1877 was indeed a great year for the Carlton Football Club.
Not only were they Premiers in this inaugural year of the VFA (Victorian Football Association) but they also featured in another First in, wait for it, RUGBY.Incidentally, the foundation clubs of the Victorian Football Association were:
Carlton, Melbourne, Geelong, Albert Park, St.Kilda, Essendon**, Hotham, Ballarat, Barwon, Beechworth, Castlemaine, Inglewood, and Rochester.
They were the elite of the 133 Melbourne based clubs, and the 59 registered country clubs.Now here are fresh bragging rights that you can use to tease any Rugby stalwarts with...
I've been trying out this one:
Qu. "Who was the first team to travel interstate in Australia to play a game of Rugby?"Do it. Try a wager. They'll never guess the answer in a hundred attempts!
Answer: The CARLTON FOOTBALL CLUB!from
https://www.blueseum.org/1877 ....
June 20 Wednesday
BLUES' SYDNEY VISIT
The Carlton football team arrived in Sydney between 11pm and 12 midnight on the S.S. Barrabool.
(yep S.S. = SteamShip)
Sat. June 23, 1877
Carlton played Waratah at the Albert Cricket Ground, Sydney N.S.W.
The Blues had tried to pick up the finer points of the Rugby game on Thurday and Friday without the benefit of a coach.
"The mysteries of "on side, off side, touches down, and tries at goal," would puzzle our players..."
The match was played under Rugby rules, 15 players in each team.
The physique of the two teams differed, Carlton "small and thick set", while the Waratahs were "tall and wiry."
Crowd; 3,000; the largest crowd to attend a football match of any kind in Sydney.
The "Dark Blues" found the rugby game difficult to adapt to with the off side rule and the cramped style of play.
At one stage 23 out of the 30 players were piled on top of one another in a scrum.
The Blues gave a great exhibition (the best seen in Sydney) with their drop kicking skills for distance and accuracy.
Waratah won by 2 goals and 3 tries - 0 (Half time 1-0)
A couple of days later they swapped codes and They had to play OUR game...
Monday June 25, 1877
Carlton played the Waratah at the Albert Cricket Ground, Sydney N.S.W.
This match was played under Australian Football rules.
W. 'Bill' Newing captained the Waratah club, their colours being dark blue and red.
Crowd; 1,500
The Blues were rarely troubled by Waratah, in fact it was a reverse of the previous rugby game with both clubs being unfamiliar with the rules and nuances of the game.
Carlton won: 6-0
June 26 Tuesday
The Carlton football team took a rail trip to visit the Zig-Zag railway in the Blue Mountains.
June 27 Wednesday
The Carlton football team departed Sydney for Melbourne on board the steamer "You Yangs".
June 30
The Australian Town & Country Journal (N.S.W) reported in detail on the two Sydney matches that Carlton played.
To read click here>
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70602414June 30
The Carlton football team arrived in Melbourne on board the 552 ton S.S You Yangs.
I also searched the forum here and found way back in 2008 that 'AGRO' had also posted a fascinating story about the same trip involving our best player George Coulthard and a SHARK on Sydney Harbour!Yep, you read correctly - a shark.
It seems the incident may actually have prevented Australian Rules Football pushing Rugby aside in Sydney!
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=23321&start=9 (Thanks AGRO)
RE the shark story ... a a time before Rugby League started and NSW was looking at adopting Australian Rules footy as their preferred fotball code.
Shark scared the shit out of the Voctorian, never to return again....love telling that story in Sydney.