I Just Watched My First AFL Game

Yeah its the game where some blokes that look like skinned rabbits almost catch a ball after jumping around like raindrops on a hot griddle and tackle each other the way I want to tackle the missus after watching "Showgirls "

Then after kicking the ball between some sticks unsupported by a proper cross bar they can get a consolation prize for not being good enough by some geezers in a pie-mans coat .

I forgot they get so angry with their lack of passing and catching skills that they take it out on the ball by punching or flinging it at the ground as though it suddenly morphed into their mother-in-laws face telling them their daughter could have done better.

It does look a little jarring watch them chase the loose ball around. 

The name I had in mind when I saw it was "Chookball". It just the nature of having an oval ball, it's very unpredictable. Gaelic football uses a spherical ball, which makes the retrieval of a loose ball much easier, which means more ball-in-hand time. 

Not just balls in hand Augie but a lot of blokes scattered around scratching their arses too .

They have a hybrid version of this and gaelic football which they cobbled together to try and play the odd "international " 

When I was in the Army mates dragged me along to what was then the VFL grand final ,wa sted on me as watching the crowds antics and getting blootered was far more fun.

Just had a quick look at one of the AFL games to see if it had improved any ,yup Auggie  they do indeed look like chooks chasing grasshoppers.

I find it hilarious that a nation that berates South Africa for kicking produce a sport like this! It is afterall Aussieland's Super Bowl. 

LOL...don't know how one could sit through a game of AFL...unless for comedy, it's hard to comprehend what Ozzies see in this circus, unless you find the humour in the game...the goal umpires are hilarious...waving flags and pointing parallel fingers from both arms back once a score is made...I have a son who lives in South Australia. Adelaide...Aussie Rules, rules there and a bit of League but Union is minimal there...they have no team in union that competes in the higher unions.

But he says they are fanatical about this game. Really, I'm personally mystified...it really is an ugly distorted game.

I lived in Adelaide from 1978 to 1990 with 4 years spent in Sydney.

Not a word on the radio ,TV or newspapers about Rugby or even rugby league ,hell I even ended up in a bar fight for having a go at their childish infatuation to the exclusion of other sports !

A veritable  wasteland for the Rugby man with no internet or pay TV back then,oh the horror !

The only good thing to come from Aussie rules was the ABs skills coach who for one thing helped with their aerial game Aussie rules of course being known by some as " aerial ping-pong"

For me personally, it's a mild fascination with something so different. The familiar one becomes with a sport the more the mystique fades, seeing something new can be refreshing. Though, I definitely don't see myself ever following ARF. It's too unstructured for too long. Building an attack looks too laboured. The shape of the game looks simple enough. Kicks down the wing for the most part. I still don't understand the rules for what happens when a ball is fielded by an attacking team in the zone marked 50. I don't know any of the positions either, nor any formations or plays etc. I just picked up on basic movement of the ball.

I don't want to be too critical of the sport though; there's a beauty to every sport. There's something for everyone. Usually things to be learned cross code too. It was nice to see something different. I can't remember the last time I was able to say that. 

@ WD

Hahaha 

Funny stuff! Your description had me in stitches.

LOL Wardad...hilarious.

Adelaide good fishing though and further to Port Lincoln and vineyards of good grapes and Adelaide Oval...beautiful cricket ground with Moreton Fig Trees and St Peters Cathredral in the background.

It has seen some great Tests.

Tell me, has South Australia ever produced a Wallaby rugby union player?, I could not find any although I believe it once or twice hosted an important game, I think.

Cricket ground...Adelaide Oval

Cheers guys !

Edward "Sir Weary " Dunlop played in a winning Bledisloe series ,he was born in Victoria .I was fortunate to meet and talk to this bravest of men ,had a good yarn about rugby too ! He was the main surgeon at Changi and literally put his neck on the line for his men .

I loved watching cricket at the Adelaide Oval back in the day ,saw the likes of Hadley ,Lillee ,Thompson ,Joel Garner ,Viv Richards and all those greats .Watched as Clive LLoyd walloped one back over Lillees head for six over the Cathedral end !

I was amazed the first time I went to watch cricket there at how close the wicket was ,it looked much further to the boundaries on the telly .

Thanks for response Wardaddy...indeed it was but money has destroyed the beautiful set-up of old...just like Newlands (Cricket) ...oak trees that were taken down...in the old days there was nothing more pleasant to watch cricket siiting  on a rug having a family pic nic or under the oak trees with the turtle doves cooing whilst Barry Richards or Graeme Pollock were hitting tons or double tons... cricket grounds are very sacred and so was Adelaide until modernisation. Heaven forbid if it ever happens to Lords.

Look what happened to the mighty WACA ,utterly destroyed along with all that history and the "Freemantle doctor " and that pitch beloved of all quicks.

The Adelaide Oval was my favourite ground by a country mile ,last time I was there with my son I met a woman I worked with who turned out to be one of Desmond Haynes " woman in a port " !

In Sth Oz I fished for whiting [ much better tasting than the southern blue whiting] and Mulloway or Jewfish up to 26kg was my best ,you have a close relative of the Mulloway in SA cant remember what its called .A big silvery critter very tasty too!

Yeah for me S Australia is a paradise (Aussie Rules and All)...Port Lincoln...got everything that the old Western Cape had and more without the crime.

From this small clip, one gets just a small taste of what it has...paradise found

https://youtu.be/6d2QhkBkQsM

The Barrossa has some fabulous wineries ,and Port Lincoln  used to have great fishing for Bluefin Tuna and Great Whites [ now protected ].

I have inflicted some world class hangovers on moi after a trip to said wineries 

Seb did you ever go fishing for snapper out  of Whyalla ?

Mulloway = Kabeljou...one of my favorites. 

Thats the one Mr Draad ,do they call it Kob ?

One of the few fish that is good to eat even when in the larger sizes we called the smaller specimens "soapies " and tossed them back .I had a runof them off the grain loding docks in Adelaide all on small live garfish .They were from 20-15kg all 6 of em ,the dock was about 2k long but by the time I hooked the 3rd one it was shoulder to shoulder with squeazers asking me for some of my livies " go and catch yer own ya lazy bastards " .

Kept one to give some fresh fish to the whanau and the old lady next door .Delicious.

In Durban, we call them dagga salmon. Caught a few on mud crackers before whilst targeting grunted in the harbour but never that size you mentioned. Around 5 to 8 kg mostly.

Indeed Mr Xavi the smaller ones arent too hard to catch but great fun !

Under 5kg here the flesh is a bit mushy at times hence the "soapy " moniker 23Kg is the biggest I have landed but most were from 2.5 to 10kg ,they have a coupla big runs in the larger models but if you can hold em and turn em a bit of patience will see you land them .

Have caught ONE on a fly meant for flathead was probably lucky it was one of the smaller chappies on a 6 weight fly rod.