] Overall, the accurate, interesting, and matter-of-fact press reports of the exhibition match (collectively) provided a strong and long-overdue contrast to what Richardson usefully identifies (at 2016, p. 307) as the "misguided mythology" that was ever so firmly embedded in the questionable characterisation echoing the widely quoted sentiments of Henry Newbolt's poem
Vitaï Lampada made early in the war, of the Australian "digger" as a fierce footballer playing on another field. See, for instance: • The poem by George Shand (1863–1926), the Victorian lawn-tennis identity: "''The Sportsmen's Brigade
", at The Referee'', (Wednesday, 13 January 1915), p.16. •
Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett's article "
A Race of Athletes", written at Gallipoli, and reprinted at
The Bendigonian, (Thursday, 13 May 1915), p.14. • The article "
Deeds that Thrill by our Athletes and Sportsmen: Rushes of the Football Field Repeated with the Bayonet Against the Turks: Australasians who have played the Part Hero ", at
The Referee, (Wednesday, 12 May 1915), p.1. • The headline references to how "
Players of our National games heed Imperial Summon to Grandest Game of all—Bearing Arms", at
The Referee, (Wednesday, 12 May 1915), p.16. • The article "
"Going into Battle is like Great Football Rush", says a Soldier: Invalided Home, Private Anderson tells of Colonial Sporting Grit in War", at
The Referee, (Wednesday, 12 May 1915), p.16. There were also the extraordinary claims, made in some quarters, that the footballers who had enlisted were somehow more robust and less likely to be injured than their non-footballer comrades; and Brosnan's remarks, made a year later, in relation to the manner in which the footballer's sporting background contributed to their value as a recruit, reflected similar views: ::"Whether footballers or the authorities controlling the game in Victoria could not do more towards "Winning the War" than they are doing is a matter about which opinions differ, but that they have done their share in providing recruits is beyond doubt. After all, this is only what it should be. Owing to the training necessary to become an expert (and everyone aspires to be an expert), and the physical fitness and endurance required to take part in a game of football, our players should, and, from letters received, do, make the best soldiers. From all sides one hears glowing accounts of their discipline, ability to do long marches, and quickness and resource in dangers and difficulties. This is exactly what one would expect, but unfortunately these very qualities place them in positions of the greatest danger, and day by day the footballers' death roll grows until by now it assumes alarming proportions." — Gerald Brosnan,
The Winner, 28 February 1917. The match reports spoke of a hotly contested game of Australian football that was, without doubt, being enjoyed beyond measure by those who played on that special day when, just for a moment, they were elite footballers once again (albeit serving with the AIF at the time) and, inescapably, many of whom would either die later or sustain lifelong injury, debilitating mental issues, and/or the ongoing physical sequelae of medical conditions (such as respiratory distress due to having been gassed) connected with their fight against a real enemy. Beyond this, the match had quite a different significance for various sorts of individuals. Some treated it as just an event, others saw it as a sporting contest, many "imperial" Britons viewed it as a fascinating exhibition of an unusual and different "colonial" pastime an obvious parallel to the (later) for-general-interest-only presentation of a
demonstration sport, such as
Basque pelota, at an Olympic Games and, for most Australians, it was far more than just a social match: given the skill, experience, and background of those selected to play on the day, and the overall strength of the two teams, they afforded the match a status of at least the equal of an
interstate representative game, if not an ANFC Carnival match. The various press reports also reflected a wide range of different motivations. From one perspective (shared by Gerald Brosnan), the exhibition match of Australian football brought to mind the (abandoned) pre-war proposals by former St Kilda footballer and coach
Jim Smith for a 25-match tour of the world commencing with the
Panama–Pacific International Exposition, in San Francisco, California, in March 1915 and, from thence, across America, and on to England, France and South Africa with a squad of 45 Victorian footballers, to advertise and promote the Australian game; and, further, the 1916 match seemed to suggest the reasonable possibility of the game's successful promotion in the UK and overseas once the war was over. However, it was not until the match between the RAAF and HMAS Shropshire, at
Hyde Park, London, organised by ex-Collinwood footballer and later ANFC secretary
Bruce Andrew, that a second exhibition match was held in the UK. A third match, contested between RAAF HQ (captain, Bruce Andrew) and the RAAF's No.10 (Sunderland) Squadron (captain, Jack Forrest), took place, soon after, at Hyde Park on 8 January 1944.
The Australian press In late September 1916, it was announced in the Australian press that "General Monash has granted a holiday [to his troops] for an exhibition of Australian football arranged to take place in London, early in October". A week before the match, the Australian press noted that, "Australian soldiers are introducing Australian football into Britain. Strong teams have been formed at Salisbury and London, and an exhibition game will be played in London on the 28th, when it is expected that Royalty will be present." Several days later, the press noted that, "Members of the competing teams in the Australian (football match, to be held on Saturday, are all senior players, and many have taken part in interstate matches. The captain of the third division team is Lieutenant B. Sloss, of South Melbourne, and the captain of the training groups team is Captain W.H. Perry, of Norwood (S.A.)". Following the match, although a number of brief reports of the event were published immediately after the match, such as, ::"An Australian football match was played on the Queens Club ground, London, on Saturday, between teams representing the Australian 3rd Division, and the Australian trainees at Salisbury Plain. The former won, scoring 6 goals 16 behinds to 4 goals 12 behinds", the small number that did provide a match report, only supplied (at the most) a two paragraph description of the match itself, and failed to supply any detailed list of participants. In his own brief report for
The Winner on the match in the week following the match (1 November 1916), which was, to a considerable extent, embellished by the pre-match correspondence he had already received relating to the match's participants, Gerald Brosnan lamented the lack of relevant information in the cable reports, and observed that "[further] details by mail will be anxiously awaited". Ten weeks later (20 December 1916), Brosnan's second article not only contained a detailed first-person account of the events of the day from ''The Winner's'' London-based correspondent, E.A. Bland, but, also, Bland's description of first-time spectators' impressions of Australian football. Observing that, notwithstanding the significant fact "that these were scratch teams which had few chances of getting together", the presence of "such a galaxy of stars" meant that "the individual play was at times brilliant and spectacular", and recording that he, Bland, as a first-time spectator, came away from the match with the strong impression that the game "was faster than either Soccer or Rugger", he also reported that "the "high marking" which seemed to be the feature of the game which attracted most [spectator] attention was extraordinarily good". Brosnan's article, which supplied a photograph of each team (i.e.,
[ADP.3], and
[TUP.3]), also included extensive extracts taken directly from the four major British sporting papers,
Sporting Life,
The Sportsman,
The Times, and
The Weekly Despatch. In his final article on the match (10 January 1917), published three weeks later, and unique in the level of match detail it contained (it also published three photographs taken at the game), Brosnan explained that "later details of the match, contained in letters from players, and from spectators, have since arrived, and will no doubt prove of interest to the great number of football followers as well as to the general body of sports-loving public here".
The British press Although number of brief excerpts from the reports in
Sporting Life, '
The Sportsman,
The Times, and
The Weekly Despatch were published from time to time in the Australian press i.e., rather than being offered as sports reports of the match, they were presented as examples of the amusing British descriptions of Australian football it seems that Brosnan's second (20 December 1916) article The British reports concentrated on the match as an event, rather than a contest; and were, thus, devoid of the normal sorts of descriptions of the patterns of play, the performance of prominent individuals, particular match incidents, and the progression of the scores. There is also plenty of work for the field umpire who requires to be very quick to keep up with the play.
The Sportsman, reprinted in
The Winner of 20 December 1916.
The French press On 20 November 1916 the French newspaper, , published a version of a photograph (a different photograph from that published in the
New York Times) that had been taken during the match of a large pack of players contesting for a mark, under the title "
Les Australiens guerriers et sportifs" ('The Australian Warriors and Sportsmen'). ==Records of the day==