Aussie Sport Part. 1 - Aussie Rules

Late at night, around once a year on ESPN you may catch a glimpse of a bunch of Aussies sporadically kicking a big football back and forth. If you are so lucky (I mean really lucky, it is rarely on TV in the states {correction, AFL has not been on ESPN in ten or more years, thank you Australian Football Association of North America}) to see such a silly spectacle, this is Aussie rules football, or AFL as they call it (not to be confused with the AFL). Saturday was the grand final, the equivalent of our Super Bowl.

Aussies love their sport (they choose to drop the "s") and among the most popular is Aussie rules football. In fact, I think "footy"is the most popular sport here, just not in this household.

It is a mixture of rugby and soccer. Supposedly, it was based on Gaelic football (again, thanks AFANA), and brought over by settlers in the 1800's. The game was officially formed in the 1850's to give cricket players something to do in the off season. The object of the game is to get the ball or "footy" through the opponents goal posts at the end of the field.

The game is played on a giant oval, probably because they used old cricket fields back in the day. (it actually looks like a giant football from above) To start, the football is bounced in the center, much like the tip-off in basketball. The ball is shaped like our football, only a little rounder and bigger. It is about halfway between a football and a rugby ball in size. Teams can advance the ball by kicking, handballing (basically a underhanded Volleyball serve), or running. Like in most Aussie sports, kicking is the most important aspect of game. Aussies have very strong legs from running all the time from dangerous animals, so it only makes sense that they would enjoy kicking things. If the ball is kicked far enough and gets caught, the catcher can either run with the ball or take a step back to signal a free kick (which is just as the name describes). Players are allowed to run the ball, but only if they bounce it every ten steps or so (I officially challenge you to run with a football and bounce it back to yourself like a basketball...seriously, go outside and try it right now). If a player gets tackled, they must get rid of the ball right away, or it is dead and gets bounced for possession.

There are four posts at each side of the oval. If the ball is kicked unobstructed through the middle posts it called a goal and earns six points If the ball gets kicked through either of the outer posts, it is called a behind and earns one point. If the balls get touched by an opposing player while going through the middle post only one point is earned.

Each team has 18 players which can be dispersed in any way possible across the field (so basically, there are no "sides"). The team with the most points after four quarters wins the game.

It is actually a fascinating game with lots of skill involved. Many goals are scored at a very wide angle (so that means that players are kicking the kicking the ball into skinny band with mere inches to spare). Much like our football, it is a contact sport with lots of strategy. Since there are no "sides" players are dispersed all around the field, not just in a big line. This makes moving down the field a bit more difficult because you can tackled from any angle. There is very little stopping and play is more or less continuous until goals are scored. Aussies look down upon many of our sports because there is too much stopping. This sports has little international appeal due to its silliness, although it is played a bit in Ireland and New Zealand. In fact, there is an annual Ireland vs. Australia competition.

The hype of the grand final does not equal our Super Bowl. It was played in the middle of the afternoon and it did not seem very corporatized (which I found refreshing). This doesn't downplay the importance of the game, there weren't any people out and about between two and four in the afternoon.