Aussie, Aussie, Aussie... Rules Football

In 1857, Tom Wills, one of the founders of Australian Football, returned to Australia after schooling in England where he was football captain of Rugby School and a brilliant cricketer. Initially, he advocated the winter game of football as a way of keeping cricketers fit during off-season. (www.afl.com.au)

My soon-to-be-family and the town of Port Broughton, SA are crazy for Australian Rules Football... or footy as they call it. I'm willing to bet that about 98% of the boys/men in town have played or are currently playing footy.

Every Saturday during footy season, the entire family loads up and heads to wherever the games might be played that day. And check this out! It's a whole town event! And a family event! In the morning they start with the young ones and work their way up! so, let's say you have children who are 8, 14, 18, 24 and 27 (like my future family does) you don't have to divide yourself to get to all their games when they're all in different places... because they all happen in the same place! And the same goes for the girls Netball... the courts are always within walking distance of the football oval.

So, you may be thinking... "I have no clue about Aussie Rules Football." Well, neither did I before I came here, but it's actually not that complicated.

This is what I found on Wikipedia... not the most reliable source, but I think they got it right...

The object of the game is to score by passing the ball between the goal posts, with the highest score being awarded for kicking the ball between the middle two posts. The team with the higher total score at the end of the match wins.

Players may use any part of their body to advance the ball. The primary methods are kicking, handballing and running with the ball. There are rules on how the ball can be handled, for example players running with the ball must intermittently bounce or touch it on the ground. Throwing the ball is not allowed and players must not get caught holding the ball.

Unlike most similar sports, there is no offside rule, and players can roam the field freely. A distinctive feature of the game is the mark, where players anywhere on the field who catch a ball from a kick (with specific conditions), are awarded a free kick. Australian rules is a contact sport, in which players can tackle using their hands or use their whole body to obstruct opponents. Dangerous physical contact (such as a pushing an opponent in the back), interference when marking and deliberately slowing the play are discouraged with free kicks, distance penalties or suspension, depending on the seriousness of the infringement. Frequent physical contests, aerial marking or "speckies", fast movement of both players and the ball and high scoring are the game's main attributes.

It's pretty straight forward when you watch a game... or 5 as it usually is for me every Saturday.

Last Saturday was particularly great. Broughton/Mundoora played Jamestown/Peterborough...

Joe normally plays in the B Grade, but last week he was called up to play in the A Grade! (The A grade is basically the top players in the town... every week the roster can change depending on who is picked to play)

And... for the first time ever 3 Button Boys played in the A Grade together. Joe (27), Chris (24) and Tom (18).

Although the team lost it was great to see the boys play together.

Just to Claire-ify.

Oh, and P.S. Thanks everyone for the comments! I love reading what you think!