Australian Nationalism and Working-Class Britishness: The Case of Rugby League Football1

Abstract

Sport has traditionally been seen as a vehicle for the expression of Australian nationalism. Following W. F. Mandle's work on cricket and nationalism, sporting contests between Australia and England have been portrayed as asserting Australian feelings of independence and hostility to Britain. This article challenges this view by examining the history of rugby league football in Australia and its relationship to Britain. Predominantly working-class in composition, with close ties to the labour movement and the Irish Catholic community, rugby league saw itself until the 1960s as profoundly and proudly British. Violent confrontations between Australian and British teams on the football field did not translate into hostility to Britain or the Empire off it. This article argues that Australian sporting culture closely resembled that of the north of England, sharing a democratic self-image and hostility to social snobbery that enabled the sport to assert a form of imperial working-class Britishness.