1911 National Carnival
In 1911 a National Football Carnival was held at Adelaide.
New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia took part in the eight day series which was played on the Adelaide Oval.
The New South Wales team travelled by train, stopping off at Broken Hill where they played a game against the local league resulting in the addition of a further 8 players from Broken Hill to their team.
While NSW opened the carnival with a 13-18 (96) to 11-6 (72) loss to Victoria on Wednesday 2 August, the actual carnival was not officially opened until the following Saturday.
We have copied a newspaper article which reports the opening in vivid terms but in particular the ‘warcry’ of the NSW team, which appears at the bottom of the page.We wonder if current state teams still use this call to arms?
The article is reprinted verbatim:
THE PEOPLE’S GAME
FINE CARNIVAL FOOTBALL
(By our Special Reporter)
The procession of the teams, which took place during the interval between the two matches, was a pretty ceremony.
In single file, headed by their captains, the players marched behind the respective flags borne by the managers. They looked like five big. brightly-coloured caterpillars.
First came Victoria, with a white “V” on the breast of their navy-blue guernsey and a flag to match; then Western Australia in bright green. Their emerald bunting was emblazoned with a golden map of Australia on which was worked a stately black swan. South Australia, in turquoise and brown, had an athletic appearance and Tasmania looked well, with the primrose coloured outline of their heart shaped island on the green guernseys with the rose pink stripes.
New South Wales wore bright blue, and the red blossom of the Waratah was prominent on their pennant.
Having walked once round the oval the teams circled to the centre, where the officials of the council were fathered.
The players were arranged in a hollow square and the Premier Attorney General were introduced to the Managers and Captains.
The ceremonial there however, proved too long for the crowd, who grew tired. No doubt they recognized that the delay would mean that the last few minutes of the second game would be played among evening shadows – and this was precisely what took place.
Cries of “What are we here for?” “Give us football,” and “Get on with the game” were heard. The display finished with the war cries of Tasmania and New South Wales. They were novel and enlivening. The weird gibberish of the Tasmanians and the vim of the Cornstalks were appreciated to the full. The cries were as follows:
Last Modified on 14/06/2014 09:08
