This year's international tour is taking place at the same time as the Australian referendum on the foundation of a republic and the removal of the British crown is beginning to gain momentum.

Despite some polls showing a split vote, the campaign has so far outed far more celebrities in favour of change as opposed to the status quo.

Last week, for instance, popular world champion athlete Cathy Freeman casually dropped the news during a press conference that she favoured a republic.

Most opposition has concentrated on the proposal to elect a president on a two-thirds majority in parliament. Running the anti-politician line has been the staple diet of the No campaign and hardly any reference has been made to the merits of retaining the monarchy of Queen Elizabeth - or King Charles III as Yes advocates allude to it.

A poll of celebrities in last week's Herald Sun in Melbourne turned out the usual substantial vote in favour. Amongst them was Aussie Rules star Spider Everitt who succinctly stated the case for the republic:

"Who wants some bird with a tiara who lives 12,000 miles away as their head of state?"

Yesterday after the Adelaide press conference for tomorrow's second Test in Football Park, the Yes campaign was quickly on hand to snap up the services of Australia's captain and vice-captain, Nathan Buckley and Shane Crawford.

AFL PRO Patrick Keane said that whereas there was no objection to the players as individuals taking part in the campaign advertisement, the AFL would prefer not to be implicated. "If citizen Buckley and citizen Crawford want to make their opinions known we don't have a problem with that but we'd rather it wasn't done wearing the national team's guernsey."

For his part citizen Keane summed up the referendum by saying, "you've got to leave home at some stage".

The international series has actually stirred up some strongly patriotic feelings amongst the Australian players and public.

Frequently players refer to the honour of representing their country and at the press conference, coach Dermott Brereton mentioned how affected he was when first pulling on his squad T-shirt after his appointment six weeks ago.

"I looked down at the coat-of-arms and it was a great feeling. At the first Test I was talking to a 70-something man who hadn't been to watch a game of footie in 20-odd years. He told me the last time he played under the coat-of-arms was on the Kokoda trail."

(The Kokoda trail was an engagement between the Australian army and the Japanese in Papua New Guinea during the second World War.)

Shane Crawford didn't sound the most practised republican - "I haven't really thought about it that much" - although there was no ambiguity about his feelings on the referendum and anyway for ideological assistance, he had a campaign aparatchik hovering nervously on his shoulder before the advertisement was shot.

"I think it's important we have people from our own country in charge," said Crawford, "and I think it's important. I think it will go very well but you can never be sure until it's done."