Jim Poulter

This work about the Gunditjmara people of south west Victoria contains some references to observations by early white settlers in the area about a form of football played by the Indigenous people of that region.

This book contains a substantial chapter about the history of Marngrook football and its interaction with football pioneer Tom Wills. Poulter also advances his argument that Marngrook played a part in the creation and development of the Australian game of football.

This booklet of 20 pages is a comprehensive argument for the case that Marngrook (Aboriginal football) and the game developed by the Europeans in Victoria are connected in origin and evolution. It includes a specific response to the argument advanced by Gillian Hibbins in 2008 that it was a ‘seductive myth’ that there was an interconnection between the two games.

There are four sections in this short book on various aspects of Indigenous heritage. One section, by Jim Poulter, is titled ‘Marngrook: Our National Football Game’. Poulter is the most prolific and noted proponent of the view that Marngrook, an Aboriginal form of football, played a significant part in the creation and development of the Australian game of football.