Thread: how the Wallabies got their name

When the first Aussie. touring Rugby team arrived in England, [1908/09] they found the English had given them the name " The Rabbits" . The team Captain, Dr Herbert " paddy" Moran, poured cold water on that from the start. There was considerable discussion in English papers, letters flocked in from everywhere, names suggested - Wallabies, Kangaroos, Kookaburras, and Wallaroos, among others. Kangaroos had been claimed by Rugby League, and at a hastily declared meeting, " Wallabies" was chosen by a couple of votes .It was nearly" Waratahs" , as the first touring team Wore the native flower of NSW on their hats @ coats, and on their light blue playing jerseys , with the word Australia, embroidered underneath.

The Aussie Rugby team was forced by the officials at home to perform a war dance, supposedly adapted from used by the Newtown club at home. Captain Moran's comments " the gravest affliction we carried was an alleged war cry which the parent union had imposed on us. The memory of the war cry provokes anger in me even after all these years. The New Zealanders always performed some antics before a match, but after all it was in the Maori tradition to lash themselves into some sort of fury by this picturesque method of self suggestion. In aus. , however no club ever adopted a war cry except as comic relief" [ Extract from a book, Viewless Winds, 1939, ] Not a happy chappie. Bob.