First Australian Rules Football GamePrint Page 
The sculpture commemorates the first game of Australian Rules football played in August 1858.
Location
| Address: | Brunton Avenue, Melbourne Cricket Ground, East Melbourne, 3002 |
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| State: | VIC |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -37.82007 Long: 144.983439 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Sculpture |
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| Monument Theme: | Culture |
| Sub-Theme: | Sport |
| Artist: | Louis Laumen (Yarraville, VIC) |
Dedication
| Approx. Monument Dedication Date: | 2001 |
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The first recorded game of Australian Football was begun on the tree-dotted parklands outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground by teams from Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School on 7 August 1858.
After three playing days the game ended in a draw with each team kicking one goal. Each team selected its own umpire. Scotch College chose Dr. John Macadam. Melbourne Grammar School Tom Wills, who is depicted as the third figure in the sculpture.
Tom Wills, a son of pastoral Australia and educated at Rugby School, England, did more than any other person - as a footballer and umpire, co-writer of the rules and promoter of the game - to develop Australian Football during its first decade. Enthusiam and coaching resulted in the first Australian Cricket Team tour of England by the aboriginal team in 1868.
