19 men

Robert O'Hara Burke left Melbourne 150 years ago this month with a party of 19, including himself. That's about the size of a footy team, which got me thinking that there are some similarities between Burke's Victorian Exploring Expedition and an AFL team down on its luck.
When you aren't winning - what do you do? You keep making changes to your side. Burke started dropping players before the kick-off. The 19 that were announced as the team on 18 August 1860 at the Royal Society Hall were not the same as those who took the field in Royal Park two days later. Burke dropped two men on the day in between, and one more on the day (turned up drunk). So he named three new players on the day.
As they trekked through Victoria, he added two more to the interchange bench. He reviewed the line-up again in Swan Hill, dropping three and picking two new recruits. One of these, Charley Gray, was subsequently to hold a key place on the forward line.
Although he'd told the Royal Society (who were the equivalent of club management) that he now had his "dream team" in place in Swan Hill, before long he decided that he could manage with less (he had salary cap problems) and the team size was reduced by four in Balranald. One of those dropped was Ferguson, who wasn't a good team player (American, you understand).
Now we get to Menindee, where there was another shakeout. Landells resigned, and Wills was moved to the forward line. The backline of Becker, Beckler et al was left behind while the rest of the team moved forward. Wright was recruited and moved toward the centre with the rest of the team, but was sent back to the back line later.
At Cooper Creek, Brahe, McDonough, Patten and Dost Mahomet stayed to hold the fort at the centre line, while the forward line of Burke, Wills, Gray and King moved goalwards at last. Their efforts were rewarded with the big score in February 1861 (although the South Australians will tell you that it really hit the post, as Burke and Wills didn't actually see the open sea, just the tidal flats).
Meanwhile, the back line was still milling about in Menindee. Wright added a three more players, then started a forward move to support the centre line. They meanwhile, with no news from the forwards and injury problems, were retreating toward the back line. The two groups met on the half back line at Bulloo, where the old injuries took a terrible toll - four men were carried off (probably by scurvy).
And the forwards? the heroes who'd kicked the big goal? When they returned to the centre, their supporters had just given up and left (a mere 9 hours before). They'd had their own injury problems, with Gray left for dead on the way back down the field. And despite some great efforts by indigenous players who'd been contributing to the play from time to time, only one of the three remaining forwards survived the season. John King was picked up by Howitt's team in September 1861, and made it back to Melbourne, as had the rest of the Expedition team by then.
But even if they didn't get back, Burke and Wills are still remembered as heading one of the most famous teams in the exploration game.