My sister and her boyfriend just returned from Australia where he had been studying abroad since January. He stayed in Melbourne and watched and went to a few Aussie Rules games. They decided to bring a football back for my little brother and he taught us the rules. I never knew the rules, but it seems like a fun game to play and watch when you understand it so I just wanted to ask a few questions since I can watch it here in the States on Fox Sports World. BTW I have already decided on the Melbourne Demons as my team b/c that was the team football he brought back. What is the average age for players in the league, I heard it was young? What is the historically most successful team, the Man U of AFL? Is there any promotion or relegation in the AFL? I see how there is a draft for young players, so does this mean there is no youth setups for AFL clubs? Where do the young players play before being drafted? Is Victoria the hotbed of AFL and the reason there are so many teams there? Exactly how many teams are there in Melbourne?? Is rugby more popular overall in Australia? How does the points system work? What are the big rivalries in the league? If I have any more questions later I will ask and thanks for answering my questions. BTW- Any good websites for AFL other than the Official one??
What is the average age for players in the league, I heard it was young? Not sure, probably around 24. Players can be drafted at 17 & a half, and generally retire in their early 30's What is the historically most successful team, the Man U of AFL? Most successful, as far as winning premierships is Carlton. Most hated (and loved) is Collingwood Is there any promotion or relegation in the AFL? No. There are feeder leagues (principally the Victorian, South Australian & West Australian Football Leagues, which are a bit lit the minors in baseball) I see how there is a draft for young players, so does this mean there is no youth setups for AFL clubs? Where do the young players play before being drafted? No youth set ups (although their used to be Reserve and Under 19 competitions). Now kids tend to come up through the feeder competitions and the semi-pro country leagues. Promising kids in Victoria play in the TAC Cup. Is Victoria the hotbed of AFL and the reason there are so many teams there? Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia & TAsmania are the main football states. The AFL developed from the old Victorian Football League. It used to have 12 Victorian based teams, and the standard was not miles higher than the SA & WA Leagues. Then it basically expanded and took over. First South Melbourne moved to Sydney (1982), then West Coast, Adelaide, Brisbane, Fremantle and Port Adelaide came in. Exactly how many teams are there in Melbourne?? 9 (Melbourne, Carlton, Collingwood, Richmond, Essendon, Hawthorn, St Kilda, North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs) Geelong is a provincial city in Victoria. Is rugby more popular overall in Australia? Rugby (union) is the 3rd football code. Rugby League is about the same as AFL. It is the number 1 sport in New South Wales & Queensland, but has little penetration elsewhere. AFL is the number 1 sport in the rest of the country, and is growing in NSW & Qld.. How does the points system work? 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw, 0 for a loss. As a tie break they take points for/points against x 100. The top 8 teams at the end of 22 games go into the playoffs (finals). The premier is the team that wins the Grand Final. What are the big rivalries in the league? Carlton v Collingwood, Adelaide v Port Adelaide, West Coast v Fremantle, Essendon v Collingwood, Richmond v Carlton. If I have any more questions later I will ask and thanks for answering my questions. BTW- Any good websites for AFL other than the Official one?? www.bigfooty.com (sister site to this one)
I'll take crack at the few easy ones: No promotion/relegation in the AFL. Australian Football was known as Victorian Football (the top league was called the VFL) till late 80's (I think). The head honchos decided to change the name to increase the profile of the sport both in Australia and internationally. 10 (out of 16) teams in Melbourne (if you count Geelong to be in Melbourne, which it is in the Greater metropolitan area). 4 points for a win, 0 for a loss. (Don't know much about ties). One site I know worth browsing is: http://www.afana.com Also see: http://www.bigfooty.com
Thanks for the quick replies. Would you mind explaining the playoff rules. Is it a straight knockout? What is the average salary and what is the highest in the league? Thnaks again for the info. I picked a good time to follow b/c they have only played about thalf the seaon so far.
The playoff system is quite complicated. Best place to see it explained is on the AFL website. It is not straight knockout for the higher ranked teams. By that I mean that the better you did in the regular season, the more advantages you get. So a team that finished top 2 gets home field, and can lose its first playoff game and stay in - but they might lose home field advantage for their next game. The lower ranked sides play away from home, and for them it is knockout. Average salary would probably be about AUD150,000. The teams are constrained by salary caps. Top players are on AUD500,000 plus, and there are a couple who get subtantially more. There is a minimum wage, but not sure what it is currently. As an indication, average earnings in Australia are about AUD40,000. You've picked a good time to support Melbourne too. They seem to do well in "even-numbered" years - like this year - and crash in "odd-numbered" years. While I support Richmond (god help me), I have a bit of a soft spot for Melbourne as I used to play for an amateur club that had teh same jerseys and club song. Melbourne are also the oldest team in the league (and one of the oldest football clubs of any code in the world).
I can explain the playoffs: First, take the top eight teams. Seed them #1 through #8. In the first round, you have #1 host #4, #2 host #3, #5 host #8, and #6 host #7. The winners of 1-4 and 2-3 earn a bye. The losers of 5-8 and 6-7 are eliminated. The losers of 1-4 and 2-3 and the winners of 5-8 and 6-7 play eachother (best hosts worst...) Then, the teams who've earned the bye host the winners of those games. Then the final is held at Melbourne Cricket Grounds between those two winners. At least that's how I learned the playoffs to be played by following it last year. Sykotyk P.S., Go Essendon!
That's a bloody good explanation - far better than I could have done (way too smart for a Don's supporter ) There is a complication in that teh AFL have done deals with the Melbourne Cricket Club (who own the Melbourne Cricket Ground) to guarantee a game there every week. This can mean that even though an interstate team has earnt a home final, they have to play in Melbourne. There are some ways around this, but it is a sore point for some. As you say, the Grand Final is always held at the MCG.
Sorry, I assumed here that you meant the points system for win/loss as far as the Premiership Table goes. In case you meant the scoring system in games: Goal: 6 points. Scored by the attacking team kicking the ball between the centre (tall) goal posts. Behind (or Point): 1 point. Scored by any player kicking the ball between the goal post and the outside (short) behind post on either side; by an attacking player punching the ball between the goal posts; by a defending player kicking or punching the ball between the goal posts; if the ball strikes a goal post. If the ball strikes a behind post it is out of play - no score. The score is given as number of goals, then number of behinds, then total score, eg. Richmond 15: 12: 102 Collingwood 10: 10: 70 (it's said that school kids in AFL states learn their 6 times tables first )
That’s not quite how it works… The winner of 5th vs 8th plays the loser of 1st vs 4th with the winner advancing to the Preliminary Final against the winner of 2nd vs 3rd from week one. The winner of 6th vs 7th plays the loser of 2nd vs 3rd with the winner advancing to the Preliminary Final against the winner of 1st vs 4th from week one. The reason it works like this is to avoid the same teams playing each other in the Qualifying Finals, (week one) and Preliminary Finals. (week three) And bad luck with Essendon on the weekend, Sykotyk... beaten by a better side.
Hey Craig, aren't Richmond the ones who usually have the lower score?? For example... Geelong... 19.13.127 Richmond... 11.12.78
Hey Scouser, let me dream (and at least we did beat Collingwood !!) Good to see the Catters doing well. A guy I work with is involved down there (he looks after the positional whiteboard in the coaches box) and speaks very highly of Bomber and the setup at the Cattery.
I'd love to do something like that one day! And yeah, I'm really pleased to see us doing well, especially after our ordinary start to the season.
He tells a funny story about being at a West Coast match at Subiaco. he was walking up to the coaches box & tripped and dropped the board. All the little magnetic name plates fell under the spectators seats and he had to crawl around to pick them up. Needless to say he copped a fair bit of beer, coke, sauce etc on the head and down the back as he did it. Thos wacky West Australian's
So the playoff brackets are set in advance? From last year, it appearred to fall through as worst vs. best in each round. The #1-#4 losers also losing their home field if they win the next round. Thanks for the clarification. I looked everywhere for how the playoffs were done. Doesn't help a new fan, but then again, most old fans already know and don't need a webpage explaining it. Sykotyk
Of course, there is a web page explaining how the playoffs worked for the last season: http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=finals8explained
I love the AFL playoff structure and I wish MLS would adopt a similar system for its playoffs. Isn't there also a site where US teams playing Aussie Rules congregate...something like www.usfooty.com?
It was mentioned a few posts back that AFL Melbourne Football Club was one of the oldest anywhere. For the historians amongst you- Pre 1858 - Rugby clubs in England 1858 Melbourne FC formed -about October- In Melbourne 1859 Geelong " In Melbourne 1862 Notts County - Soccer club in England 1863 Stoke City " 1864 Carlton FC in Melbourne 1865 Nottingham Forest - Soccer Club in England Source - A Game of Our Own - by Geoffrey Blainey - "Updated 2003 edition"-An absolute must read for a early history of Aussie Rules. Blainey says our game had Rugby origins - Not Gaelic football. If your interested and live in the US -Amazon would get it for you.
Yeah, Melbourne are the oldest team around. I've lived in Australia for awhile now (moved here about 6-7 years ago from London, living in Adelaide). It's a great sport to watch.