Changes

Sports are a matter of high visibility and prestige in Australia.  Sport has traditionally been seen as a vehicle for the expression of Australian nationalism. Following W. F. Mandle's work on cricket and nationalism, sporting contests between Australia and England have been portrayed as asserting Australian feelings of independence and hostility to Britain.  

Sports are a matter of high visibility and prestige in Australia.  Sport has traditionally been seen as a vehicle for the expression of Australian nationalism. Following W. F. Mandle's work on cricket and nationalism, sporting contests between Australia and England have been portrayed as asserting Australian feelings of independence and hostility to Britain.  

Rugby league football was predominantly working-class in composition, with close ties to the labor movement and the Irish Catholic community. Until the 1960s it was profoundly and proudly British. Violent confrontations between Australian and British teams on the football field did not translate into hostility to Britain or the empire off it. Australian sporting culture closely resembled that of the north of England, sharing a democratic self-image and hostility to social snobbery that enabled the sport to assert a form of imperial working-class Britishness.<ref> Tony Collins, "Australian Nationalism and Working-Class Britishness: The Case of Rugby League Football," ''History Compass'' 2005 3(Australasia And Pacific) </ref>  

In Depression-era Australia, cricket became the nation's most popular sport and a unifying element for Protestant society. Radio broadcasts of test matches against English teams represented a technological leap forward and symbolized modernity's importance to the country. As broadcasters recreated the contests, from both Australia and England, the surrounding advertising, and the promotion of radio in general, marginalized women, reinforcing the image of cricket as a man's game, despite a considerable female following in the stands.<ref>Frazer Andrewes, "'They Play in Your Home': Cricket, Media and Modernity in Pre-War Australia," ''International Journal of the History of Sport'' 2000 17(2-3): 93-110  </ref>

Irish-Catholic Australians have been the nation's largest minority throughout most of its history. Their resistance to the elite Anglocentric establishment has keenly marked the development of sport. Mostly working class, the Irish played sports such as rugby and Australian Rules football, while the Protestant majority often preferred cricket and soccer. The tensions and contrasts between these two sporting cultures eventually built the attitudes and beliefs toward games and sports that Australians share today.<ref>Peter A. Horton, "The 'Green' and the 'Gold': The Irish-Australians and Their Role in The Emergence of the Australian Sports Culture," ''International Journal of the History of Sport'' 2000 17(2-3): 65-92 </ref>

Irish-Catholic Australians have been the nation's largest minority throughout most of its history. Their resistance to the elite Anglocentric establishment has keenly marked the development of sport. Mostly working class, the Irish played sports such as rugby and Australian Rules football, while the Protestant majority often preferred cricket and soccer. The tensions and contrasts between these two sporting cultures eventually built the attitudes and beliefs toward games and sports that Australians share today.<ref>Peter A. Horton, "The 'Green' and the 'Gold': The Irish-Australians and Their Role in The Emergence of the Australian Sports Culture," ''International Journal of the History of Sport'' 2000 17(2-3): 65-92 </ref>

===World War II===

===World War II===