The Australian Rules Football Thread

[shnsajax]

This thread may die in two days but what the hell, I have always loved watching it. ESPN2 now shows a match every Friday night @ 11pm. I remember last years final getting a pretty good reception here.

 

Still have 8 weeks to go in the regular season before the playoffs start.

 

http://www.afl.com.au/

[CubInOK]

Yea I'm trying to watch it right now and I have no clue what's going on other than how scoring works.

[OleMissCub]

watch this thread be longer and have 10 times as many views as the college baseball thread

 

:twisted:

[Clem Fandango]

I've never watched it so I haven't a clue about any of it, but is this different than Rugby or is this the same thing under a different moniker (or vice versa)?

[TruffleShuffle]

... Edited August 5, 2010 by TruffleShuffle

[inari]

One of the absolute best in person sporting events in the world, IMO.

[brinoch]

One of the absolute best in person sporting events in the world, IMO.

 

Agreed. Saw one game live in Adelaide when I was in Australia forever ago. Really, really fun.

[shnsajax]

I've never watched it so I haven't a clue about any of it, but is this different than Rugby or is this the same thing under a different moniker (or vice versa)?

 

no, it's pretty different than rugby. in rugby you must pass the ball backwards, try to run it across the end line and there are scrums. aussie rules has no scrums, lots of forward passing, more kicking and the only way you can score is by kicking.

 

Its pretty easy to pick up the basic concept to follow as well. If you kick the ball and your teammate catches it in the air it is basically a free kick. Outside of that you are going to be hit. I think these are probably the toughest SOB's I have seen play any sport.

[Magnetic Curses]

when i lived in seattle i used to go to this irish bar that always had the gaelic football games on. that place would get hella crowded during those things. i must admit, it looks pretty rad.

 

[shnsajax]

Yeah Gaelic Football is cool, they used to show it on Fox Sports about 10 years ago every now and then. Actually it might have just been a weekly highlight show but still fun to watch.

[TruffleShuffle]

... Edited August 5, 2010 by TruffleShuffle

[chuckywang]

Anybody have a link to Gary Ablett's 1994 mark that was dubbed The Mark of the Century? I've looked everywhere but can't find it.

 

BTW, if you don't appreciate what footy players do, just take a look at this video:

[wvcbxl]

I think these are probably the toughest SOB's I have seen play any sport.

 

Ever watched any hurling?

[bcl412]

Our sports kind of suck compared to the ones mentioned in this thread. I don't see how I could like baseball, basketball or American football if I didn't grow up with them and was presented with these options.

[TruffleShuffle]

... Edited August 5, 2010 by TruffleShuffle

[shnsajax]

i read the monday paper at work, and footie is definitely the big sport in western australia (in new south wales, for example, rugby is bigger). they had multi-page pieces about the west coast eagles and the fremantle dockers (they're not allowed to call themselves the dockers because they got sued by the clothing brand, but everyone calls them that anyway), and every match in the premiership got its own page. then there were a couple of pieces about how some of western australia's non-premiership teams fared. i'd say it was close to 20 pages of footie coverage.

 

Is there a promotion/relegation system?

[TruffleShuffle]

... Edited August 5, 2010 by TruffleShuffle

[wvcbxl]

...then there's cricket ...

 

Since the Maracana was scaled down to 95,000 seats for safety reasons, MCG is the largest sports stadium in the Southern hemisphere.

[TruffleShuffle]

... Edited August 5, 2010 by TruffleShuffle

[Garwilly]

my new apartment is less than a mile from the subiaco oval, where both the west coast eagles and fremantle play. i've been told that a number of the bars in subi get pretty full when the eagles play, so i think i'll have to make them my primary team, even though they are dead last this year.

 

Seems appropriate for a Cubs fan.

[TruffleShuffle]

... Edited August 5, 2010 by TruffleShuffle

[wvcbxl]

mark lecras has kicked 10 goals (tied for the AFL season high) for my eagles as we're beating up on essendon 107-71 with one quarter left. the guy marking lecras has just gotten abused all game long, but he seems in the zone - his ninth kick was from 35 meters and a really tough angle.

 

So basically, your arrival seems to have turned around the team. 8-)

[TruffleShuffle]

.... Edited August 5, 2010 by TruffleShuffle

[TruffleShuffle]

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[TruffleShuffle]

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