There are many versions of the origins of our Australian game of football, but all of them include T.W. Wills in some way. A champion cricketer, he had been exposed to the game of rugby when he was at Rugby School in England. In Melbourne in 1858, with several other men, he organised the first football match, thinking the sport was a great way to keep fit between cricket seasons.

But the story ascends the sporting field. In 1861, his father was killed in outback Queensland during the largest massacre of Europeans by First Nations people. Tom survived the massacre. Five years later, Tom Wills was captain and coach of Aboriginal cricketers who formed the first Australian cricket team to tour England. He seemed fearless, strong-willed and indestructible; but at 44 years of age, Tom Wills took his own life. Greg de Moore’s meticulous research provides a deep and thoughtful perspective on the dramatic life of this extraordinary man.

Associate Professor Greg de Moore is a psychiatrist, historian and author. His four books include Tom Wills: the insubordinate life of an Australian spor6ng legend, which blends mental health and Australian history. Winning numerous awards, it was short-listed for the Na>onal Biography Award. He is also co- author of Australia’s Game, which documents the history of Australian Rules football from the mid- nineteenth century to the present, and Finding Sanity: John Cade, lithium and the taming of bipolar disorder, the biography of John Cade and Australia's greatest mental health achievement: the discovery of lithium for the treatment of bipolar disorder.