Aussie Rules

[Tyrone Biggums]

To the uninitiated eye (mine) it seems like a haphazard mishmash of punching the ball, kicking it, running with it, all done headless chicken-style by too many men dressed in worryingly tight shorts offset with 1980s era tank tops that are again too tight. And the ref throwing the ball back into 'play' over his head! What is that about?

I can see that the NFL came from rugby, but the AFL?!? Were the Aussies so desperate to carve out their own identity through a 'unique' national sport that they combined bits of football, rugby, athletics, boxing and whatever else is in there to bring us 'Aussie Rules,' which to me seems over-complicated and slightly silly for the sake of it.
Awaits the onslaught

The oldest football club of any code in the world is an Australian Rules club.

 

[rosscrudos]

AFL is a great game and it's not that complicated! I almost prefer it to footy now, the clubs do loads in their local communities, fans at games aren't segregated and there is a great atmosphere plus it's only about the equivalent of a tenner to go to a game!

Go the doggies!

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Having played the game for many years it is a fun sport to be involved in.

But as a spectator sport it's almost unrivalled for value for money and excitement.

There's never any 0-0 draws and there's always something spectacular at least once a game.

Best sport in the world.

 

[South Yarra Seagull]

it is quite an entertaining game to watch. Impossible to deny the athleticism, fitness, strength and skill of the top level players.

it is a Victorian game and features as highly in the media here as the real footy does in England.

I live down the road from the MCG and have attended quite a few matches in the time i have been here, am a Geelong fan from 2001.

I don't think that it is a particularly good game for TV, cos the ground is so big (basically a cricket pitch) you dont see all the movement on tv - you get a much better idea of the movement required when watching it live.

Top Level AFL players are very large fish in a fairly small pond over here. Their every move, affair, beer and bar brawl are analysed to the nth degree by all sections of the media, for example ; Security guards for Collingwood players | Herald Sun

With the 3 year old real football league and following from Australia'a WC2006 showing there has been a surge in "football v footy" sentiment in the Aussie sporting landscape. In a country of 20 million, the battle is on to capture the hearts and minds and parents of young athletes and offer a suitable career path.

There is, IMHO, genuine xenophobia in some sections of AFL against soccer, it has always been seen as a 'foreign' game and not 'aussie' enough. I think this basically means not enough fighting.

There are some ideas that could follow through into real football. A salary cap wont work, nor would the centralised recruitment system, nor the idea that the bottom team gets first pick of new recruits, but i like the tribunal system over here.

All matches are reviewed on Mondays and then anything the umpires missed during the game gets picked up then. I believe this could work in real football.

 

[perth seagull]

The oldest football club of any code in the world is an Australian Rules club.

Actually, I think it's Sheffield FC.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

I live down the road from the MCG and have attended quite a few matches in the time i have been here, am a Geelong fan from 2001.

Glory Hunter

For me, AFL is second only to proper football as a spectator sport. It's very fast, very athletic, pretty violent (though not as violent as non-spectators think) & quite often very close. It's much harder to close shop like you can do in football, so plenty of points are scored throughout.

For real drama, watch the two West Coast V Sydney finals of 2005 & 2006... Sydney won by 4 points in 2005 & lost by a point in 2006. Unbelievable tension and entertainment.

I love AFL.

 

[South Yarra Seagull]

Glory Hunter

Not me! When i landed in Oz in 2001 I stayed with the then g/f's family in Geelong. Her old man bought me a membership and i was hooked.

They were rubbish then, but stuck with the coach while many others were calling for his head.

I saw G Ablett Jr's and Jimmy Bartel's debut's...

 

[The Maharajah of Sydney]

Having played the game for many years it is a fun sport to be involved in.

But as a spectator sport it's almost unrivalled for value for money and excitement.

There's never any 0-0 draws and there's always something spectacular at least once a game.

Best sport in the world.

I went to my one & only game about 10 years ago . It was between the Swans and Bombers . It ended in a 90 All Draw ....

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

I went to my one & only game about 10 years ago . It was between the Swans and Bombers . It ended in a 90 All Draw ....

A 90-90 draw has alot more action in it than a 0-0 draw

Though with the Swans that's not always the case as they are boring as bat shit and I hate them.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Actually, I think it's Sheffield FC.

You were right!

By about a year they are.

Though they haven't quite reached the heights of the next two oldest clubs in Geelong and Melbourne.

 

[Badger]

For real drama, watch the two West Coast V Sydney finals of 2005 & 2006... Sydney won by 4 points in 2005 & lost by a point in 2006. Unbelievable tension and entertainment.

I remember that 2005 final, I believe we both got hammered and watched it in your local in Sydney. I used to just think it was one of those weird sports only shown on Trans World Sport on a Sunday morning but once I watched a few matches in Australia and learnt the rules I discovered it was a quality game.

There is usually at least one entertaining fight during a game and the great thing is the ref doesn't spoil it by interfering.

 

[Pavilionaire]

The rules are about as easy as it gets - 6 points between the centre posts, 1 for a behind and you can't run with the ball - even my mum could understand that.

Very similar to Gaelic Football. I recall an Irish player for Melbourne called Jim Stynes who crossed codes from Gaelic to Aussie.