Australian Rules Football

[Goliath]

Hey as you know im an aussie and like a lot of other aussies I enjoy AFL which is the Australian Football League. I was wondering how many overseas have heard of this type of football and have maybe even seen a match?

[wern]

ahaha AFL. NRL is the only way to go mate.

[Goliath]

I take it you are from NSW or queensland or some place away from Victoria?

I never quite took to NRL. I do love to watch some every now and then though.

[wern]

Funny you say that coz when you made the thread I though, pfft Victorian, go Essendon!!!! :mrgreen

Which team do you support?

I am from Sydney. NRL rocks!

[Goliath]

I go for the Essendon Bombers!

They had a great match friday night against Carlton but got beaten by four points.

[wern]

Oh well. My team lost over the weekend too. Sydney Roosters. Bastards!

[Katsz]

Sometimes they would show Aussie Football highlights on ESPN over here in the states. I always wondered, what does it mean when the refs do that thing where they point their fingers at the same time?

[wern]

You're serious !???? geez that's odd. It' not an international sport. It would suck for a yank to become an AFL fan coz you couldn't ever go to a game without shelling out some big $$$,


The fingers mean a goal/try

[Katsz]

I haven't seen it in quite some time, but it's more well-known than you'd think. Most Americans would just call it "rugby on crack", because that's all we can relate to. I kind of wish they'd show it again, because it was pretty fun to watch.

[wern]

hmm are you sure your talking about AFL? There are three codes in australia:
AFL, NRL and Union.
NRL sounds more like "rubgy on crack". NRL is the most violent rubgy there is. It basically involves people launching themselves like canon balls at each other without any armour besides groin and teeth protection. In every game at least 2 people get concussed, at least one person breaks their nose.

Ever heard of a sin bin? Its when you have to take time off from the game for a big penalty and your team is left with one less player on the field as a result. In NRL they have the blood bin as well - its when they make you leave because you are bleeding so badly that it affecting other players' performance - because it is squirting all over them.

NOW THATS RUGBY ON CRACK.

[Goliath]

They probably do call AFL rugby on crack because it is a lot different to most other ball sports close to it. Like rugby.

When the goal umpire puts his hands out with two hands pointing out it is a goal, one hand is a point.

[wern]

Does essendon do a lot of showboating? The Roosters have fireworks at every home game and have their own Tom Jones song. At Chinese new year they had this massive chinese new years show (as it is the year of the rooster, whatever).. ofcourse they also have all the other entertainment ie cheerleaders etc.

[Goliath]

No I dont think so. They do have a lot of supporters though. Teams like Bombers, Richmond, Collingwood, Carlton and Geelong all have a lot of supporters. Probably coz their some of the oldest teams.

[Ed]

On Fox Sports World Canada, they regularly show what they call Australian Rules Football but I don't know what league that might refer to. I watch it when in the mood for a change. My main sport is English footy. Someone mentioned that it would be a drag to support something in Australia because of the distance. While it is a drag never to be able to go to games, tv coverage and internet coverage helps a great deal :D

[wern]

aussie rules football involves a lot of kicking and passing forward. those are the main ways of winning the game. NRL and Union involve a lot of tackling and dodging playes, and you can only pass backwards.

[Goliath]

There is much dodging and loads of tackling. Id be stupid to say there is more than NRL though.

[wern]

yeh that's right. NRL is about them tackles. And getting smashed. Sometimes you can hear the slapping sound of the tackles from the seats 40 meters from the actual tackle. Now thats a sport!!! :twisted:

[Goliath]

The best tackles in AFL are when the player has no idea he is about to get tackled and a opposing player just cleans him up :D

[wern]

hehehe tell me about it. I love that in NRL, but my fave NRL tackles are when one player takes down a bigger player one on one with a lifting tackle.