Aussie Rules Football (AFL) is quickly becoming one of my favorite sports. physical, high scoring, no commercial breaks, action packed... It hasn't been aired here in the states for quite some time, until FoxSports picked it up this year. I've been recording the Finals (playoffs) as the time zone difference here in the States puts the games on around 3 or 4AM, and got hooked. just watched today's match between the Bulldogs and Giants. was one of the better sporting events i've seen in quite awhile. intense. Bulldogs pulled out a close one to earn their first Grand Final appearance since 1961. I could relate to their fans excitement being a Jet fan.. Was wondering if any other Americans caught it, or if any of our Australian posters could share their thoughts on this years finals. Anyway, Grand Final next Fri night/Sat morn at 12:30AM EDT. set your recorders FS2 i believe. Bulldogs take on the Sydney Swans.. **EDIT** it will be aired on Fox Soccer plus only...
fvck me, just when i get hooked, the Grand Final will only be shown on Fox Soccer plus, which is a subscription channel. how do they show all the playoffs on FS2 or FS1, but the put the Final on a subscription channel? Anyone have a suggestion how else to view? Maybe i can order FS+ and then cancel it next day?
Interesting to see how rugby evolved in different places. My thinking is American football is going to devolve back toward something similar. American parents aren't letting their kids play football now in large numbers, it'll be nonexistent in another generation.
highlights from today's Bulldogs vs Giants playoff i was referencing. what a great game.. i like the play by play announcer too.....like an Aussie Doc Emrick.
Ripper of a game , Swans will be warm favourites, doggies emotional favourites , First 15 mins will be critical , swans with grand final experience will hit doggies hard with tackling etc , Swans have more players that can win the game , franklin , kennedy , hannerbery , parker Doggies best payer is Bontempelli, . A bit of history swans moved up to Sydney in the 80!s from Melbourne. They were going broke and the authorities thought by moving to sydney they could introduce aussie rules to a rugby state. Till then 4 Australian states were aussie rules and Queensland and New South wales (sydney is there) were rugby hardcore. Swans were fiven concessions and attracted high priced recruits . Last 10 years they have played finals winning 2 grand finals in 10 ?years ago. Western Bulldogs came into league in 1927 , one flag in 1954, last grand final 1961, lost 7 prelimanry finals till last night. Based in western suburbs of melbourne which is poor economic part. Not taken too seriously by others for many years . There best player ever was ted whitten . Because aussie rules is only played in Australia , the highest level one can play is playing for ones state. Ted played for Victoria and was involved after he retired. Ted had prostrate cancer and here is a video from a few months before he died. It was from a state game and I was there with 80000 others. Ted will be mentioned alot this week
I've been a fan for several years. I watch old games on youtube. I don't have a team so I just like watching a game.
Just when I was thinking these guys need some kind of head protection, 2 of them go down with head injuries/concussions.
great info.. I'm willing to bet the sport continues to grow in popularity across all aussie states. should really have a team in Tasmania by now, and i could imagine it even expanding into NZ and the islands eventually. i'm a rugby fan too, but find aussie rules more exciting the more i watch it. are you from Victoria? Who's your team?
Tassie has game played there by hawthorn and north melbourne, wont get a team thou Melbourne and Melbourne lol
of course Satan roots for the Demons I'm adopting the Kangaroos, just coz it's uniquely Australian.. why not in Tasmania? not enough population to support? Devils and Demons rivalry?
could go to 20, or relocate one of the Melbourne area teams....but i'm getting ahead of myself. selfishly i'd like the league to expand in popularity, with hopes of getting more tv coverage here.
Hi fellas. Been a while, hope all is well. Very exciting, I'll be at the big game next Saturday, should be close to 100,000 at the MCG, Melbourne Cricket Ground. We don't make a habit of counting what number Grand Final this is, unlike the Super Bowl, but we must be up in the 120s. The game was invented in 1858 as a way to keep cricket players busy during winter, which is why it is played on an oval pitch. They are cricket grounds in summer. There aren't many similarities to Rugby, apart from the general shape of the ball, otherwise they are very different sport. As a person born and bred on Aussie Rules of course I think it is the best game on earth. The highlights package shows a 5'6" player (with the helmet) a 6'10" player and everything in between. These guys typically run 8-10 miles per game, often at flat stick and without padding. Hits come from any direction and the skills are amazing. Watch the catch at 1.00 in the video. That sort of catch is allowed in AFL which makes it spectacular to watch.
Didn't Aussie Rules evolve from Gaelic football? The ball is different and the rules were adapted to play on cricket ovals, but the game is very similar in its basic rules. I seem to remember a series of challenge matches between an Irish and Australian team some years back. Great game to watch. I think I'm right in saying that traditionally NSW and Queensland played rugby in the winter and Victoria played Aussie Rules.
Okay, six points for a goal (between the tall center uprights, I guess) what is the one point "B" on the scoreboard? Any sports being played in Sydney or Brisbane in November?
Ball must go thru without being touched between tall posts for a goal. If its touched its a behind , 1 point. A ball going between a tall post and a short post is a behind. A ball hitting a tall post whether touched or not is a behind. A ball hitting a short post directly is a free kick to defending team . .if a behind is scored possesion is given to defending team who kick out of goal square. Golf or cricket maybe, also soccer , A league like MLS in usa
