University Theses
Theses include doctoral and masters dissertations and work submitted for honours year theses and other postgraduate courses. Theses generally remain unpublished. Copies are normally held at the academic institutions where the thesis was submitted.
Annotations are by Rob Hess (RH), Ian Warren, (IW), and Matthew Nicholson, (MN).
Andrews, Alf, 'Football: The People's Game? 'Doctoral thesis, Department of History, Monash University, 2001.
This is one of an increasing number of postgraduate theses that focuses on the role of fans in the development of the game. This thesis draws on an extensive series of interviews and a select range of newspapers. Two chapters, on the formative years of cheersquads and their eventual ‘taming’ by administrators, were subsequently published in 2005 by the Australian Society for Sports History in the anthology, Fanfare: Spectator Culture and Australian Rules Football, edited by Matthew Nicholson. RH.
Andrews, Ian, 'The Transformation of the Victorian Football League into the Australian Football League: A Sociological Case Study of the Development of Professional Sport under Late Capitalism', Honours thesis, School of Social Sciences, Curtin University, 1991.
Appleby, Brendyn, 'A Video Analysis of Game Related Activities in Australian Rules Football', Masters thesis, University of Western Australia, 1999.
Badock, Philip R., 'Performance Attributes of Talented Schoolboy Australian Rules Football Players', Masters thesis, Edith Cowan University, 1993.
Bell, Kevin, 'The Validity of the Victorian Football League Zoning and Transfer Regulations', Honours thesis, Faculty of Law, Monash University, 1978.
Bird, Murray Garnet, 'The Conceptual Development of "Managementscapes" and its Application to the History of Australian Rules Football in Queensland between 1866 to 1890', Honours thesis, Griffith University, 2004.
This investigation traces the early development of Australian Rules football in Queensland, with specific emphasis on the application of contemporary management theory. Extensive research on the formative years of the sport, its governance and marketing, identifies why Rugby Union and League became the preferred codes in Australia’s north-east for much of the twentieth century. IW.
Blair, Dale J., 'Will They Never Come? A Study of Professional Football in Melbourne During the Great War, 1914-1918', Honours thesis, Department of History, La Trobe University, 1993.
Based on extensive analysis of documents surrounding the conscription debates of World War I, Blair provides important insights into the class dimensions of Australian Rules football. His research is summarised in subsequent publications, including ‘“The Greater Game”: Australian Football and the Army at Home and on the Front During World War I’, Sporting Traditions, vol. 11, no. 2, May 1995, pp. 91-102 and the chapter entitled ‘War and Peace, 1915-1924’, in Rob Hess and Bob Stewart (eds), More Than a Game: An Unauthorised History of Australian Rules Football. RH.
Blandthorn, John-Paul M. E., 'Volunteers and the Administration of Australian Rules Footbal in Country Victoria: A Case Study of Clubs in the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League', Honours thesis, Australian Catholic Univesity, Australian Catholic University, 2003.
Booth, Ross, 'Labour Market Intervention, Revenue Sharing and Competitive Balance in the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League, 1897-1998', Doctoral thesis, Department of Economics, Monash University, 2000.
Callery, Paul James Michael, 'Imagery Rehearsal Self-Efficacy and the Performance of Australian Rules Football Skills', Doctoral thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 1996.
Collins, Damian Patrick, 'Predicting Success in Elite Australian Rules Football', Thesis (D. Psych ), University of Melbourne, Dept. of Psychology, 2001.
Cook, Damian, 'Real Life, Real Drama, Real T.V.: Australian Football', Masters thesis, Department of Physical Education and Sports Studies, University of Alberta, 1996.
A largely sociological analysis of how Australian Rules football was packaged and represented on North American television during the late 1980s and early 1990s. RH.
Coram, Stella, 'Race around the Oval: The Status of Aborigines in the Australian Football League', Masters thesis, submitted to the School of Sociology, Politics and Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, 1999.
Dabscheck, Braham, 'The Labour Market for Australian Footballers', Minor thesis, Master of Economics, Monash University, 1973.
Daws, A.G., 'The Origins of Australian Football', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1954.
This work is notable as the first academic thesis produced on the history of Australian Rules football. The tentative findings of Daws have largely been superseded by Geoffrey Blainey’s more comprehensive investigations which resulted in the publication of A Game of Our Own by Information Australia in 1990. RH.
Desai, Yask, 'Football and Capitalism', Honours thesis, Swinburne University of Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, 1995.
Dickson, Geoffrey, 'Changes to the Evenness of Competition in a Local League since the Introduction of a National League Team', Honours thesis, Griffith University, 1993.
Dickson, Geoffrey, 'A Study of Inter-Organisational Power among Organisations in a Federated Network and Potential Affiliates: Victorian Football League and New South Wales Rugby League Expansion into Brisbane, 1986-1987', Doctoral thesis, Griffith University, 2002.
Dunn, Craig, 'The Campaign for VFL Membership: Hawthorn Football Club and the Local Community, 1919-1925', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1987.
Farmer, C. A., 'The Character and Social Significance of the Richmond Football Club during the Depression', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1978.
Farrelly, Francis John, 'A Predictive Model of Sport Sponsorship Renewal in Australia', Doctoral thesis, University of Adelaide, Dept. of Commerce, 2002.
This thesis investigates key drivers of sponsorship renewal. The market orientation of sponsors and their perception of their sponsored entity's (property's) market orientation, are analysed as antecedents of the trust invested by sponsors in the relationship, the level of commitment they exhibit and both the economic and non-economic satisfaction they derive from it. Sponsor economic and non-economic satisfaction and their commitment to the relationship are considered to be the ultimate drivers of the decision to renew. The argument is presented that sponsorship is a form of strategic or co-marketing alliance. The Australian Football League, the leading sponsorship property in Australia, is investigated in the empirical part of the thesis. RH.
Fleming, Ashley, 'Dropping out of Modified Sport Perceptions of the Auskick Program by Parents and Children', Honours thesis, The Author, University of Ballarat, 2002.
This qualitative research was designed to discover the factors that influence children to drop out from qualified sport. RH.
Fortunato, Vanda, 'Role Transitions of Elite Australian Rules Footballers', Doctoral thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 1996.
Drawn essentially from in-depth interviews with elite players, this thesis considers the difficulties that footballers face in terms of adjusting to retirement from the game. RH.
Franks, Paul, M.,, 'Sport in the Press: A Case Study of the Brisbane Bears 1987 to 1996', Honours thesis, Department of Communication and Media Studies, Central Queensland University, 1997.
Gerraty, Susanne, 'The Bloodbath Grand Final (and Other Stories)', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1991.
Gibson, Barry J., ‘Role Components and Social Cohesion as Predictors of Performance in under-Age Australian Rules Football’, Masters thesis, Department of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Western Australia: Perth, 1976.
A thesis submitted to the Department of Physical Education and Recreation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education". Description from Trove catalogue record.
Gillett, R.A., 'Where the Big Men Fly: An Early History of Australian Football in the Riverina Region of New South Wales', Bachelor of Letters thesis, Department of History, University of New England, 1983.
For a summary of the findings of this thesis, see Gillett’s article, with an almost identical title, in Sporting Traditions, vol. 4, no. 2, May 1988, pp. 162-175. RH.
Gorman, Sean, 'Moorditj Magic: The Story of Jim and Phillip Krakouer', Doctoral thesis, Murdoch University, 2004.
This double biography follows the troubled lives and careers of Aboriginal footballers, Jim and Phil Krakouer. The thesis was subsequently published in 2005 by Allen & Unwin as Brotherboys: The Story of Jim and Phillip Krakouer. RH.
Grant, Richard Leonard Meredyth, 'The Emerging Relationships between Australian Rules Football and Television 1957-1989', Masters thesis - La Trobe University, 1993.
Gurvits, Tamara, 'Foreplay or Foul Play: Perceptions of Rape Seriousness by Australian University Student-Athletes', Masters thesis, Department of Criminology, University of Melbourne, 2004.
Based on several North American studies amongst college footballers, this research examined the use of myths by a cohort of student footballers and a control group of non-footballers to judge the seriousness of two different types of rape. Extensive statistical analysis revealed footballers were more likely to use ‘victim-blaming’ myths when analysing rape seriousness, but no additional variations between footballers and non-footballers. This indicates factors outside the football subculture are more likely to contribute to low assessments of rape seriousness amongst young Australian men, in contrast to United States research, where football subcultures are found to consistently reinforce various forms of hostility and aggression towards women. IW.
Healy, Matthew, 'Hard Sell: Australian Football in Sydney', Masters thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 2002.
Healy adopts a ‘slice’ approach in an effort to trace the development of Australian Rules football in New South Wales. Early (relatively unsuccessful) attempts to foster the game are contrasted with the roller-coaster ride endured by the Sydney Swans following the relocation of the South Melbourne Football Club to the Harbour City in 1982. Draws on a range of secondary sources, including annual reports, supporter magazines and interviews with players and officials, as well as a select range of newspapers. IW.
Herdman, I. R. And McKelvie, M. R., 'Football Administration: the Need for Strategic Management', Masters thesis, University of Melbourne, 1975.
Hess, Rob, 'Case Studies in the Development of Australian Rules Football, 1896-1908', Doctoral thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 2000.
This thesis provides a detailed analysis of various aspects of Australian Rules football during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and by so doing it establishes a framework for understanding the growth of the game at a crucial stage in its evolution. A critical evaluation of football literature and other source material relevant to the study of sports history, is followed by a narrative of developments in Australian Rules football during 1896 and 1897. A number of themes relating to the development of the game are then identified and relevant issues, namely the distinctive sporting milieux in which football evolved in Melbourne, the unique role of women as spectators and auxiliaries and the diffusion of the game outside of Victoria, notably in New Zealand (and to a lesser extent, South Africa), are explored. An overview of developments during 1907 and 1908, culminating in the jubilee carnival of Australasian football, the final case study, is then provided before some general conclusions are made. The research draws heavily on a range of press sources and uses the work of Michael Oriard on American football for comparative analytical purposes. Some sections of the thesis were first published the chapter entitled ‘The Victorian Football League Takes Over, 1897-1914’, in Rob Hess and Bob Stewart (eds), More Than a Game: An Unauthorised History of Australian Rules Football. MN.
Hess, Rob, 'A Sport in Crisis: Melbourne Society and the 1896 Football Conspiracy', Honours thesis, Department of History, Monash University, 1981.
Situated firmly against the background of Melbourne’s suburban history and the context of colonial sport and leisure, this somewhat underdeveloped thesis sets out to explore the circumstances surrounding the schism in the Victorian Football Association that resulted in the formation of the Victorian Football League at the end of the 1896 season. Sources include a select number of newspapers and local histories. MN.
Huggard, Simon, 'A Bibliography of VFL Football', Diploma paper thesis, Department of Library and Information Studies, Melbourne College of Advanced Education, 1988.
Irvine, Fiona, 'The Call of the Sirens: The Women Who Support the Fremantle Dockers', Honours thesis, Faculty of Business and Public Management, Edith Cowan University, 2001.
James, W. Bruce, 'Watching the Footy on Telly: Making Meaning of the AFL', Honours thesis, University of South Australia, 1995.
Kingston, Robert, 'Football and Identity in Melbourne in the 1930's', Masters thesis, University of Melbourne, Dept. of History, 2000.
Sections of this thesis, largely drawn from oral testimony, were subsequently published by the Australian Society for Sports History in 2005 in the anthology, Fanfare: Spectator Culture and Australian Rules Football, edited by Matthew Nicholson. RH.
Lane, Christopher, 'The Premiers: Norwood Football Club, 1878-1889', Honours thesis, University of Adelaide, 1987.
Lekarkis, George, 'Shifting Play from Defence to Attack: Television, Corporate Bodies and the VFL's Commercial Thrust Forward', Honours thesis, Melbourne University, 1987.
MacDonald, R. D., 'League Structures, Labour Markets and Competitive Balance: A Study of Australian Professional Sporting Leagues', Doctoral thesis, Department of Management and Industrial Relations, University of Melbourne, 2003.
MacDonald, R. D., 'A Study of the Australian Football League's Labour Market Control Mechanisms', Honours thesis, Department of Management and Industrial Relations, University of Melbourne, 1996.
Makdissi, Michael, 'Concussion in Australian Football: Clinical Features, Neuropsychological Testing and Outcome of Clinical Management Strategies', Doctoral thesis, University of Melbourne, Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine, Dept. of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, 2006.
McAree, Andrew James, 'Social Mobility, Australian Rules Football and the Aboriginal Athlete: A Contemporary Perspective', Masters thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 1995.
Murray, Michael, 'Labour Market Controls in the Australian Football League', Masters thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 1998.
Nadel, Dave, 'The Professionalism and Commercialisation of Australian Football, 1975-1996', Doctoral thesis, National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University, 2000.
Nadel essentially traces the development of the political economy of the game from the advent of colour television to the maturation of a national competition. A key theme is the embeddedness of the game in the consciousness of various communities. He relies on an extensive range of interviews and a number of reports, as well as a select range of newspapers. Sections of his work were first published in the two concluding chapters in Rob Hess and Bob Stewart (eds), More Than a Game: An Unauthorised History of Australian Rules Football. RH.
Nicholson, Matthew, 'Print Media Representation of Crisis Events in Australian Football', Doctoral thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 2002.
This thesis examined the print media representation of three seminal football events in the history of the Victorian and Australian Football Leagues. The three events are first, the relocation of the South Melbourne Football Club to Sydney in 1982, second, the aborted merger of Footscray and Fitzroy Football Clubs in 1989 and finally, the successful merger of the Fitzroy and Brisbane Football Cubs in 1996. Nicholson provides an extensive literature review in the areas of media, crisis and football and develops a model to test the reporting of crisis events in Melbourne’s major daily newspapers. RH.
Nicholson, Matthew, 'Swans Fly Bloody Coop: The Place of Spectators in South Melbourn'e Relocation Saga', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1995.
This thesis examined the relocation of the South Melbourne Football Club to Sydney and its impact on the fans of the club. The thesis uses a wide range of print media sources and selected oral interviews to provide an interesting, yet preliminary, examination of the connection between clubs and their supporters. RH.
Pearson, David, 'Talent Identification and Development in Junior Australian Rules Football', Masters thesis, Dept. of Exercise and Sports Science, University of Sydney, 2003.
Sharp, Martin P., 'Sporting Spectacles: Cricket and Football in Sydney, 1890-1912', Doctoral thesis, Australian National University, 1986.
This thesis is one of the earliest academic attempts to examine the struggle of Australian Rules football to establish itself in rugby-dominated Sydney. A section of the thesis was subsequently published in the journal Sporting Traditions and a complete copy of the thesis is available on microfilm in libraries at various institutions, including Victoria University. RH.
Shaughnessy, Graeme, 'Australian Rules Football Zoning in South Australia', Honours thesis, Flinders University, 1992.
Shilbury, David, 'A Study of Strategic Planning Practices of the Australian Football League Clubs', Doctoral thesis, Faculty of Business, Monash University, 1994.
Simpson, Kristen, 'The Effect of Company Objectives on AFL Sponsorship', Honours thesis, The Author, University of Ballarat, 1999.
The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether 54 sponsors of an Australian Football League club displayed differing characteristics according to whether they had sponsored the club for a short, medium or long term. RH.
Smith, Aaron, 'Searching for the Soul: Mapping the Culture of a Professional Footbal Club', Honours thesis, School of Human Movement, Recreation and Performance, Victoria University, 1994.
Spinks, Christopher David, 'The Effects of Resisted Sprint Training on Acceleration Performance in Trained Football Players', Masters thesis, University of Technology, Sydney, 2003.
Stewart, Paul, 'Up There Newcastle!: The Development of Australian Rules in Newcastle, 1883-1983', Honours thesis, Newcastle College of Advanced Education, Newcastle College of Advanced Education, 1983.
Topham, Ross, 'The Collingwood Football Club and Collingwood', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1974.
Vaux, D. J. J., 'Players v Administrators: Section 45 of the Trade Practices Act and Its Application to Australian Rules Football', Honours thesis, University of Western Australia, 1979.
Warren, Ian, 'Climates of Control: Law, Enforcement and Public Order at Sporting Events', Masters thesis, Department of Criminology, University of Melbourne, 1994.
Based on arrest and ejection data for the 1991-1994 seasons and interviews with police and security personnel in Melbourne and Adelaide, this thesis compares the regulation of crowds at Australian Football League matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Football Park and available secondary material on football hooliganism in England. The evidence provides guidance on operational and managerial best practice in dealing with football crowds, in the context of police procedures, venue by-laws and the criminal law. Subsequently published in 2003 by the Australian Society for Sports History as Football, Crowds and Cultures: Comparing English and Australian Law and Enforcement Trends. RH.
Wedgwood, Nikki, 'We Have Contact!: Women, Girls and Boys Playing Australian Rules Football: Combat Sports, Gendered Embodiment and the Gender Order', Doctoral thesis, Faculty of Education, University of Sydney, 2001.
This pioneering ethnographic study has been developed in subsequent works, notably in ‘Doin’ it for Themselves! A Socio-Historical Case Study of the Development of a Women’s Australian Rules Football Competition’, International Journal of the History of Sport, vol. 22, no. 3, 2005, pp. 396-414 and ‘Kicking Like a Boy: Schoolgirl Australian Rules Football and Bi-Gendered Female Embodiment’, Sociology of Sport Journal, vol. 21, 2004, pp. 140-162. RH.
Williams, Alicia, 'Sex and Football in the News: A Comparative Analysis of the Change in Newspaper Representation of AFL Sexual Assaults Cases - 2000 vs 2004', Honours thesis, Department of Criminology, University of Melbourne, 2004.
This work involves a multi-variable content analysis of the press coverage of prominent sexual assault cases involving AFL cases between 2000 and 2004. Using a combination of theories drawing on feminism, sports sub-cultures, audience reception and the creation of folk devils and moral panics through media reporting, this investigation explores a range of dominant linguistic and thematic trends in the Melbourne Age news coverage, and identifies a subtle, yet discernible shift in reporting style. Earlier reports highlighted a ‘moral panic’ associated with the behaviour of elite Australian Rules footballers, while subsequent reports emphasised the negative effects of sexual assault on women, and denounced this aspect of football culture through a more informed, ‘feminist’ language. IW.
Wright, Damien, 'Rationalising the Unlevel Playing Field: Culture, Ideology and the Relocation of the South Melbourne Football Club', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1991.
This is one of an increasing number of postgraduate theses that focuses on the role of fans in the development of the game. This thesis draws on an extensive series of interviews and a select range of newspapers. Two chapters, on the formative years of cheersquads and their eventual ‘taming’ by administrators, were subsequently published in 2005 by the Australian Society for Sports History in the anthology, Fanfare: Spectator Culture and Australian Rules Football, edited by Matthew Nicholson. RH.
Andrews, Ian, 'The Transformation of the Victorian Football League into the Australian Football League: A Sociological Case Study of the Development of Professional Sport under Late Capitalism', Honours thesis, School of Social Sciences, Curtin University, 1991.
Appleby, Brendyn, 'A Video Analysis of Game Related Activities in Australian Rules Football', Masters thesis, University of Western Australia, 1999.
Badock, Philip R., 'Performance Attributes of Talented Schoolboy Australian Rules Football Players', Masters thesis, Edith Cowan University, 1993.
Bell, Kevin, 'The Validity of the Victorian Football League Zoning and Transfer Regulations', Honours thesis, Faculty of Law, Monash University, 1978.
Bird, Murray Garnet, 'The Conceptual Development of "Managementscapes" and its Application to the History of Australian Rules Football in Queensland between 1866 to 1890', Honours thesis, Griffith University, 2004.
This investigation traces the early development of Australian Rules football in Queensland, with specific emphasis on the application of contemporary management theory. Extensive research on the formative years of the sport, its governance and marketing, identifies why Rugby Union and League became the preferred codes in Australia’s north-east for much of the twentieth century. IW.
Blair, Dale J., 'Will They Never Come? A Study of Professional Football in Melbourne During the Great War, 1914-1918', Honours thesis, Department of History, La Trobe University, 1993.
Based on extensive analysis of documents surrounding the conscription debates of World War I, Blair provides important insights into the class dimensions of Australian Rules football. His research is summarised in subsequent publications, including ‘“The Greater Game”: Australian Football and the Army at Home and on the Front During World War I’, Sporting Traditions, vol. 11, no. 2, May 1995, pp. 91-102 and the chapter entitled ‘War and Peace, 1915-1924’, in Rob Hess and Bob Stewart (eds), More Than a Game: An Unauthorised History of Australian Rules Football. RH.
Blandthorn, John-Paul M. E., 'Volunteers and the Administration of Australian Rules Footbal in Country Victoria: A Case Study of Clubs in the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League', Honours thesis, Australian Catholic Univesity, Australian Catholic University, 2003.
Booth, Ross, 'Labour Market Intervention, Revenue Sharing and Competitive Balance in the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League, 1897-1998', Doctoral thesis, Department of Economics, Monash University, 2000.
Callery, Paul James Michael, 'Imagery Rehearsal Self-Efficacy and the Performance of Australian Rules Football Skills', Doctoral thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 1996.
Collins, Damian Patrick, 'Predicting Success in Elite Australian Rules Football', Thesis (D. Psych ), University of Melbourne, Dept. of Psychology, 2001.
Cook, Damian, 'Real Life, Real Drama, Real T.V.: Australian Football', Masters thesis, Department of Physical Education and Sports Studies, University of Alberta, 1996.
A largely sociological analysis of how Australian Rules football was packaged and represented on North American television during the late 1980s and early 1990s. RH.
Coram, Stella, 'Race around the Oval: The Status of Aborigines in the Australian Football League', Masters thesis, submitted to the School of Sociology, Politics and Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, 1999.
Dabscheck, Braham, 'The Labour Market for Australian Footballers', Minor thesis, Master of Economics, Monash University, 1973.
Daws, A.G., 'The Origins of Australian Football', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1954.
This work is notable as the first academic thesis produced on the history of Australian Rules football. The tentative findings of Daws have largely been superseded by Geoffrey Blainey’s more comprehensive investigations which resulted in the publication of A Game of Our Own by Information Australia in 1990. RH.
Desai, Yask, 'Football and Capitalism', Honours thesis, Swinburne University of Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, 1995.
Dickson, Geoffrey, 'Changes to the Evenness of Competition in a Local League since the Introduction of a National League Team', Honours thesis, Griffith University, 1993.
Dickson, Geoffrey, 'A Study of Inter-Organisational Power among Organisations in a Federated Network and Potential Affiliates: Victorian Football League and New South Wales Rugby League Expansion into Brisbane, 1986-1987', Doctoral thesis, Griffith University, 2002.
Dunn, Craig, 'The Campaign for VFL Membership: Hawthorn Football Club and the Local Community, 1919-1925', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1987.
Farmer, C. A., 'The Character and Social Significance of the Richmond Football Club during the Depression', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1978.
Farrelly, Francis John, 'A Predictive Model of Sport Sponsorship Renewal in Australia', Doctoral thesis, University of Adelaide, Dept. of Commerce, 2002.
This thesis investigates key drivers of sponsorship renewal. The market orientation of sponsors and their perception of their sponsored entity's (property's) market orientation, are analysed as antecedents of the trust invested by sponsors in the relationship, the level of commitment they exhibit and both the economic and non-economic satisfaction they derive from it. Sponsor economic and non-economic satisfaction and their commitment to the relationship are considered to be the ultimate drivers of the decision to renew. The argument is presented that sponsorship is a form of strategic or co-marketing alliance. The Australian Football League, the leading sponsorship property in Australia, is investigated in the empirical part of the thesis. RH.
Fleming, Ashley, 'Dropping out of Modified Sport Perceptions of the Auskick Program by Parents and Children', Honours thesis, The Author, University of Ballarat, 2002.
This qualitative research was designed to discover the factors that influence children to drop out from qualified sport. RH.
Fortunato, Vanda, 'Role Transitions of Elite Australian Rules Footballers', Doctoral thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 1996.
Drawn essentially from in-depth interviews with elite players, this thesis considers the difficulties that footballers face in terms of adjusting to retirement from the game. RH.
Franks, Paul, M.,, 'Sport in the Press: A Case Study of the Brisbane Bears 1987 to 1996', Honours thesis, Department of Communication and Media Studies, Central Queensland University, 1997.
Gerraty, Susanne, 'The Bloodbath Grand Final (and Other Stories)', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1991.
Gibson, Barry J., ‘Role Components and Social Cohesion as Predictors of Performance in under-Age Australian Rules Football’, Masters thesis, Department of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Western Australia: Perth, 1976.
A thesis submitted to the Department of Physical Education and Recreation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education". Description from Trove catalogue record.
Gillett, R.A., 'Where the Big Men Fly: An Early History of Australian Football in the Riverina Region of New South Wales', Bachelor of Letters thesis, Department of History, University of New England, 1983.
For a summary of the findings of this thesis, see Gillett’s article, with an almost identical title, in Sporting Traditions, vol. 4, no. 2, May 1988, pp. 162-175. RH.
Gorman, Sean, 'Moorditj Magic: The Story of Jim and Phillip Krakouer', Doctoral thesis, Murdoch University, 2004.
This double biography follows the troubled lives and careers of Aboriginal footballers, Jim and Phil Krakouer. The thesis was subsequently published in 2005 by Allen & Unwin as Brotherboys: The Story of Jim and Phillip Krakouer. RH.
Grant, Richard Leonard Meredyth, 'The Emerging Relationships between Australian Rules Football and Television 1957-1989', Masters thesis - La Trobe University, 1993.
Gurvits, Tamara, 'Foreplay or Foul Play: Perceptions of Rape Seriousness by Australian University Student-Athletes', Masters thesis, Department of Criminology, University of Melbourne, 2004.
Based on several North American studies amongst college footballers, this research examined the use of myths by a cohort of student footballers and a control group of non-footballers to judge the seriousness of two different types of rape. Extensive statistical analysis revealed footballers were more likely to use ‘victim-blaming’ myths when analysing rape seriousness, but no additional variations between footballers and non-footballers. This indicates factors outside the football subculture are more likely to contribute to low assessments of rape seriousness amongst young Australian men, in contrast to United States research, where football subcultures are found to consistently reinforce various forms of hostility and aggression towards women. IW.
Healy, Matthew, 'Hard Sell: Australian Football in Sydney', Masters thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 2002.
Healy adopts a ‘slice’ approach in an effort to trace the development of Australian Rules football in New South Wales. Early (relatively unsuccessful) attempts to foster the game are contrasted with the roller-coaster ride endured by the Sydney Swans following the relocation of the South Melbourne Football Club to the Harbour City in 1982. Draws on a range of secondary sources, including annual reports, supporter magazines and interviews with players and officials, as well as a select range of newspapers. IW.
Herdman, I. R. And McKelvie, M. R., 'Football Administration: the Need for Strategic Management', Masters thesis, University of Melbourne, 1975.
Hess, Rob, 'Case Studies in the Development of Australian Rules Football, 1896-1908', Doctoral thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 2000.
This thesis provides a detailed analysis of various aspects of Australian Rules football during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and by so doing it establishes a framework for understanding the growth of the game at a crucial stage in its evolution. A critical evaluation of football literature and other source material relevant to the study of sports history, is followed by a narrative of developments in Australian Rules football during 1896 and 1897. A number of themes relating to the development of the game are then identified and relevant issues, namely the distinctive sporting milieux in which football evolved in Melbourne, the unique role of women as spectators and auxiliaries and the diffusion of the game outside of Victoria, notably in New Zealand (and to a lesser extent, South Africa), are explored. An overview of developments during 1907 and 1908, culminating in the jubilee carnival of Australasian football, the final case study, is then provided before some general conclusions are made. The research draws heavily on a range of press sources and uses the work of Michael Oriard on American football for comparative analytical purposes. Some sections of the thesis were first published the chapter entitled ‘The Victorian Football League Takes Over, 1897-1914’, in Rob Hess and Bob Stewart (eds), More Than a Game: An Unauthorised History of Australian Rules Football. MN.
Hess, Rob, 'A Sport in Crisis: Melbourne Society and the 1896 Football Conspiracy', Honours thesis, Department of History, Monash University, 1981.
Situated firmly against the background of Melbourne’s suburban history and the context of colonial sport and leisure, this somewhat underdeveloped thesis sets out to explore the circumstances surrounding the schism in the Victorian Football Association that resulted in the formation of the Victorian Football League at the end of the 1896 season. Sources include a select number of newspapers and local histories. MN.
Huggard, Simon, 'A Bibliography of VFL Football', Diploma paper thesis, Department of Library and Information Studies, Melbourne College of Advanced Education, 1988.
Irvine, Fiona, 'The Call of the Sirens: The Women Who Support the Fremantle Dockers', Honours thesis, Faculty of Business and Public Management, Edith Cowan University, 2001.
James, W. Bruce, 'Watching the Footy on Telly: Making Meaning of the AFL', Honours thesis, University of South Australia, 1995.
Kingston, Robert, 'Football and Identity in Melbourne in the 1930's', Masters thesis, University of Melbourne, Dept. of History, 2000.
Sections of this thesis, largely drawn from oral testimony, were subsequently published by the Australian Society for Sports History in 2005 in the anthology, Fanfare: Spectator Culture and Australian Rules Football, edited by Matthew Nicholson. RH.
Lane, Christopher, 'The Premiers: Norwood Football Club, 1878-1889', Honours thesis, University of Adelaide, 1987.
Lekarkis, George, 'Shifting Play from Defence to Attack: Television, Corporate Bodies and the VFL's Commercial Thrust Forward', Honours thesis, Melbourne University, 1987.
MacDonald, R. D., 'League Structures, Labour Markets and Competitive Balance: A Study of Australian Professional Sporting Leagues', Doctoral thesis, Department of Management and Industrial Relations, University of Melbourne, 2003.
MacDonald, R. D., 'A Study of the Australian Football League's Labour Market Control Mechanisms', Honours thesis, Department of Management and Industrial Relations, University of Melbourne, 1996.
Makdissi, Michael, 'Concussion in Australian Football: Clinical Features, Neuropsychological Testing and Outcome of Clinical Management Strategies', Doctoral thesis, University of Melbourne, Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine, Dept. of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, 2006.
McAree, Andrew James, 'Social Mobility, Australian Rules Football and the Aboriginal Athlete: A Contemporary Perspective', Masters thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 1995.
Murray, Michael, 'Labour Market Controls in the Australian Football League', Masters thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 1998.
Nadel, Dave, 'The Professionalism and Commercialisation of Australian Football, 1975-1996', Doctoral thesis, National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University, 2000.
Nadel essentially traces the development of the political economy of the game from the advent of colour television to the maturation of a national competition. A key theme is the embeddedness of the game in the consciousness of various communities. He relies on an extensive range of interviews and a number of reports, as well as a select range of newspapers. Sections of his work were first published in the two concluding chapters in Rob Hess and Bob Stewart (eds), More Than a Game: An Unauthorised History of Australian Rules Football. RH.
Nicholson, Matthew, 'Print Media Representation of Crisis Events in Australian Football', Doctoral thesis, Victoria University of Technology, 2002.
This thesis examined the print media representation of three seminal football events in the history of the Victorian and Australian Football Leagues. The three events are first, the relocation of the South Melbourne Football Club to Sydney in 1982, second, the aborted merger of Footscray and Fitzroy Football Clubs in 1989 and finally, the successful merger of the Fitzroy and Brisbane Football Cubs in 1996. Nicholson provides an extensive literature review in the areas of media, crisis and football and develops a model to test the reporting of crisis events in Melbourne’s major daily newspapers. RH.
Nicholson, Matthew, 'Swans Fly Bloody Coop: The Place of Spectators in South Melbourn'e Relocation Saga', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1995.
This thesis examined the relocation of the South Melbourne Football Club to Sydney and its impact on the fans of the club. The thesis uses a wide range of print media sources and selected oral interviews to provide an interesting, yet preliminary, examination of the connection between clubs and their supporters. RH.
Pearson, David, 'Talent Identification and Development in Junior Australian Rules Football', Masters thesis, Dept. of Exercise and Sports Science, University of Sydney, 2003.
Sharp, Martin P., 'Sporting Spectacles: Cricket and Football in Sydney, 1890-1912', Doctoral thesis, Australian National University, 1986.
This thesis is one of the earliest academic attempts to examine the struggle of Australian Rules football to establish itself in rugby-dominated Sydney. A section of the thesis was subsequently published in the journal Sporting Traditions and a complete copy of the thesis is available on microfilm in libraries at various institutions, including Victoria University. RH.
Shaughnessy, Graeme, 'Australian Rules Football Zoning in South Australia', Honours thesis, Flinders University, 1992.
Shilbury, David, 'A Study of Strategic Planning Practices of the Australian Football League Clubs', Doctoral thesis, Faculty of Business, Monash University, 1994.
Simpson, Kristen, 'The Effect of Company Objectives on AFL Sponsorship', Honours thesis, The Author, University of Ballarat, 1999.
The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether 54 sponsors of an Australian Football League club displayed differing characteristics according to whether they had sponsored the club for a short, medium or long term. RH.
Smith, Aaron, 'Searching for the Soul: Mapping the Culture of a Professional Footbal Club', Honours thesis, School of Human Movement, Recreation and Performance, Victoria University, 1994.
Spinks, Christopher David, 'The Effects of Resisted Sprint Training on Acceleration Performance in Trained Football Players', Masters thesis, University of Technology, Sydney, 2003.
Stewart, Paul, 'Up There Newcastle!: The Development of Australian Rules in Newcastle, 1883-1983', Honours thesis, Newcastle College of Advanced Education, Newcastle College of Advanced Education, 1983.
Topham, Ross, 'The Collingwood Football Club and Collingwood', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1974.
Vaux, D. J. J., 'Players v Administrators: Section 45 of the Trade Practices Act and Its Application to Australian Rules Football', Honours thesis, University of Western Australia, 1979.
Warren, Ian, 'Climates of Control: Law, Enforcement and Public Order at Sporting Events', Masters thesis, Department of Criminology, University of Melbourne, 1994.
Based on arrest and ejection data for the 1991-1994 seasons and interviews with police and security personnel in Melbourne and Adelaide, this thesis compares the regulation of crowds at Australian Football League matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Football Park and available secondary material on football hooliganism in England. The evidence provides guidance on operational and managerial best practice in dealing with football crowds, in the context of police procedures, venue by-laws and the criminal law. Subsequently published in 2003 by the Australian Society for Sports History as Football, Crowds and Cultures: Comparing English and Australian Law and Enforcement Trends. RH.
Wedgwood, Nikki, 'We Have Contact!: Women, Girls and Boys Playing Australian Rules Football: Combat Sports, Gendered Embodiment and the Gender Order', Doctoral thesis, Faculty of Education, University of Sydney, 2001.
This pioneering ethnographic study has been developed in subsequent works, notably in ‘Doin’ it for Themselves! A Socio-Historical Case Study of the Development of a Women’s Australian Rules Football Competition’, International Journal of the History of Sport, vol. 22, no. 3, 2005, pp. 396-414 and ‘Kicking Like a Boy: Schoolgirl Australian Rules Football and Bi-Gendered Female Embodiment’, Sociology of Sport Journal, vol. 21, 2004, pp. 140-162. RH.
Williams, Alicia, 'Sex and Football in the News: A Comparative Analysis of the Change in Newspaper Representation of AFL Sexual Assaults Cases - 2000 vs 2004', Honours thesis, Department of Criminology, University of Melbourne, 2004.
This work involves a multi-variable content analysis of the press coverage of prominent sexual assault cases involving AFL cases between 2000 and 2004. Using a combination of theories drawing on feminism, sports sub-cultures, audience reception and the creation of folk devils and moral panics through media reporting, this investigation explores a range of dominant linguistic and thematic trends in the Melbourne Age news coverage, and identifies a subtle, yet discernible shift in reporting style. Earlier reports highlighted a ‘moral panic’ associated with the behaviour of elite Australian Rules footballers, while subsequent reports emphasised the negative effects of sexual assault on women, and denounced this aspect of football culture through a more informed, ‘feminist’ language. IW.
Wright, Damien, 'Rationalising the Unlevel Playing Field: Culture, Ideology and the Relocation of the South Melbourne Football Club', Honours thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne, 1991.