Outing to an AFL game

Few weeks ago, a coworker of mine offered to accompany us to an Australian Footbal League (AFL) game here in Sydney.  As neither Carla nor myself know the rules to AFL, we were glad to take him up on the offer.  Last Saturday, Carla and I joined my coworker at Sydney Cricket Ground (same stadium is used for cricket and AFL) to watch Sydney Swans take on Hawthorne Hawks.  Sydney won with a score of 123 to 86!

It was a good thing we had someone to explain the rules, because I did not know a single thing about the game.  I could not even figure out how they score points.  AFL is nothing like American/Canadian football nor like soccer.  It is most closely related to rugby.  As a matter of fact, Australia has three rugby leagues, each having different rules to the game!  Rugby Union (which is the international version of rugby), Rugby League and Australian Football League.

Basic rules of AFL are, you play four quarters of 25 minutes each, and the team with the most points wins.  There are 18 players on each team (I know, that's a big team) with four subs on the bench which can be used as replacement at any time, any number of times.

You score by kicking or throwing a ball through one of the goal posts, to get six or one point per goal.  There are four goal posts.  Kick a ball between the two centre goal posts to score six points.  If the ball hits one of the posts and does not go in, then you get one point.  You also get one point if you get the ball between one of the the centre posts and outside posts.  You also get one point if you throw a ball or run it through between any of the  posts.

To move the ball (shaped similarly to an NFL ball, but bigger), you can either:

• Run with it for about 15 paces, then you have to bounce it off the ground and can then continue running for another 15 paces.
• Kick it.  If someone from your team receives it over a distance of 10 metres, they get ten seconds to do a free kick.
• Punch it.  You cannot pass or throw the ball to a teammate, you have to hold it with one hand and then punch it with the other hand in the direction of the pass to get it to your teammate.

There are about 7 referees and linesman plus two more goal umpires.  That's  a lot of referees!  Add 36 players to the mix and you get a lot of people running back and forth on the field. 

The game is much more fun to watch live than it is to watch on TV.  The TV shows only a small slice of the whole field, while, for full enjoyment, you really need to see at least a third of the field.

Watching the game live was a fun experience, but as tickets and transportation costs added up to more than $50 per person, I don't think attending AFL games will become a habit for us.