The Game Is NOT AFL Football it IS Australian Rules Football

[Meg]

Years ago (and I mean 50 years or more ago), the then Melbourne Herald ran a competition to rename Australian Rules Football.
Plenty stupid ideas, but the ultimate winner was "Mark"!
That really caught on.

Gary Rohan was playing ?Mark? against Essendon last year. So caught on with him!

[Mr Magoo]

Its a bit like most of us referring to Gridiron as NFL.

[Cosmic Psycho]

Pretty keen to hear your thoughts on NBA basketball

[Dosser]

I'm with Wolfie on this. It makes me shudder when I hear the game at suburban level being called "AFL". If it continues to happen then I will get my son to play A-League for our local suburban club.

[bodgie]

I sympathise with wolfies general views. The AFL is trying to manipulate the game with knee-jerk reactions through messy opaque rule changes which is ultimately frustrating because there is no clarity in their vision except to keep the ball moving constantly even it is through constant cheating as Wolf outlined in some examples.

The elite professional version 'AFL' has outstripped the basic premise of the game which was a bunch of amateurs spread over a huge oval kicking, contesting, marking and handpassing in a structure of defenders versus attackers and some freewheelers. Now players are so well payed, so well drilled, processed, educated and elite athletes that they can and have subverted the reason the rules were written. The 'AFL' is even trying to undo some of its improvements (interchanges). A game that needs 9 umpires on the ground and a couple of others lurking in the stands, and still no-one knows half the pitchfork of what is going on, and looks like the under 10s games I used to play, is a game which needs someone to sit down and have a good rethink about.

[Jimitron5000]

Having spent a few years in Queensland, the I learned that the sport I knew as Aussie Rules of just footy was actually called AFL. I discovered this after a conversation with a footy player in one off-season:
Him: I play AFL
Me: Really? Who for?
Him: Palm Beach - Currumbin.
Me: Oh.

In any case, I think the distinction between AFL and Aussie Rules/Footy plays a big part in the northern academies. Kids would have no interest in going to an AFL academy as it would just be representing the entire sport, something like an advanced version of Auskick. However attaching a brand to it such as the Sydney Swans immediately gives much greater sway in the kids minds as they know the Swans are the pinnacle of the game. This distinction in Queensland and NSW is something that Melbournians in particular are completely unaware of when they have their biannual rages against academies.

[The Runner]

Compared to most governing organising, we have it pretty good as footy fans. Have a chat to any Rugby, League or Soccer fans and see how they feel about theirs.
At the end of the day, the majority of money comes thru TV rights and corporate partnerships. If that is healthy, it flows to the grass roots

[stevoswan]

I'm with Wolfie on this. It makes me shudder when I hear the game at suburban level being called "AFL". If it continues to happen then I will get my son to play A-League for our local suburban club.

Yes. You often hear someone described as "playing AFL football" or " an AFL footy player" and you think, "Oh, he played in the AFL!"......ahh no, he was just a suburban footballer.

[stevoswan]

........and looks like the under 10s games I used to play, is a game which needs someone to sit down and have a good rethink about.

I remember my Dad joking years ago that watching junior footy was like watching a mob of 36 kids just chasing the ball around the ground "like chickens with their heads cut off" he'd laughingly say. I have increasingly been thinking the same of AFL football in recent years. Half to two thirds of the ground completely empty with a throng of players around the ball.....it's not a good look. It's a real pity because the athleticism and skill of today's players is better than ever before on a collective level.

[Ludwig]

Is AFLW football Aussie Rules, or something else? It's not that it's played by women, but the rules are different to some degree with 16 a side, unlimited rotations and last touch out of bounds rule. And even more extreme would be AFLX. How different can the game be from what is played in the AFL to still qualify as truly being Aussie Rules Football? Would it be misleading or confusing to call all varieties of the game Aussie Rules?

[stevoswan]

Is AFLW football Aussie Rules, or something else? It's not that it's played by women, but the rules are different to some degree with 16 a side, unlimited rotations and last touch out of bounds rule. And even more extreme would be AFLX. How different can the game be from what is played in the AFL to still qualify as truly being Aussie Rules Football? Would it be misleading or confusing to call all varieties of the game Aussie Rules?

Very good point. It could become misleading but ultimately, it is unecessary IMO. One could say that maybe Womens footy should be called 'Australian Womens Rules Football' but that would be potentially controversial (these days anyway) or maybe "Australian Association Rules" as in 16 a side VFA but in the end, it's simply 'Australian Rules football that Women also play' and that's not a title. I don't think those subtle differences matter too much and who knows, as skill levels rise as new generations of young girls who have played structured competitive footy all their lives come through, the womens game may well evolve into a straight copy of the male version anyway. The season certainly has to get longer for a start......