AFL declares that Aussie Rules is derived from Marngrook

[thesoretoothsayer]

AFL declares that Aussie Rules is derived from Marngrook (no proof required)

I have no idea as to whether Aussie Rules has ties to Marngrook.
Like most people I'd like it to be true but historians (who would also like it to be true) can find no evidence. This hasn't stopped the AFL commissars from declaring that there is a link.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-14/ ... e/11202802

[stui magpie]

I read that earlier. Considering researchers had previously found no link, it seems like a populist re writing of history to coincide with the Adam Goodes movie, but at the end of the day no one is going to die either way.

[thesoretoothsayer]

True, no one will die and the stories we tell ourselves as a community or nation often aren't quite true ( or true at all ).
To me it speaks to the arrogance of the AFL. They're happy to overrule experts in the field if it suits their agenda.

I'd also highlight Hosch's lines below.
Notice how they subtly set the precondition to dismiss anyone challenging the AFL's rewriting of history as a racist.

...we now have a statement that acknowledges and accepts the link between Marngrook and Australian Rules Football.
.........

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. There is nothing new about that.

[stui magpie]

Oral histories are often embellished and distorted over centuries of re-telling.

The oral history of the Tiwi Islands recounts when the islands were cut off from the mainland by rising sea levels. The fact that the water rose is the only factual part of the story.

[thesoretoothsayer]

Ms Hosch said the sharing of oral history by Aboriginal elders had changed the understanding of Marngrook within the AFL industry.

[David]

[stui magpie]

^

We can't possibly know for sure, either way.

We do know Wills grew up around local Aboriginals and could speak some of their language and knew their customs.

We also know he went to school in Rugby in England. Catching the ball is also called a mark in union.

So he created a game like rugby but a 360 degree version with no offside rule, maybe like Marngrook but also like Gaelic football which had already been around for a long time before Wills went to England.

While the modern game may compare favourably to Marngrook with constant motion, it wasn't always that way.

Here's some of the earliest recorded footage, the 1909 VFL final.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILE0_pqmHVo



On the other hand, some supporting testimony.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY8snUkHA8A

My personal view, if acknowledging that Aussie rules (I can't stand calling the game AFL) may have drawn some influences from an Indigenous game in any way has a positive impact on even some Indigenous people, then go with it whether it's factual or not

[thesoretoothsayer]

Did you just put a Carlton video up on Nicks?
Delete your account.

[stui magpie]

^

Hey, it's a video of Carlton losing a Grand final.

[David]

[stui magpie]

Gaelic may have only been codified in 1887 but variants were played for centuries prior. Considering Wills spent time in Ireland after leaving school before returning to Australia, the odds are high he was exposed to some form of the game.