> 14 percent of elite afl players are indigenous
> Austrlian rules football was the first style of football to be codified IN THE WORLD (May 1859)
> The sport it is most similar to is Gaelic football
At first glance AFL didn't look too different from rugby to me. The children we watched playig were older than those we had happened to watch playing rugby. The refferee was noticeably more intense and into the game.
I learned that parents actually prefer it to rugby because of how it is less violent and more of a cross between rugby and soccer. The sport only just caught on in sydney within the last 10 to 15 years. To me a characteristic difference is how they punt the ball quite far at several times. Another difference was how, if they start grappling for the ball, the ref promptly blows whistle. The players can only run ten paces, then must bounce it or touch it on the ground, otherwise must pass or kick. There are even specifics relating to tackling in that they must only tackle between the shoulder and the hip.The field upon which they played was way larger than the rugby field, although I'm not sure if that is a standard difference or if it is because the rugby players were in a younger age group.
One thing I found incredibly surprising is that girls were out there playing too!! Right alongside the boys. In the US boys and girls are almost always on separate teams in separate leagues in what can sometimes even be completely separate versions of the same sport, altered due to gender (for example men's vs. women's lacrosse). Other differences I noted in terms of the appearance of the players is that they wear shorter shorts and high socks. I hear that professional players are physically built differently too, in contrast to the stocky, thick-necked rugby players because they do so much running and are leaner and quicker. The game itself seems infinitely faster as well because the ball can go so far so quickly because of the added element of kicking.
No comments:
Post a Comment