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Newts, Padds and a tale of two Berts: Untold footy stories from the Great War

Newtown Hotel, formerly the Rugby Hotel. One hundred years ago was the site of Bert Ellis's farewell.
Roar Guru
22nd April, 2015
14

A crowd of young men in the smoky bar of the Rugby Hotel on King Street Newtown clinked their glasses and roared with approval.

Bert Ellis, gun player and captain of the Newtown Australian Rules Football Club, had just been presented with a watch from the club’s president.

Ellis, one of the greats of Sydney’s early 20th century Australian Rules football scene, was being given a rousing send off on the eve of his departure for the trenches.

A local lad growing up in Erskineville, Ellis had worked his way through the junior ranks into the first grade team and had even represented New South Wales. After a speech from the club president, newspaper reports say that Newtown’s vice-captain chipped in with a witticism.

Reading between the lines I would say it went more like this: Vice captain Furlong jumped onto a table, shouted to his clubmates for order and with beer spilling from his upraised glass called out “The Empire is going to make him a full forward!” to more raucous cheers from the throng.

Bert Ellis was in good company. In camp, or already on active service, were team mates Campbell and McKay, three of Newtown ruckman “Ob” Henderson’s brothers, Leo Bishop of East Sydney, Cyril and Eric Hughes of South Sydney and many others from Sydney’s close-knit Australian Rules community.

The playing ranks of the two great clubs of the day, Newtown, known as ‘The Newts’, and Paddington, known as ‘The Padds’, were severely depleted by enlistments. Amongst former ‘Padds’ players now in the ranks were Abotomey, Cotter, their pre-war captain, and one of their greatest ever players, Bertie Robinson, whose present whereabouts was unknown, much to the consternation of local football authorities.

At the end of 1914, Sydney’s Australian Rules scene was in disarray. The failure of the Australian Football ground venture at Botany had left the Association penniless. When the Paddington club called their meeting only two people showed up. Eventually the 1915 season started with only one club, North Shore, not being able to field a team.

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Here is the list of teams of 1915 with their colours where known:
Paddington (blue and white hoops), Newtown (red and white), Central Western, South Sydney (red and green), East Sydney (blue and gold) and Sydney (red socks).

The season was punctuated by player withdrawals due to the ever increasing number of enlistments. Many teams fielded understrength sides.

The East Sydney club was particularly hard hit. Under the district rule they had been allowed to call upon players from warships based in the harbour. Once war was declared these players were no longer available. It had been estimated that by 1915, at least 50 ex-East Sydney players had enlisted, perhaps the most of any football club in the country.

Rushcutters-oval
Rushcutters Bay Oval. One of Sydney’s major football venues in 1915.

On a blustery day at Rushcutters Bay Oval in August 1915, Newtown was over the moon to have Bert Ellis, now based at the army camp in Liverpool, turn up for their semi-final against Sydney.

Before the biggest crowd of the season and with the wind making high marking nigh impossible, Ellis starred in the winning side.

That beautiful ground nestled right on the harbour’s edge has a remarkable view across Sydney Harbour. It is quite feasible that a troopship passed by while the game was in progress as if to remind them that they were not immune from events on the far side of the world.

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Bay-view
The harbour view at the back of Ruschutter’s Bay Oval.

A week later at the SCG’s number two ground, Bert Ellis was again able to turn out for Newtown in the grand final against arch-rivals Paddington. Unfortunately for The Newts, the Ellis magic couldn’t affect the result and The Padds won their first ever premiership.

Newtown’s send-off for Bert Ellis meant they didn’t dwell on their defeat too much. When Bert made his speech he proclaimed that even if he came back maimed, he would still support his beloved Newtown from the sidelines.

Almost a year later it was reported that Private Ellis had been wounded in action in France. As they say, be careful what you wish for.

On the other side of town, Paddington’s first ever premiership success was a slightly muted affair. Not only had the trophy gone missing (recovered a few days later) but there were thoughts for those who should have been in the club’s rooms including ex-club official Victor Trumper who had passed away a few months before, and others at the front including Walter Abotomey, Albert Cotter and the peerless Bertie Robinson.

Walter Abotomey, who had enlisted in 1915 had a colourful military career. He was selected for Dunsterforce, a top secret commando style unit whose members were hand-picked from decorated, courageous and super fit soldiers from Britain and the Commonwealth.

They operated from armoured cars in Iraq with the mission of preventing Russian Bolsheviks gaining access to crucial middle-east oil supplies.

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Albert “Tibby” Cotter, also a Test Cricketer with a penchant for breaking stumps with his pace deliveries, served at Gallipoli before transferring to the Light Horse and was killed in 1917 during the battle of Beersheeba.

Bertie “Robbie” Robinson, born in South Melbourne, had once starred for a combined Sydney team that defeated the mighty Geelong at the Australian Football Ground. He was an extremely gifted player and his evasive skills were highly regarded.

He enlisted in May 1915, was assigned to the fourth Battalion and sailed on the transport Karoola in June. On the sixth August 1915, just as the sun was setting, the fourth Battalion went over the top at Lone Pine. Bert Robinson was killed during the fierce hand-to-hand fighting that raged for three days. His body was never found. Bert had arrived at Gallipoli just two days before.

Australian Rules football has come a long way in Sydney. And although the Swans roots are in South Melbourne, in some ways they and the Giants are also spiritual heirs to those grand old Sydney clubs.

Wouldn’t it be fitting, in the remaining few years of 100-year commemorations, if the Swans could don the red and white of Newtown (easily done) and GWS the blue and white of Paddington in a heritage round match honouring those local footballers who put their lives on the line for their country.

For just one day the rivalry between The Newts and The Padds could live again.

You can catch the second part of the ‘Untold Stories’ series tomorrow on the Football section.

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