The first team was christened "The Galahs" by the Melbourne press after a comment made by the eccentric athletics coachPercy Cerutty, having seen their garish blazers, their slouch hats, and their hats' ostentatious plumes[2] (deliberately chosen by Beitzel to evoke comparisons with theheroes of the Australian Light Horse Regiments in the Boer War and World War I[3]) and to the effect that they were "a pack of galahs". The name stuck.[3]
The games were played under the rules ofGaelic football with the single exception that the Australian players were not compelled to "toe" the ball from foot to hand every few yards, and they were allowed to bounce the ball.
Their matches, opponents, and scores were as follows:
Tuesday, 24 October 1967: The Galahs began their trip with an exhibition match of Australian rules against aNorthern Territory Football League representative side in Darwin. Played in sweltering conditions in front of a crowd of 4,000 spectators atGardens Oval, the Galahs defeated the NTFL by 69 points, 18.15 (123) to 7.12 (54), withRoyce Hart booting seven goals.
Saturday, 28 October 1967: Civil Service, aDublin club team, preliminary warm-up match. The Galahs won by two points.[4]
Tuesday, 31 October 1967: Exhibition match of Australian Rules Football, conducted in heavy rain, under lights, at London'sCrystal Palace between "Australia" and "Britain". The Britain team was composed mainly of expatriates, plus several of The Galahs (includingAlex Jesaulenko). Australia beat Britain 101 to 75.
Saturday, 4 November:Mayo, the 1967Connacht Senior Football Championship winners, played atCroke Park (incidentally the first time Gaelic football was played on a Saturday afternoon at the venue), and won by The Galahs 2-12 (18) to 2-5 (11) in front of an attendance of 20,121.[5]
Sunday, 5 November:New York, played atGaelic Park,New York City. The Galahs lost the match 4-8 (20) to 0-5 (5), the visitors not managing a score after half time.[5] Hassa Mann, king-hit behind the play, had his jaw broken in three places. Ron Barassi had his nose broken by a giant New York narcotics detective (Brendan Tumulty), who broke his own thumb in the process of hitting Barassi.[6]
^A photograph of Bob Skilton, in full regalia appeared on the front cover of the Victorian Football League's March 1968 issue ofFootball Life magazine (athumbnail of the cover appears at Ross (1996), p.238).
^Burke, 1998, p.15. Burke does not supply the match's final score except to say that the New York Irish were in front 11–5 at half-time, and that the Galahs were unable to add to their half-time score. For more on Barassi's injury and his later friendship with Brendan Tumulty, see[1]
Burke, P., "Harry and the Galahs: Remembering the Meeting of Two Football Codes Thirty Years On",Australian Society for Sports History Bulletin, Vol. 29, (1998), pp. 9–17.[6]
Ross, J. (ed),100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996.ISBN0-670-86814-0
