An Introduction to Aussie Rules
Earlier this summer we wrote a post about sports that inspire travel. Another great idea would be sports that are unique to certain countries. This guest post beat me to my own idea and since we didn’t know that first thing about Aussie Rules Football, we thought it would be great to start a guest post series about sports.
Does your country have a sport that is unique to the nation? Are you wild about a certain sport that other countries may not know much about. Canadians love hockey, but Americans love Baseball. What about Rugby, Football, Lacrosse or Cricket. If you have any ideas send them in to us.
Australia is famous for many things. Kangaroo’s, BBQ’s, the culture, the people, the Opera House… but not the sport.
The Famous Sydney Opera House
Photo by Linh_rom
The general perception of sport in Australia consists mainly of cricket, both of the rugby codes and the occasional football team. With it’s chilled out, laid back stereotype, it seems like a country that approaches sport with a ‘take it or leave it’ kind of attitude.
But Aussie Rules is Different
As the name suggests, it’s Australian Rules football. And I use the term football very loosely; as it’s often described as a compound of football, rugby, basketball and vests. If you find yourself taking advantage of some of the cheap flights to Australia, then we would definitely recommend checking out a game of Aussie Rules; read on to find out more about this game.
Photo by Michael Spencer
Created in 1858 by the founder of Australian Football, Tom Wills, who came back to Oz from England where he’d been teaching cricket and football at Rugby School.
The first recorded game was between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School in the winter of 1858. The game was an instant hit, and now the Australian Football League includes 16 clubs from all over Australia.
Many of the 16 teams are the foundation teams that were the first to sign up to the then Victorian Football League in 1896, such as Carlton, Collingwood and Fitzroy.
Photo by Torbreck
The game consists of two teams of 18 players, both with 4 substitutes. The aim of the game is to kick the ball between any of the four rugby-type posts, with the highest points being awarded to the ones that go through the middle two.
Players must not throw the ball, and the must bounce the ball every few steps if they run with it. With it being played with a ball similar to a rugby ball, this is not an easy feat.
Renowned for it’s high contact rate, technicality and fierce tackling, it’s one of the major participation sports in Australia. There is high competition between the teams, as most of them have a very rich history of playing each other at the sport.
The only official governing body for the sport is the Australian Football League, which is the equivalent to the FA in English football, and moderates the rules and regulations and disciplinary procedures for the game.
Aussie Rules is still growing at an exponential rate outside of Australia, and it is participated in at amateur level in several countries, although the AFL is still the only professional organization.
It’s also popular as a training exercise for both football and rugby teams, as it helps provide kicking accuracy and control of the ball. As well as helping improve special awareness. Even the renowned English Oxbridge institution has taken to playing the game.
It’s a definite must for anyone who wants to travel to Australia or wants to delve into the sporting aspect of Oz.
Written by Adam Reaney
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Great post! I got a pretty good handle on rugby when we traveled through Auz/NZ, but Aussie Rules still confuses me. I guess it’s like trying to explain baseball to cricket fans?
I would never describe Australia as having a “laid-back” “‘take it or leave it’ kind of attitude” towards sport. Towards everything else, yes. But sport is essentially the Australian religion.
The popular saying is that the second most important job in Australia is that of Captain of the cricket team! (The most important is the Prime Minister) We’ve also got netball, tennis, rugby union, rugby league, soccer, and of course Australian rules.
So while I agree that anyone travelling to Australia should check out an AFL match if they’re into sport, don’t come thinking it’s the one and only sport that fires us up! If you come in summer we’ll be glued to the cricket or the Australian Open tennis champs instead!
i thought the same thing when i read ‘take it or leave it’ with sport. unfortuanatly afl gets all the publicity. for example many people dont know is that the aussie netball team is currently the world champions.
This is something I love about guest posts and comments from people. We all learn something. Blog are awesome in that they encourage discussion and people can instantly share their point of view.
I guess as an observer Adam feels that Aussies are relaxed when it comes to sports, Australians are quick to point out that this is totally wrong. Aussies love sports and are mad about it. We learned something new and when we go to Australia, we are definitely going to check out a game of Aussie Rules Football and see for ourselves.
I will NEVER understand this sport.
.-= Andi´s last blog ..Brasil- Day 5 =-.
Every time I visit Melbourne I take in an Aussie Rules game at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground). I’ll admit it took a few times before I finally grasped all the rules, but once I did, I was hooked!
.-= Earl´s last blog ..The Day Blueberry Yogurt Saved My Life =-.
Awesome idea for a post, or series of posts! It’s interesting how sports can define a country. I’ve found, though, that even if you don’t understand the rules, sport is kind of like a universal language. I wrote a post not too long ago about going to a rugby match in NZ. I didn’t really understand all the rules, but it didn’t matter in the end. The only thing that mattered was beating the Aussies!
http://www.dangerous-business.com/2010/09/hakas-rucks-and-scrums-oh-my-attending-a-nz-rugby-match/
.-= Amanda´s last blog ..Coming face to face with another kind of travel =-.