here goes nuthin'....

[boston footy fan]

Hi all!....I'm a dislocated footy fan in the States....my wife and I fell in love with the game when we visited Australia on our honeymoon in '02....got a million questions I need answered, but I'll answer some of yours first:

name: Howie
age: 45
location: Boston
occupation: radio producer
transport: Jeep Wrangler
team: Collingwood
other sports: hockey, baseball, American football

All we get to see of footy is the two-hour highlight show that Fox Sports World distributes to America once a week....just to give you an idea how little respect they give the game, it runs at 2:00 in the morning....looking forward to talking with y'all.

 

[Lenny*]

team: Collingwood

Bad start...




Just kidding. What times would our Grand Final be shown over there in the US?

 

[boston footy fan]

they tape it and show it in the middle of the night....after last year's final, we walked around humming the Port fight song to ourselves for days...."we've got the power to win....".....that's what's missing from American football: no team fight songs!

 

[brentonb]

have a look at the USfooty site you might find something there

 

[Kokoda]

Fox Sports Net now showing 1 hr highlights package at 4 pm local time in most US regional areas.
Go to www.afana.com and click on TV schedules for info
Afana also produce weekly comprehensive AFL newsletters/reports on the games.
Cheers

 

[boston footy fan]

thanks....the AFANA site answered most of my questions, but I've got a couple more still; a few definitions:

clangers
clearances
disposals
one percenters

also:

what stats are really relevant?....do we really care how many handballs a team has?....which ones should I pay attention to?

are players restricted to their own general area of the field?....I'm sure it makes no sense for a fullback to run all the way up near the other team's goal, but is he PERMITTED to do so if he wants?

is any player allowed to act as a goaltender?....can he stand back on the goalline and just try to swat away any ball that comes his way?

after taking a mark, how long does a player have to kick the ball away?....in a game we were watching recently, the announcers were complaining about how long Matthew Lloyd was taking to get rid of the ball, but they made no mention of any kind of time limit.

 

[The Slitherin' Snake]

Clangers are kicks or handballs that directly result in a turnover.
Clearances are getting the ball moving from stoppages (ball-ups, throw-ins)
Disposals are kicks or handballs (Total disposals will be kicks and handballs combined)
One Percenters are little things like blocking (shepparding), tackling, punching, smothers. Basically the hard, tough things that dont always get huge praise.

Everyone is allowed to go wherever they like, except centre bounces. Only 4 from each team are allowed in the square untill the ball is bounced.

Can act as a goalie, although there is no point because you can kick the ball as high as you like when having a shot at goal. Kicking over a goalies head would be no problem

 

[Ljp86]

what stats are really relevant?....do we really care how many handballs a team has?....which ones should I pay attention to?

Generally, disposals, clearances and marks are the most relevant stats, most of the time, the players with the most disposals get the highest praise and also best and fiarest votes.

are players restricted to their own general area of the field?....I'm sure it makes no sense for a fullback to run all the way up near the other team's goal, but is he PERMITTED to do so if he wants?

Players can run anywhere they like, except when a goal is kicked after a goal is kicked only 4 players are allowed to start in there when play is restarted.

is any player allowed to act as a goaltender?....can he stand back on the goalline and just try to swat away any ball that comes his way?

Yes, there can be a goaltender, but that is pointless, it is very easy to kick it over their head.

after taking a mark, how long does a player have to kick the ball away?....in a game we were watching recently, the announcers were complaining about how long Matthew Lloyd was taking to get rid of the ball, but they made no mention of any kind of time limit.

When having a shot for goal like Lloyd was, there is no time limit, they can take a slong as they like. But, when the ball is in general play and they aren't having a shot for goal the time limit is 15 seconds, but most umpires now aren't letting them even have that much time, and that is a good thing.

 

[Macpie]

Hey welcome. always glad to get a new Pies fan around here! I have followed the Sox for years and was stoked to see the WS triumph last year. Watch out for the Essendon supporters here!

 

[Planck]

are players restricted to their own general area of the field?....I'm sure it makes no sense for a fullback to run all the way up near the other team's goal, but is he PERMITTED to do so if he wants?

Hey mate! Welcome to the forum!

Just on this question to complicate things a little more for you, tactics these days regulary involve defenders (sometimes a Full Back, usually a Half Back Flank) running further up the field to even kicks goals. Some teams have a player that will sneak onto the Half Forward line and Forward line to pinch a goal from under the oppositions nose. So positions on the field arnt as set in stone as they used to be.

But as someone said earlier, the only restrictions are: No more than four players from each team in the centre after a goal is kicked.

 

[Leg_Spinning_Sensation]

thanks....the AFANA site answered most of my questions, but I've got a couple more still; a few definitions:

clangers
clearances
disposals
one percenters

also:

what stats are really relevant?....do we really care how many handballs a team has?....which ones should I pay attention to?

are players restricted to their own general area of the field?....I'm sure it makes no sense for a fullback to run all the way up near the other team's goal, but is he PERMITTED to do so if he wants?

is any player allowed to act as a goaltender?....can he stand back on the goalline and just try to swat away any ball that comes his way?

after taking a mark, how long does a player have to kick the ball away?....in a game we were watching recently, the announcers were complaining about how long Matthew Lloyd was taking to get rid of the ball, but they made no mention of any kind of time limit.

1. Clangers- A mistake a player makes eg kicks it to the oppistion player or out on the full
2. Clearance- Kick or handpass the ball towards your goals a distance of more than 15 meters i think.
3. Disposals- Kicks and handballs no matter how bad they are they all count. differences such as ineffective and effective possies apply.
4. One percenters- smothers (smothing a ball off the other teams boot)
shepards (sheparding a oppisiton player off the ball when your teammate has it (no less than 5 metres away)
spoils (spoiling a mark by fist)
tackles. theres just a cople but ill fill in later gotta go now