2012 AFL (Aussie Rules Football)

[Hanni]

Not sure if there are many fans around here but I discovered Aussie Football last year and love it. TSN shows 1 game a week usually some time in the middle of the night (most live) so PVR is your friend. It doesn't seem to be a high priority for TSN so the air times can sometimes change even as early as the day before. Schedule can be found here http://www.afana.com/drupal5/tvsched

[Addick]

I enjoy watching it but have no idea what the rules are. It's a bit odd as I swear they keep changing every time I watch. I should probably read the Wiki though.

[Hanni]

Yeah I think I have pretty much all the rules down now, it's the details of strategy and positioning that I haven't figured out yet. It's tough having never played the game.

[valo403]

I watched plenty when I lived down there and never really got into it. I knew most of the rules (video games helped a lot) but found it to turn into a bunch of guys chasing the ball around like 8 year olds way too often. Not a bad game, but when you have two codes of rugby to choose from the decision is a pretty easy one. I'd much rather watch a game of league or union.

[Imported_Aussie]

I used to play when I was younger back in Australia.
Need to be really fit to run all game like that!
Every year the grand final gets shown at Bottlescrew Bills - the local womens AFL team puts on an event. It is one rowdy night!

[KTown]

When I did some work in Australia I went to a few games and fell in love with it. It was quite easy to pick up the rules. I was shocked to see a fight going on and the game was still going. Then first aid came to help one guy and the game still kept going. Thought that was awesome.

One of the best games of all time.

St. Kilda!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jimmy Stang]

I'm looking forward to the season starting. Thanks Hanni for posting that schedule. I'm fairly new to watching as I just "discovered" it within the past couple of years, and although I don't know the many intricacies of the rules and strategy, I have moved from "what the hell is going on" to "I think I understand some of this".

I really enjoy the flow of the game, and the production for TV is quite good. I definitely recommend setting the PVR (but keeping an eye out for last minute changes, as Hanni suggests) if anyone is curious about the sport. It is highly entertaining.

[Hanni]

Originally Posted by valo403

I watched plenty when I lived down there and never really got into it. I knew most of the rules (video games helped a lot) but found it to turn into a bunch of guys chasing the ball around like 8 year olds way too often. Not a bad game, but when you have two codes of rugby to choose from the decision is a pretty easy one. I'd much rather watch a game of league or union.

I'm the opposite, maybe because I have no experience of actually being in Australia. Not that rugby is boring but I don't find it all that fantastic, where I absolutely fell in love with footy.

[Jimmy Stang]

To help all of us (myself included) figure out who the "good" teams are, here are the latest odds for the season according to Ladbrokes:

Collingwood 4.00
Hawthorn 4.00
Geelong 5.00
Carlton 8.00
West Coast 13.00
St Kilda 21.00
Fremantle 21.00
Sydney 26.00
Adelaide 26.00
Essendon 41.00
Western Bulldogs 51.00
North Melbourne 67.00
Richmond 67.00
Melbourne 81.00
Brisbane 151.00
Port Adelaide 151.00
Gold Coast 201.00
Greater Western Sydney 501.00

And for the coming match this weekend (the one that we'll get to see on TV here):

Hawthorn 1.66 v. Collingwood 2.10

Should be a good one if the bookies are correct, with the most favoured teams kicking off the season.

[VO #23]

I'm going to law school in Melbourne until the end of June, and have started following the AFL a bit (supporting Collingwood, as the rest of my family goes for them). Question for you guys: how would you compare AFL teams here to the NFL teams at home? I'm trying to compare franchises and thought this might be an interesting discussion.

For instance:

Collingwood (AFL) --> Dallas (NFL): probably the widest support of any franchise in the AFL, the Magpies (like the Cowboys) are either loved or hated. Rich history with numerous league titles, could in fact make an argument for most successful franchise historically speaking, but with some recent problems choking in the big game.

Carlton (AFL) --> New York Giants (NFL): long, rich history with many titles through different eras. Arch-rivals of Collingwood (same with NYG-DAL). Large, wide-ranging fan support but especially popular among Italians in northern Melbourne (similar to the Italians in New York supporting the Giants).

Richmond (AFL) --> Cleveland (NFL): good (but fairly small), blue-collar fanbase who cheers for a tortured franchise. Proud history but have been mediocre in recent memory. Wears a colour-scheme that is distinctive from the others in the league. Have had some financial troubles in the past.

[Hanni]

I wish I was knowledgeable enough to even try and make a comparison but I'm still learning the finer details of the game. History is tough unless you're right in the culture of the sport.

[Jimmy Stang]

^ I'm in the same boat. It is neat to read about the culture and history of some of the teams, but other than recognizing most team names and uniform colours, my knowledge is very limited.

But for some reason, it seems that nearly every time I turned on a match last season it was St. Kilda and all they'd show and/or talk about was Nick Riewoldt. I learned about him and his club pretty quickly.

[Jimmy Stang]

Fot the iPhone users, there's a free app out there called "AFL Footy Live 2012" or something similar that has a bunch of info on the teams, schedule, players, etc. Just be careful that you don't see the score before you are able to watch the match (if you'd prefer the suspense of not knowing).

[Bowvechkin]

I spent 22 years following it and 12 playing it as I am from Australia, and have a few mates who actually play in the league. I didn't even realize that they play it in Canada but turns out they do as I have been recruited to play in Toronto, should be interesting to see what the level of competition is like over. If anyone has any questions about it feel free to ask, more than happy to answer!

[GirlySports]

There's a game on now on TSN2

Carlton-Essendon

Pretty Wild to start!

[Jimmy Stang]

So it's been a while, AFL fans. The season is over now, and the playoffs begin this Friday. Just a heads up that, although the listings aren't appearing on my PVR yet, it look like the games will be at 3:30 AM on Friday on TSN2, and then 11:00 PM on Friday night. Both games live.

So double check your PVR listings and recordings to ensure that you don't miss the first round!

[Hanni]

Bah, no Geelong game.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Hanni

Bah, no Geelong game.

You'd think that they'd be able to interrupt the back-to-back repeats of "That's Hockey" overnight to allow for it. Really, given the timing of the matches, there's no reason why they couldn't show all four matches.

[Hanni]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

You'd think that they'd be able to interrupt the back-to-back repeats of "That's Hockey" overnight to allow for it. Really, given the timing of the matches, there's no reason why they couldn't show all four matches.

I always wondered about this, I imagine it has something to do with how much they have to pay for broadcast rights vs viewership.

[Jimmy Stang]

It looks like both of the matches this weekend will be on. One very early on Friday morning, and the other very early on Saturday.

I suppose that I'll be cheering for Sydney because, well, that's the one city in Australia that I have been to. My backup teams were Fremantle and West Coast Eagles as I have a friend who moved to Perth this week, but it looks like he jinxed them.