‘Up There Cazaly’ by Mike Brady is Australia’s most iconic sporting anthem by a margin of almost 3:1 over ‘Down Under’
A special Roy Morgan SMS Poll shows that ‘Up There Cazaly’ by Mike Brady was named by 28% of Australians – unprompted – as an iconic Australian sporting anthem compared to 11% who named ‘Down Under’ by Men At Work and 9% who named ‘Waltzing Matilda’ by Banjo Paterson.
A representative cross-section of 1,103 Australians were asked via SMS: "When thinking about iconic Australian sporting anthems, what song, or songs, come to mind?" Multiple answers to the question were allowed.
Other well-known songs mentioned as iconic Australian sporting anthems included ‘C’mon Aussie C’mon’ (8% of respondents), the national anthem ‘Advance Australia Fair’ (7%), ‘Simply The Best’ by Tina Turner (5%), ‘Holy Grail’ by Hunters and Collectors (5%) and AFL club theme songs (4%).
Top 10 Iconic Australian Sporting Anthems (Unprompted responses)
Source: Roy Morgan SMS Poll survey, Friday January 24 – Wednesday January 29, 2025. n=1,103.
Base: Australians 14+
Two-thirds of Australians (66%) agree ‘Up There Cazaly’ is an Iconic Australian Sporting Anthem
When Australians were asked directly, "Do you consider Mike Brady's Australian Football anthem 'Up There Cazaly' to be one of Australia's most iconic sporting songs? Yes, or No." the results are even more conclusive.
Two-thirds of Australians, 66%, agree that ‘Up There Cazaly’ is an Iconic Australian Sporting Anthem – and this sentiment is widespread – extending to 69% of women and 63% of men.
For Australians aged 35+ - around 80% or more agree the song is an Iconic Australian Sporting Anthem.
However, for younger Australians – under 35 – only a third (33%) consider ‘Up There Cazaly’ to be an Iconic Australian Sporting Anthem.
Is ‘Up There Cazaly’ an iconic Australian Sporting Anthem – By Gender & Age
Source: Roy Morgan SMS Poll survey, Friday January 24 – Wednesday January 29, 2025. n=1,103.
Base: Australians 14+
70% of people in all States except NSW agree ‘Up There Cazaly’ is an Iconic Australian Sporting Anthem
‘Up There Cazaly’ is seen as an Iconic Australian Sporting Anthem around the country – with one exception.
The highest recognition comes from Tasmanians (85%), Western Australians and South Australians (both 78%).
Just behind are people in the ‘Home of Australian Football’ Victoria (74%) and Queenslanders (70%). Only in the home of Rugby League, New South Wales, is the song not clearly regarded as an ‘Iconic Australian Sporting Anthem’ with respondents split 50% cf. 50% on the question.
There is little difference between people in regional areas and cities when it comes to ‘Up There Cazaly’ with 68% of people in Country Areas and 64% of people in Capital Cities saying that the song is an ‘Iconic Australian Sporting Anthem’.
Is ‘Up There Cazaly’ an iconic Australian Sporting Anthem – By Region & State
Source: Roy Morgan SMS Poll survey, Friday January 24 – Wednesday January 29, 2025. n=1,103.
Base: Australians 14+
Association with the ‘Sprit of the game’ and the AFL Grand Final an important factor in Iconic Status
Respondents were then asked to explain why they considered ‘Up There Cazaly’ to be an Iconic Australian Sporting Anthem.
The most popular reason, mentioned by 27% of respondents, was that ‘Up There Cazaly’ is strongly associated with the Australian Football League (AFL) and ‘Represents the spirit of the game’ and that it is a song that is consistently played during AFL matches and especially at the AFL Grand Final.
Another key reason for many respondents was that ‘Up There Cazaly’ is regarded as iconic because it’s a ‘Classic song’, it’s ‘well-known’ and ‘recognisable’ and ‘the song has ‘been around for a long time’ – these types of reasons were mentioned by over a fifth of respondents, 21%.
The third most widely stated reason, mentioned by 16% of respondents, related to ‘Nostalgia’ and ‘Familiarity’, and that it’s the ‘first song that comes to mind’.
Also attracting many respondents was simply the song itself which was described as ‘great’, ‘fun’, ‘catchy’ and ‘easy-to-sing-along to’ and ‘good music’. One-in-ten respondents (10%) complemented the song in this way – including those saying ‘I like the song’ and it represents ‘good music’ and has a ‘good chorus and lyrics’.
In fifth position and mentioned by almost 1-in-12 respondents (8%) is that the song is ‘Patriotic’, and ‘represents Australian culture’. It’s by a well-known ‘Australian artist’ and is distinctly and uniquely an ‘Australian song’.
Michele Levine CEO Roy Morgan, says ‘Up There Cazaly’ by Mike Brady has emerged as clearly Australia’s most iconic sporting anthem – mentioned by more Australians than the next three songs combined:
“An impressive 28% of Australians thought of the Australian Football tribute song, ‘Up There Cazaly’ by Mike Brady, when asked to name an iconic Australian sporting anthem – unprompted.
“When Australians were asked directly whether ‘Up There Cazaly’ was one of Australia’s ‘most iconic sporting songs’ – a stunning 66% of respondents said it was. This clear majority was reflected for both women (69% of respondents) and men (63%) and 80% of Australians aged 35+.
“The only glaring exception is younger Australians aged under 35 – only a third (33%) of this age group consider the song to be one of Australia’s ‘most iconic sporting songs’. There is clearly more work, and singing, for Mike Brady to do to bring along a new generation of fans.
“There were many well-known Australian songs mentioned by respondents as being iconic sporting anthems – but all were well behind the clear favourite.
“In second place was ‘Down Under’ by Men At Work (11% of respondents) ahead of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ by Banjo Paterson (9%), ‘C’mon Aussie C’mon (8%) and the national anthem ‘Advance Australia Fair’ (7%) in fifth place.
“Other songs to be recalled by respondents included ‘Simply The Best’ by Tina Turner (5% of respondents), ‘Holy Grail’ by Hunters & Collectors (5%), AFL club theme songs (4%), ‘You’re The Voice’ by John Farnham (3%) and ‘I Am Australian’ by The Seekers (2%).
“The iconic status of the song was explained by 27% of respondents as being based on ‘Its association with the AFL’, ‘Representing the spirit of the game’ and ‘being played during AFL matches and especially the AFL Grand Final while 21% of respondents mentioned it as a ‘Classic song’, ‘Well-known and recognisable’ and ‘has been around for a long-time’ – which is true as ‘Up There Cazaly’ was first released by Mike Brady nearly 50 years ago in 1979.
“The song itself is about former Australian Rules Football ruckman Roy Cazaly who played 198 games for St. Kilda (99 games) and South Melbourne (99 games) from 1911-1927. Cazaly was well-known for his high-flying and spectacular marks – a feature many claim as unique to the code.
“As well as representing two VFL clubs, Cazaly who was born in Albert Park (mid-way between St. Kilda and South Melbourne), played state football for both Victoria and Tasmania and was one of the 12 inaugural ‘Legends’ inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996.”////
This special Roy Morgan Snap SMS survey was conducted with an Australia-wide cross-section of 1,103 Australians aged 14+ from Friday January 24 –Wednesday January 29, 2024.
For further comment or more information contact:
Michele Levine 0411 129 093 or Gary Morgan 0411 129 094 or email askroymorgan@roymorgan.com.
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
