It may surprise some, Bob


History of the Australian Jersey
Blue and Maroon
In 1899 the first Rugby Union test match was played. The opponent was the touring British Isles team and a three tests series was played - two in Sydney and one in Brisbane. Because there was no national jersey, the team wore the jersey of the state in which they were playing, but with the Australian Coat of Arms in place of the state emblem or logo.
Therefore, for the first and third tests in Sydney, the jersey was blue with the coat of arms and for the second test in Brisbane the jersey was maroon. This was also an indication of the makeup of the team which was dominated by NSW players for the tests played in Sydney and by Queensland players for the tests played in Brisbane.
The honour caps were quartered blue and maroon and the socks were also either blue or maroon. There are indications that from the turn of the century, the Australian Rugby Union was looking for a national jersey. In 1905 and 1914 colours were again shared. In 1905, Australia toured New Zealand and wore striped jerseys - described in Jack Pollard's book as maroon with blue stripes.
In 1914, NZ toured Australia and in May, 1914, the New South Wales Rugby Union (NSWRU) Executive Council recommended that 'in view of the difficulty in securing jerseys of a purely Australian design at this late stage', that the national team wears the colour of the State in which they are playing, but the letter 'A' covering the States' badge.
In 1908 and 1912, the Australian jersey was effectively the NSWRU jersey - blue with the Waratah, but with 'Australia' embroidered beneath the Waratah. Because the Australian Rugby Union was not established until 1949, NSWRU was the senior Union which would therefore explain why their jersey was used as the national jersey.
During WWI so many players enlisted into the army that the major competition virtually closed in NSW and Queensland until 1928. Until the Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) was re-established, the only representative team was NSW so the NSW teams that played international matches in the 1920s played in the NSW Jersey with the Waratah emblem.

Green and Gold
These teams have since been accorded retrospective Wallaby status. In 1928, NSW and QLD Rugby Unions agreed that 'the Australian amateur representative colours of green and gold, should be adopted'. In 1929 when New Zealand toured Australia, the first official Australian Jersey was introduced - an emerald green jersey with the Australian Coat of Arms and green leg socks with green and gold bars on the top.
This uniform remained until 1961 when it became gold for the Australian tour of South Africa. It has remained predominantly gold every since. There were variations in 1933, 1937 and 1938. In 1933 when Australia toured South Africa for the first time, the Wallabies wore sky blue with the Australian Coat of Arms is this because at the time, both countries played in dark green jerseys. (This courtesy was reciprocated by South Africa who wore white jerseys for test matches when Australia toured South Africa in 1953).
When South Africa toured Australia in 1937, the Australian jersey was changed to white with green and gold hoops. In 1938 when Australia played New Zealand, the Australian jersey was changed to gold with a dark green hoop - because it had been suggested that there was too much similarity between the dark green of Australia and the black of New Zealand. The change to gold in 1961 was also to avoid any clash with South Africa. It has remained predominantly gold ever since.