Seoulscapade

Aussie Rules Football

February 21st, 2007 Stephen No comments

The game of Australian Rules football is the best of all games that are played with a ball full of air. I make that statement after years of study and after having played all air-ball games in the course of my youth, including water polo.

Aussie rules, in my opinion, is better than soccer or gridiron or basketball or even rugby. These other games have so many restrictions, the skill sets are restricted or the players are restricted to one skill that might be called on to perform.

Why Aussie Rules is not more of a world game I don’t know, but I suspect it has a lot to do with the lack of exposure and the lack of big money. In fact, people outside of Australia often think that because Australia was once a British colony, Australians like to play and follow soccer like the English do. No, our game is tougher, faster, and more punishing.

10 Reasons Why Aussie Rules Is Better:

All players are required to have
excellent physical skills not
restricted to any part of the body. They need
to be athletic all-rounders. They also need
to think quickly and strategically.

There is no actual half way line drawn
across the field. There is on off-side rule.
There is no front line style combat, to use
an old-style war metaphor; Australian rules
is guerrilla warfare.

The field is larger than other air-ball
game fields, which means that the players
have to be able to do more running and cover
larger distances than in other games.

Distance is no protection from opponents
because the ball can travel fast and far and
players can suddenly find themselves
surrounded in a close competition. Players
are also tagged by opponents assigned to the
same position.

There are four quarters with breaks,
including a midway main break, as opposed to
two halves. It makes the game nearly 3 hours
long and a gruelling test of staying power.

A game can still be in the balance even
if there is 5 minutes to go and a team is
losing by a large margin. It may come down to
luck, endurance, brilliance, or often a
combination of all three.

The players don’t wear any form of
padding unless it is to protect the head or
an injury of some kind. Yet the punishment
they can receive can match anything in any
other ball game.

It’s an elastic and flowing game with no
lengthy stops and starts unless someone is
badly injured. The objective of all officials
like umpires is to keep the game going with
the use of fairness and discretion.

There is a random element introduced by
the shape of the ball as it’s bounce may
either work for or against you, and it cannot
be carried for more than a few steps. If you
want to keep a hold of it, you must bounce it
or touch it on the ground regularly – that
is, while you are invariably on the run.