 |
| This guy could have a promising career with Green Bay, I hear they can use a new field goal kicker. |
Yes, you did read that correctly, Melbourne has a lot of footy teams and everyone in the city has their preferences. If you think it is hard enough to decide between the Yankees or the Mets, or the Giants and the Jets, or even the Flyers or the Devils (for my South Jersey readers), you should try deciding between the Geelong Cats, the Essendon Bombers, the North Melbourne Kangaroos, the Carlton Blues, the Collingwood Magpies, the Richmond Tigers, the Melbourne Demons, the Hawthron Hawks, or the St. Kilda Saints. That is right, there are 24 teams (or clubs) in the AFL and 9 of them are from the Melbourne area. If drunken Aussies didn't already have reason enough to start brawls between one another, they certainly do with this sort of tension. Everyone has their own chosen team, and every supporter seems to be a die hard.
For my preferences I still only know a little about each team. I went to a North Melbourne Kangaroos' game. My reasons for going were fairly simple. It fit the time and date I was looking to go to a footy match and because they are among the lowest ranked teams the tickets were cheap (and I got a seat right in the front row, on the field.) However, don't let their current ranking fool you, the fans of the Kangaroos (or 'Kangas' as the locals say), are just as avid as those of the highest ranked teams. None of which are apparently worse than the supporters of Collingwood, as they are by far the most obnoxious fans. I was once almost crushed by a horde of the black and white supporters (known as the Magpie Army) as they fought their way onto a train to get to one of the games. (Basically they are like Philadelphia Eagles fans.) As for my own fame-time experience, there was plenty of cheering, jeering, and flag waving to be seen. I even decided to join in the festivities by having my face painted and supporting the home team as they faced off against the Port Adelaide Power.
 |
| The crowd is full or supporters. |
There are two ends to the field, which is a sort of oval shape. The football is actually shaped pretty similar to an American pigskin football, though it is made of a softer and bouncier material. At each end of the fields there are four goal posts, kind of like Quidditch (as an English friend of mine once remarked.) A ball shot between the center posts is called a "goal" and counts for 6 points. A ball shot between the outside goals is called a "behind," and counts for 1 point. Also if the ball hits one of the posts or is last touched by a defending player (regardless of its position) it counts as 1 point. The ball cannot roll across the goal line, it must be in the air as it goes between the posts. This however can be done in many different ways, mainly through kicking, but it can also be bounced off the ground.
There are 18 men on each side and there are no set positions. The goal is for one team to move the ball down field and score as much points as possible (obviously), however the ball can only be moved in certain ways. A player can run with the ball but every 20-steps, they must bounce the ball on the ground (its like traveling in basketball.) The ball can also be passed to teammates through a variety of means. A player may "handball" the football to a teammate for a quick short pass. (Basically it is the same motion as an underhanded serve in volleyball.) A player cannot throw the ball as that is illegal, however he can kick the ball. When a player kicks the ball it usually is similar to a punt in American football (and quite frankly the NFL should start looking Down Under for punters because these guys have phenomenal power and accuracy when it comes to kicking.) If a player catches a kicked ball it is called a "mark." That means the spot in which the ball is caught is considered marked and the player cannot be touched by anyone on the opposing team. The play may then move backward with the ball, but the minute they advance over the marked the spot they become fair game and may be tackled.
As far as strategy, a mark is what all footy players are looking for, as it allows for ball control and game control, especially if you can set up a series of them that results in a mark within scoring position of the goal posts. However, it appears to be easier said then done because as long as the ball is in the air it is fair game, and players can get vicious when fighting for it. Unfortunately though, just this year the AFL enacted some kind of "No Hands on Back" policy which a lot of people are upset about. It is basically the same rule in American football which disallows pass interference, and it resulted in quite a few turnovers and angry crowds at the game I attended.
While observing the game I also noticed quite a few other things which I feel need to be remarked on. First off, the game is started with a jump ball. The referee (or umpire as they call them), will bounce the ball on the ground as high as they can and a player from each team must try to jump for it to gain possession. This is also done after certain penalties. Another oddity is that when the ball goes out of bounds, a referee will take the ball and throw it backwards over their head where the two teams will fight for it. So regardless of who or how it went out of bounds both teams have an equal shot at recovering the ball. This fits in with sort of the Aussie mentality as I have come to know it. The rules, interpretation of the rules, and penalties and rewards of said rules all seem subject to the direct interpretation of the 'umpire' at that time. Thus, it seems like there is no standard system of penalty and each umpire just awards possession and control as they feel the situation warrants it. It can be a fairer system at times, but it also serves to get the crowd pretty riled up as well.
Australian Rules Football in general is a very sort of Australian sport. It is subjective, violent, yet elegantly simplistic. Also, much like Australia itself, it seems to be a game stuck somewhere in the annuls of time, as most changes to the game are often met with disapproval. Australia seems to live by a philosophy of "if it ain't broke don't fix it." (It for reasons of this philosophy that Australia will never vote to become a republic instead of a commonwealth or change its flag to exclude the British Union Jack. They will talk about doing it, but in the end it will not get accomplished,) and I see this very clearly in the uniforms that footy players are forced to wear.
 |
| Yeah... Footy is kind of like that, except there is more trident-usage involved |
Another interesting tidbit that seems to mark the game as being somewhat out-of-step with our current times is that most players playing the game professionally, make only between A$60,000 and A$100,000 a year. And if you think that is bad from an American point of view, you should look at it from the Aussie point of view where everything in this country costs double what is does in the States and minimum wage is over A$15 an hour. Apparently, in Australia it is fairly common that after a footy player's career is over they have to go out and get another job. I personally applaud this as it means they are not overpaid children athletes, like the ones we have in America. Still, I do acknowledge the weirdness of this low paying salary. Can you imagine if you walked into a hardware store and you found Emmitt Smith working behind the counter selling hammers, because he had to find another job after retirement?
All in all though, the game of footy is an interesting one. I found that it had a hard rhythm to get into, as it was not the steady rhythm or a soccer game, or the stop-and-go rhythm of a football game. There were long moments of nothingness and shorts bursts of movement. And to say again, it can get violent, as I quickly became aware of when a fight broke out on the field and the crowd around me started yelling things like: "punch him," "kick him in the footballs," "now this is footy!" Additionally, in a separate incident one player was even carried out on a stretcher as he had his head snapped in the wrong direction. (Thus, I am still wondering if I had I witnessed a death.) However, more to the point it can be a fun and entertaining game to watch, especially with a charged roaring crowd of Aussies around you.
It has also given me a new money making scheme which I think could really become big in this country. Can anyone say "Fantasy Footy?"
No comments:
Post a Comment