Been watching Aussie rules football on ESPN. Looks like a great sport, though would appreciate any Aussie Rs who are aficionados to help out on some of the finer points of the game - like what the **** is going on? Read a bit and note that the clubs have a salary cap - not per player but in terms of total spend - and a salary floor of 95% of the cap. This sounds like an idea which would be great for football in England - evening everything up, if clubs want to spend a fortune on a couple of superstars, they will have to balance with home grown youngsters. Will never happen of course, because it encourages competition, and makes hyper rich owners irrelevant (unless of course the cap is set at such a high level that only the hyper rich can pay it....) Certainly seems simpler than all this Financial Fair Play stuff.
you might have to get one of the Melbourne lads to explain AFL. AFL is played all over but is mainly popular in the southern states victoria and south australia. we queenslanders are more in to rugby league. they have the a similar salary cap system in NRL over here. it has its merits but also flawed a lot of players leave the game and go to different codes. as for what is going on, the best way the game has ever been explained to me is sea gulls fighting over a chip. my personal opinion is there is a reason only aussie play it.
Yeah mate, it was played in the Uk for a while. the sport origionated from cricketers trying to keep fit during the off season, hence using cricket grounds. Not sure how the heck it got to its current format but its a good night out. Game goes for 2 hours with 4x30 min quarters and those boys really are fit. If can run around non stop on a cricket pitch you deserve plaudits. As for the game itself, I honestly dont think too many people actually know whats going on. Living across the road from the Gabba i get to see and meet the players quite a lot. they are a good bunch (Brisbane Lions) and willing stop and talk to you and give you the time of day ! Im not a massive fan of the game but it does have some positives. Firstly- at grass roots level & kids, it is second to none when it comes to involving kids and encouraging teamwork. it requires no real skill or brute force and as such all kids can play it. the league pump a lot of money into encouraging kids tyo play it, and obviously, 99% of players are home grown. secondly As they do in rugby, they have an interesting transfer policy. Im sure some of the other boys will correct me but it works along the lines of this. dependent on where you finish in the league, you get to do your transfers before everbody else. So the bottom 3 sides get to pick up thier new players first, then those above and finally the top teams. It means the top clubs dont instantly get the top players coming through & levels out the teams quite well. Could you imagine that in the Prem...QPR / Wigan/ Southampton etc getting first pick of an emergibng Rooney, Beckham or Scholes. It woks something like that anyway! My kids get regular visits o thier schools from the players and thier sports field is the Gabba tadium for sports days etc. Not a bad bonus! Anyway, the whole sport is geared around teamwork & very family based. Yes they generate a bit of money, but those at the top dont get ridiculous amounts due to the cap, and there not that much scandal. A few guys getting caught with Coke & a couple getting drunk is about as bad as it gets...Some of our Prem stars could take a look.
Nice one queenslander. There's been a fair bit of recent controversy with performance enhancing drug use though....come to think of it, there's been a lot in the media on loads of sports recently. If I grew up with AFl, I'd probably love it, but as it stands it's not a patch on proper football! (no offence intended) You coming down to melbourne for the meet QLder? You Rsss!
I went to an AFL game at the MCG, Hawthorn V Carlton, first game of the 2009 season. There was something like 98.000 at the match but it was very one sided and therefore, not very good. A lot of the Aussies were keen to speak to me about Jim Stynes when they heard I was from Dublin. He was one of the stars of the AFL in his day and an ex-Dublin GAA player. The Aussie teams have been recruiting a lot of young GAA youngsters from here. Some of the GAA players have done ok, some have returned home disillusioned/homesick, Ciaran Kilkenny is an example of this. The AFL plays the GAA in a compromise rules series every two years. They are playing each other over here this October. The Aussies are sending an all indigenous (aboriginie) team. Not too sure why, maybe some of the Aussies will let us know why their team is being selected according to race. These compromise rules have attracted a lot of controversy over the years and can be a bit feisty with a lot of fisty-cuffs. I have been to one or two and they can be a good laugh but you wouldn't want to take them too seriously.
Yes mate,flight and accom booked. land in Melbourne at 3:15pm on Friday. was going to give Mel-Ian a bell for a couple of beers Friday after work. feel free to come along mate. If you want to text me your number then PM me. otherwise ill meet up on Sat at the Turf bar. Was on QPR Report last night (sorry) and a few guys on there meeting up too; should be a good weekend ! COYR's
Fing, they were showing a bit of GAA yesterday morning from Ireland, Didnt really pay much attention TBH but thats the one with the round ball and nets on rugby goals right? Seemed a bit strange and only saw a few mins as i was taking my kids out. It seems quite poular up here as i supose its similar to AFL. As for the indigenous team. All the codes have an indigenous representitive team and they normally play an all stars team from the league in footy, league, AFL. Lot of politics, racism and other stuf behind the formation but basically its about recognising the origional owners/carers of this country before settlers turned up and abused them... The recognition thing is something that happens before metings, gatherings even my sons end of school prformances, where a decendant of a local "tribe" stands up and pays thanks and recognises the area and the name of the local tribe who used to live there. Happens before leaders, government meet and at most gatherings. I dont think its law, but n MP didnt do it at a meeting some time last year & there was absolute uproar. Think its basically the governments way of saying sory for what was done in the past. Im not sure how many of them really believe it but they all say they do...a bit PC really. PS. i hope that didnt offend anyone, wasnt meant too. Pleas feel free to correct anything ive said thats wrong. Rest of the Auusie boys prob understand it better than I do.
Thanks for the reply QL. I heard them talking about it on the radio here and they said something along the same lines. It just seems strange that any representative team can be selected according to race. It's like something they would have done in South Africa during apartheid.
Fing,thats a very valid comment but I think the "Idigenous team" are supposed to be a desire/ elect/ pleasure/ someone you aim to play against/ ambition realised etc.. Lots of polotics involved but, as in many countries, not many top sportsmen are white !! Only kidding. Point is, they are truly representative of Australia...and thie heritage and clans can be traced back as true Australians... They were the original "care takers" of this land and a such they are a TRUE AUSTRALIAN TEAM! Sorry, I know this is a confrontational subject here in Aus and I know what other Aus R's will say. I'm just trying to explain, as best as I can to fing, the purpose of the indigenous teams. Appologies!
Bit of a Collingwood man myself..... (dons steel helmet, ducks further into the trench) Soft spot for the Western Bulldogs as well mind.
On the subject Finglas, Was in cork for the weekend, the in laws made me turn off the cricket for the hurling they are all trying to sort tickets for the final now. Enjoy watching the hurling much more than the football as non-local, tbh.
I hope you enjoyed your visit to Cork Tooting. Hurling is a much better game than cricket. I was at the match. It was a fantastic match but I was devastated at the end. That's 2 semi finals we have lost in 3 years. We haven't been in a hurling final for 52 years. I had big hopes this year but it wasn't meant to be. We are in the football semi in a few weeks so I still have something to look forward to.
