Aussie Rules, or "Footie," is one of the more popular sports in Australia. The AFL has 16 teams and plays a 22 week schedule leading up to an 8-team tournament to determine the premiership.
As I'm learning, Footie is a relatively straight-forward game played by two teams of 18 players on an oval-shaped field. Players attempt to kick a ball through goals at either end of the field. The goals are made by 4 vertical posts with no crossbars. A "Goal" (6 points) is made by kicking the ball through the central two goal-posts, while a "Behind" (1 point) is scored between the outside posts.
The footy ball is larger than an American football, and less pointed. Players pass the ball up the field by kicking or punching the ball to each other. The game can be pretty rough and there's little protective equipment.
Tasmania has a strong following for the AFL, but no local team. However, the Hawthorn Hawks play 4 of their home games in Tasmania and become the "Tassie Hawks." Leigh was feeling better and we managed to get some standing room tickets yesterday.
For food, we sampled traditional AFL fare: a meat pie, some wedges (potatoes), and a dagwood dog (a deep-fried corndog on a stick). The game was fun and resulted in a lopsided 155-39 win for the favorite Hawks.
So Aussie football is a cross between soccer and American football?
ReplyDeleteI've actually been watching some AFL on PBS over here. It's pretty fascinating
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