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Tom Wills : first wild man of Australian sport / Greg de Moore.

Tom Wills : first wild man of Australian sport / Greg de Moore.
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ISBN 9781742375984 (pbk.)
Author de Moore, Greg, 1958 - (author.)
Title Tom Wills : first wild man of Australian sport / Greg de Moore.
Publisher and/or associated date/s Crows Nest, N.S.W. : Allen & Unwin, 2011.
©2011
Description xvii, 378 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 20 cm.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary This is the story of Tom Wills - flawed genius, sporting libertine, fearless leader and agitator, and the man most often credited with creating the game we now know as Australian Rules football. Sent to the strict British Rugby School in 1850 at fourteen, Tom returned as a worldly young man whose cricket prowess quickly captured the hearts of Melburnians. But away from the adoring crowds, in the desolation of the Queensland outback, he experienced first-hand the devastating effects of racial tension when his father was murdered in the biggest massacre of Europeans by Aboriginal people. Yet five years later, Tom coached the first Aboriginal cricket team. Tom Wills lived hard and fast, challenging authority on and off the field. But when his physical talents began to fade, the psychological demons that alcohol and adrenaline had kept at bay surged to the fore, driving him to commit the most brutal of suicides. He was forty-four and destitute. Greg de Moore has carefully pieced together Tom's life, giving us an extraordinary portrait of the life and times of one of our first sporting heroes, a man who lived by his own rules and whose contribution to Australian history has endured for more than 150 years.
Subjects Wills, Thomas, -- 1835-1880
Australian football -- Victoria -- History
Cricket players -- Victoria -- Biography
Call number 2017.136
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Item Information
Barcode Shelf Location Collection Volume Ref. Status Due Date
A00875028 2017.136
 General Collection   . Available to Museum Staff .  
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