Hello from USA

[whatsthisfooty]

I'm Rod,

I'm just finishing up my 2nd ever viewing of your sport, Collingwood vs. N. Melbourne and am enjoying it a great deal! I don't understand it much yet, but I'm already hooked, I think.

Thanks for allowing me to peek in.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Why are you a Collingwood fan? It's like supporting the Cowgirls in the US

 

[whatsthisfooty]

This is fantastic! You guys even sing a song at the end! That would be priceless to see in American football!

 

[whatsthisfooty]

Why are you a Collingwood fan? It's like supporting the Cowgirls in the US

Because it asked me to make a choice and I only had what was in front of me to pick from. Collingwood seemed to be on their game much more than N. Melbourne, so that's why I picked them. Although, I must say your Cowgirls reference gives me pause, I'm NOT a cowboys fan by any stretch.

 

[hcd199]

I'm disappointed that one of your first exposures to our game was such a poor showing from my club, especially given how much better we were in the two weeks previous... hope you become a long-term fan of the sport, anyway.

 

[Matt_TY]

Hi, welcome aboard! Hope you keep watching, whether you support the mighty 'Pies or not (although that would be a bonus!)

Collingwood, by the way, are the team you either love or love to hate. Never mind the Cowboys, I've heard us compared to the Raiders. Except we've actually won the title of late. (I don't know much about the NFL but fro what I hear that ought to really scare you away from us!)

 

[DREAM TEAM BUFF]

Welcome @whatsthisfooty

 

[whatsthisfooty]

I'm disappointed that one of your first exposures to our game was such a poor showing from my club, especially given how much better we were in the two weeks previous... hope you become a long-term fan of the sport, anyway.

Thanks for the welcome, I was disappointed a little as well, being I really had no favorite. I can honestly state, though, if my daughter had a team it would be the Kangaroos, as she's smitten with the marsupial. Unfortunately, she's also smitten with her new boyfriend and has little time for dad or sports anymore. I imagine I'll pick an honest favorite once I've seen a few more teams play. Is there a team around Perth? I corresponded with a nice couple who lived around there a few years back. Perhaps I'll root for their team.

 

[whatsthisfooty]

Hi, welcome aboard! Hope you keep watching, whether you support the mighty 'Pies or not (although that would be a bonus!)

Collingwood, by the way, are the team you either love or love to hate. Never mind the Cowboys, I've heard us compared to the Raiders. Except we've actually won the title of late. (I don't know much about the NFL but fro what I hear that ought to really scare you away from us!)

Thanks for the welcomes Matt and DTB.

I developed serious antipathy for the Dallas Cowboys when they started telling everyone they were "Americas Team" back in the '70's. It chaps my hind parts being told who to root for. I went with the Packers instead, partly for the Ice Bowl victory, and partly because their the only "town-owned" team left in the NFL. The Raiders were tough for awhile, but anymore it's just kind of sad watching them.

The professional team that I have the most affinity for is a MLB baseball team, the Colorado Rockies. My daughter and I try to get over to watch a couple games a year. She's taking me to one for my birthday this coming June! I've also got season tickets to their local minor league team The Grand Junction Rockies. I love the sights sounds and smells of an evening at the ballpark! I just wish our boys sang, a little too stuffed shirt full of themselves for that though, I'm afraid.

 

[hcd199]

Thanks for the welcome, I was disappointed a little as well, being I really had no favorite. I can honestly state, though, if my daughter had a team it would be the Kangaroos, as she's smitten with the marsupial. Unfortunately, she's also smitten with her new boyfriend and has little time for dad or sports anymore. I imagine I'll pick an honest favorite once I've seen a few more teams play. Is there a team around Perth? I corresponded with a nice couple who lived around there a few years back. Perhaps I'll root for their team.

There are two teams based in Western Australia: West Coast, and Fremantle.

 

[whatsthisfooty]

There are two teams based in Western Australia: West Coast, and Fremantle.

Thanks!

 

[whatsthisfooty]

A couple of quick questions if you don't mind...what do all the whistles indicate? In the NFL a whistle pretty much indicates a definite starting or stopping of play, in Footy it seems sometimes play stops for a moment on a whistle and other times play just continues unabated. Also how far is a player allowed to advance the ball by running before he must bounce the ball off the ground to continue?

Thanks all.

 

[specq]

A couple of quick questions if you don't mind...what do all the whistles indicate? In the NFL a whistle pretty much indicates a definite starting or stopping of play, in Footy it seems sometimes play stops for a moment on a whistle and other times play just continues unabated. Also how far is a player allowed to advance the ball by running before he must bounce the ball off the ground to continue?

Thanks all.

The whistle is to indicate a "mark" which is a caught (or at least controlled for long enough) ball off of a kick by another player. Umpire is indicating that a mark is "paid" and now the marking player has a free kick which no-one can interfere with. The rules for a mark are considerably looser than for what you might be used to as what constitutes a catch in the NFL.

As for the bounce, that has to happen once every 15M. But it actually doesn't have to bounce, it just has to touch the ground, so you'll sometimes see players just bending down and touching the ball the the ground while holding on to it.

This is actually a pretty concise read, for a wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_Australian_rules_football

 

[whatsthisfooty]

The whistle is to indicate a "mark" which is a caught (or at least controlled for long enough) ball off of a kick by another player. Umpire is indicating that a mark is "paid" and now the marking player has a free kick which no-one can interfere with. The rules for a mark are considerably looser than for what you might be used to as what constitutes a catch in the NFL.

As for the bounce, that has to happen once every 15M. But it actually doesn't have to bounce, it just has to touch the ground, so you'll sometimes see players just bending down and touching the ball the the ground while holding on to it.

This is actually a pretty concise read, for a wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_Australian_rules_football

Thanks, speq!

I'll check out that Wiki right now. Sometimes reading rules verbage gets my eyes crossed and my mind spun a bit, so I may have more questions yet. Thanks again for the info.

 

[Mister_A]

Always great to see people from other countries have a watch of our game! If you are interested in watching quality games (no offence North and Collingwood) then Hawthorn and Geelong play Easter Monday afternoon Australian Eastern Standard Time (which I assume would be Sunday night in the States). Both teams are in the top group for skill at the moment.

The Hawks (Hawthorn) are the current premiers and the Cats (Geelong) are the only team that has been able to beat them just about every time the two teams have played in recent years. They can probably be called the best two teams since around 2008 and share 5 premierships between them since then, 2 to the Hawks and 3 to Geelong.

EDIT: Both teams also go into this match as the only two undefeated teams in the first 4 rounds. There is a pretty strong rivalry between the two clubs, some even call it the biggest rivalry in the modern era of AFL.

 

[Mister_A]

Also, if you end up choosing a team to go for out in WA as a poster said before there are the 'West Coast Eagles' and the 'Fremantle Dockers'.

These are the two West Australian teams.
On the left: Darren Glass, Eagles captian. Plays as a key position defender or 'tall defender'
On the right: Mathew Pavlich, Freo captian. Plays as a key position forward or 'tall forward'

Last year the dockers finished runners-up to Hawthorn, losing in the Grand Final. The Eagles finished 13th but are still considered a strong team by most.

This video also might help you grasp some of the more confusing fundamental concepts of the game.

 

[whatsthisfooty]

Thanks Tomahawk,

I'm enjoying your sport, it's pace is a welcome counter-balance to baseball, my other sports interest this time of year. Unfortunately, my cable company has only 1 game each week, on Friday nights for me to watch. Next Friday it's Gold Coast vs. Greater Western Sydney. I Don't see Hawthorne until May 2, vs St.Kilda. That's as far ahead as my schedule will look. How long does your season last? I may not get to watch Geelong at all.

 

[Mister_A]

Our season goes from March to August and then we have finals in September. Over here it is a winter sport, our winter being June, July and August. We have AFL and Rugby in the winter and Cricket and Soccer in the summer being the biggest 4 sports in Australia.

The Suns (Gold Coast) and the Giants (GWS) match next Friday won't be too tactical because they are the two newest teams in the competition and both have very young players in their line-ups. Not that it wont be a good match, but there will be a lot of skill errors expected.

It will most likely be a more 'ground level' contest with less marking and more running plays. If you do watch it expect a few weird and wild kicks and misses from the youngsters. By no means are they the two worst teams in the AFL, it is just most of their players lack a bit of experience at this level of the game.

However the Suns do have the player almost universally agreed to be the best player in the AFL, Gary Ablett Jr.. He would be the LeBron James of our sport (sorry I can't think of a NFL player to compare to ).

 

[whatsthisfooty]

March-September, That's perfect to carry me to the NFL season here.
I hope FoxSports2 doesn't decide to cover badminton or something instead. One can never trust these programming folks. I've been watching some rugby too. I believe it is the Saturday offering. While I enjoy it, at this point I'm a bit more infatuated with the AFL game.

 

[hcd199]

whatsthisfooty

It seems you're going to get the early Saturday afternoon match each week, in which case this would be your schedule (I've changed the dates from Saturday to Friday):
April 25 - Gold Coast v Greater Western Sydney
May 2 - Hawthorn v St Kilda
May 9 - Port Adelaide v Fremantle
May 16 - Richmond v Melbourne
May 23 - Greater Western Sydney v Richmond
May 30 - Melbourne v Port Adelaide
June 6 - Hawthorn v West Coast
June 13 - Richmond v Fremantle
June 20 - Port Adelaide v Western Bulldogs
June 27 - Hawthorn v Gold Coast
July 4 - Richmond v Brisbane Lions
July 11 - Melbourne v Geelong
(Don't know whether you'll get games on July 18th or 25th; if you do, they'll be in different timeslots)
August 1 - Adelaide v West Coast
August 8 - Greater Western Sydney v North Melbourne
August 15 - Sydney v St Kilda
August 22 - North Melbourne v Adelaide
(August 29 could be any match, as the timeslots for that round remain unscheduled until late in the season)
(After that, it's finals; I don't know how much of it you'll get but the Grand Final is on September 27th here, so September 26 for you).

The above, if I've got it correct, means you won't see Carlton or Essendon (two other clubs, like Collingwood, with large supporter bases), but you will see every other team at some point.

 

[Matt_TY]

March-September, That's perfect to carry me to the NFL season here.
I hope FoxSports2 doesn't decide to cover badminton or something instead. One can never trust these programming folks. I've been watching some rugby too. I believe it is the Saturday offering. While I enjoy it, at this point I'm a bit more infatuated with the AFL game.

Yeah, there's a pretty solid geographic divide between footy and rugby in Australia - think hockey in the South. GC and GWS are the most recent fruits of the AFL's effort to expand into rugby territory.

 

[whatsthisfooty]

whatsthisfooty

It seems you're going to get the early Saturday afternoon match each week, in which case this would be your schedule (I've changed the dates from Saturday to Friday):
April 25 - Gold Coast v Greater Western Sydney
May 2 - Hawthorn v St Kilda
May 9 - Port Adelaide v Fremantle
May 16 - Richmond v Melbourne
May 23 - Greater Western Sydney v Richmond
May 30 - Melbourne v Port Adelaide
June 6 - Hawthorn v West Coast
June 13 - Richmond v Fremantle
June 20 - Port Adelaide v Western Bulldogs
June 27 - Hawthorn v Gold Coast
July 4 - Richmond v Brisbane Lions
July 11 - Melbourne v Geelong
(Don't know whether you'll get games on July 18th or 25th; if you do, they'll be in different timeslots)
August 1 - Adelaide v West Coast
August 8 - Greater Western Sydney v North Melbourne
August 15 - Sydney v St Kilda
August 22 - North Melbourne v Adelaide
(August 29 could be any match, as the timeslots for that round remain unscheduled until late in the season)
(After that, it's finals; I don't know how much of it you'll get but the Grand Final is on September 27th here, so September 26 for you).

The above, if I've got it correct, means you won't see Carlton or Essendon (two other clubs, like Collingwood, with large supporter bases), but you will see every other team at some point.

Many thanks for going to so much effort for that schedule. I'm pleased to be able to view so many different teams, again, assuming the TV schedule doesn't change.

Out of curiousity, what is a typical cost for a ticket to a footy match? The NFL have pretty much priced themselves out of the reach of Joe Average here. I personlly think it's terrible that the greatest, most supportive fans are essentially banned from enjoying their sport live, by the prohibitive cost.

Is it similiar there, or no?

 

[whatsthisfooty]

Yeah, there's a pretty solid geographic divide between footy and rugby in Australia - think hockey in the South. GC and GWS are the most recent fruits of the AFL's effort to expand into rugby territory.

Is the divide East and West, or North and South?...and who favors what?

 

[hcd199]

Out of curiousity, what is a typical cost for a ticket to a footy match? The NFL have pretty much priced themselves out of the reach of Joe Average here. I personlly think it's terrible that the greatest, most supportive fans are essentially banned from enjoying their sport live, by the prohibitive cost.

I can't really speak on this one, there are only two games here in Hobart each year (one of which is the North Melbourne v Adelaide game listed above for August 22), and as a student, I'm eligible for concession entry, so I pay $15 a game, but I gather it's vastly more expensive at other grounds.

Is the divide East and West, or North and South?...and who favors what?

Generally, New South Wales and Queensland favour rugby whilst the others favour Australian football. Here in Tasmania, the rugby following is quite small, whilst the AFL is by far the most popular winter sport. This article may be of use: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barassi_Line

 

[FootyJunkie]

Ticket prices are peanuts compared to what you would expect for an NFL game. The cheapest ticket at the MCG in Melbourne is about $22 AUD, third level.... although the AFL have brought in variable pricing for "blockbuster" matches just this year, something that you do find in US pro-sports leagues. Needless to say, the locals hate it. Still, the average joe can more or less still go to a game and follow their team live in person... for now at least.

A challenge is for fans out in Perth however, not so much due to price, but due to availability... both teams are quite popular in Perth with West Coast having a waiting list of club memberships while Fremantle is pretty much full themselves, but both play home games out of an outdated 45k capacity Subiaco Oval, although a larger stadium in Perth is in the works for 2018. So it can be a little tricky to attend a game in Perth if you are not a member... general admission tickets are usually pretty limited.