I recently had a FaceBook argument with a friend of mine who updated their status with the following. My friend’s name has been abbreviate to ‘BD’ for privacy reasons and for the benefit of this blog post. Be warned, the spelling and grammar are rather average:
“BD has come to the conclusion that AFL is one of the most lamest sports in the world ! , After watching plenty of games i still cant see where the skill is in the sport. You run with a ball and people try to tackle ya ! , a goal is usually scored every 2-3 minutes and for some strange reason, you get 6 points ? why ! You’…d think a behind 1 point and a goal 2 points ! I now know why we are the only country to play it !”
He then followed it up with the following remarks:
Third party comment: “and when u kick the ball it hits the ground and bounces back in the opposite direction :s why not just have a round ball?”
BD: “agreed **** ! none of the sport make sense to me !”
Third party comment: “me either, and they all look like fags in there short shorts”
BD: “**** , a round ball would make too much sense ! let them be.. im sure one day they will figure it out ! AFL is just a bunch of greased up men running threw creape paper …and trying to grab hold of eachother hmm sounds pretty gay to me”
Many other responses containing ignorant opinions were added, until this gem was posted by another third party: “Soccer, or football, is a far inferior sport to Australian Rules Football. The skills required to play AFL far outway the skills required to play Soccer. Not only does the game use a round ball but the pitch is smaller, the length of the game is shorter and it is a non contact sport. Yes, a lot of people love Soccer, but if you seriously want to talk about skills and athleticism then you can not even compare the two. AFL players run in excess of 20km per game, sprinting for long periods of that. They also have to have the strength to tackle like rugby players. Then there is the task of kicking and handpassing an oval shaped ball to players that are over 50m away, and hitting them on the chest in the process. I’d like to see any Soccer player keep up with an AFL player and then do what they can with the ball. A sport that uses a round ball and requires more skill than Soccer is Gaelic Football. Come on guys, there is nothing a Soccer player could do that an AFL player or Gaelic player couldn’t. I’m sorry but your argument is so flawed”
BD: “*****, i agree with you to some extent about the strength of a player and applaud you for sticking up for the sport in which you follow and like, instead of telling me to f-off like others would. Although strength is not really a necessity in soccer, their is no need to have big muscles or handball an oval shaped ball 50mtrs in soccer, therefore i don’t think this is, in my opinion a ” fair comparison ” although you have answered the question about skill involved in AFL ! I have no skill in AFL and i can still kick a football 50 or so meters, so the skill that’s required isn’t really that great !
Soccer or football is to me indeed way more skillful which is why goals are scored less , lines of defense are broken down in order to have a shot at goal, which is guarded by a very trained goal keeper ! Trying to breakdown a line of defense and score a goal with the “offside” rule is very hard ! and teams have to be trained and work together a lot more that just running with the ball and having a shot at goal like a see so much in AFL.
As far as the time of the game .. well the players endurance in soccer is 2 x 45mins rather than 4×20mins an AFL players get !
This is not about who is the fittest player or how strong they are in order to tackle down players because soccer is a non-contact sport !
Sorry dude i don’t think my argument is flawed but its just a matter of choice !”
Then I chucked in my 2 cents. My response is below:
“Hey BD, you’ve got my sports brain thinking, and I’m sick at home coughing up snot on a Saturday night, so here’s an essay for you! I have played both Soccer and Aussie Rules Football at competitive levels and can summarise my thoughts in what’s below…
Each sport requires unique skills. The skills are based on the objective that needs to be achieved. A Cricketer requires lightning fast reflexes to take a catch, compared to a Tennis player who requires exceptional agility to run from the baseline, to the net, and then back again whilst ensuring their shot passes over the net and lands within the boundaries of the court.
BD, you pretty much contradicted yourself by questioning the skill involved in Aussie Rules and then agreeing with Alex that an oval ball doesn’t bounce consistently. If this is indeed the case then surely you’d need better foot skills for a ball that behaves inconsistently? Or am I reading into this too much?
As for your Aussie Rules skills… there are elite AFL players who struggle to kick the ball 50 metres. So if you’re able to accurately kick a 50 metre punt as you previously stated, then I want you playing on the wing at Carlton. The hand and foot skills required to accurately drop and then kick the ball with absolute precision are incomparable to any sport. The room for error is almost non-existent, much like a Golf swing. As for running flat out and bouncing the ball every 15 steps, this requires exceptional co-ordination and composure including an innate ability to withstand the effect that adrenaline places on these co-ordination and composure levels. These skills and abilities are comparable only to Gaelic Football, which is easier than Aussie Rules given the use of a round ball!
How can the frequency of goal scoring in Soccer make the game more skilful than Aussie Rules? The bottom line is that the 2 sports are incomparable in this regard. Soccer is primarily defensive while Aussie Rules is primarily offensive which explains the frequency of goal scoring. You did note that the games are incomparable in this regard so good on you.
As for the popularity of Aussie Rules, I’d be a surprised if a game that dates back to the reign of King Edward had less support than a sport that is around 170 years old. After all, Aussie Rules was only ever invented to maintain fitness levels of Cricketers during winter. Aussie Rules has cult appeal at this point in time, but is rapidly expanding into new areas of Australia, NZ, South Africa, Asia, USA, Polynesia to name just a few.
As for the image of Aussie Rules, I see more injuries in any level of the game (from C grade amateur local club right through to professional AFL) compared to Soccer. The intestinal and testicular fortitude (courage) of an Aussie Rules player is comparable only to Grid Iron and Rugby players… the tackling involved in all three sports is comparable, but Grid Iron and Rugby players wear padding, Aussie Rules players do not. The only other sportsmen I can think of who can brag higher levels of courage would be motor sportsmen and extreme sportsmen. Compare this to Soccer players who fake injury to slow a game down when playing a tough opposition.
The clothing worn by Aussie Rules players is nothing more than functional, allowing players to exert and utilise their bodies to full potential. A sleeveless Guernsey allows 360 degree movement of the arms from the shoulder joint, while small shorts allow a player to lift his knees in order to run like a sprinter. If the sight of bare triceps and quadriceps has ‘homosexual’ appeal, then I’d recommend the uncomfortable individual questions their sexual orientation. Not that there’s anything wrong with being homosexual. However, if you’re going to throw the term ‘homosexual’ around, I’d be directing the term at the prima donnas on a Soccer field who throw themselves on the floor and whine over a tackle that never happened… after all, it’s a non-contact sport, right? The only Aussie Rules player who does this is Hayden Ballantyne from the Fremantle Dockers. Credit should be granted to Fremantle who fined Ballantyne for acting with such petulance. Pretending to be injured or acting out an injury undermines integrity, you can’t dispute that.
The offside rule in Soccer is pathetically basic and it absolutely baffles me why the managers of these elite sporting clubs can’t get their offensive tactics setup correctly. It’s simple, stay behind the ball in your opponent’s half if you’re not out-manned. How does the implementation of this rule make Soccer more skilful than Aussie Rules? No skill, complications or machinations required, just a simple acknowledgement of and adherence to the rules of the game.
As for the time of the 2 games, you’re correct about Soccer (except you missed the typical 5-10 minutes of ‘injury’ time). As for Aussie rules, you forgot to include time-on which is added to the time of each quarter. Time-on is made up of the time taken to run the ball from the crowd behind the goals and back to the centre circle for the ball-up, a boundary throw-in, an injury, sending a player off for the blood rule, the time taken to award a 50-metre penalty or to reset play for a mark, free kick or behind, so a quarter ranges from 25 minutes up to 33 minutes. So on average a game of Aussie Rules will last over 120 minutes. If a game of Aussie Rules did only last 80 minutes it would mean that no goals or points were kicked, the ball never went out of bounds, there were no injuries, no players sent off for the blood rule, no 50 metre penalties or free kicks issued, and no marks taken. This is literally impossible, hence a quarter lasting between 25 to 33 minutes. Aussie Rules is much more draining than 2 x 45 minute halves of what is mainly a defensive game that requires what I estimate to be around 60% less aerobic activity.
At the end of the day, you’re bang on the money, it’s a matter of personal choice. To me, Aussie Rules has a level of passion and integrity unmatched by any other sporting code. Had I spent more time living in Dulwich, London as a supporter of the Crystal Palace Eagles, I’d probably be singing a different tune…”
Third Party response: “Gotta disagree with you on the Offside rule, Ando! 
It’s basics are pretty simple, but the intricacies of the rule get a little confusing. I think it’s also much more difficult to adhere to in practice than in theory. If you’re a striker and the ball is flicked your way, obviously you’re aiming for a clear shot on goal. To stay behind the defenders just when the ball is kick and then push through to get in front of the rest of the defense requires a great deal of tactical skill and precision timing especially when the other team is playing with an offside trap strategy.”
Me: “Hey ***, this is where the line blurs. To me, skill and tactics are separate pieces of the puzzle. A skill involves physical competence (such as ball handling) while a tactic involves adherence to a non-physical mental concept (such as promoting collaborative team ethics). However, adherence to a TACTIC requires leadership SKILLS and inherent attributes such as discipline… This is where the line blurs and the two entities merge, yet I believe they are still two separate entities.
A classic example of this is Jarrad Waite at Carlton. The man has sublime skills as an AFL player but his adherence to tactics is woeful. He disobeys basic team culture and is constantly sitting on the sidelines through suspension. You could apply this in the same fashion to a Soccer player who constantly brings the team down by being offside when goals are scored. Opposition tactics can be circumvented through the application of counter-tactics, no matter the intricacies. Am I making sense?”
What do YOU think? I’d like to hear your feedback.
