been suggested that Kugby Union, Kugby League and Australian rules might he combined to form a new game, comprising most of the best features of each, but this would be impossible. One might as well try to combine tennis and hockey. However, as the result of the patronage accorded the Melbourne teams that visited Sydney one may expect an offensive by the Australian rules authorities in Melbourne to further establish the game in the esteem of the Saturday afternoon crowds here. The Australian rules enthusiasts in Sydney—they are mostly Victorians—are going to no end of trouble to introduce the game into schools, but the Rugby codes are too firmly entrenched and the anti-Rugbyites make very little headway.