In Oz, “the Footy” Reigns Supreme
(Last updated July 5, 2010)
Carlton Blues vs. Richmond Tigers at our first footy game in 1994, a good year for Carlton Click the logo to hear the Carlton Blues Victory Song
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Australian Rules Football, or “the footy” as it is commonly known here, dominates this sports-crazy country beginning every February, and nowhere is that more obvious than in Melbourne and our state of Victoria, where the game originated in the 1800s and where it has dominated ever since, even after footy became a national sport.
In 1994, during our first visit to Australia, future son-in-law Jacob launched a pre-emptive strike and recruited me to “barrack” for
his beloved “Blue Boys”—the Carlton Blues of Melbourne--who then were riding
pretty high in the Australian Football League standings. “Barracking” is the
term Aussies (and Poms, too) use for what Americans call “rooting,” which has a
different (and more carnal) meaning here. Well, the Blues have been a
“rebuilding” team for quite a while now, but having been a longtime Washington Redskins fan, I should be used to that. This year the Blues are on the comeback
road—not champions quite yet, but working toward it. 
Five years ago I became a member (season ticketholder) of the once-mighty Blues, and while there’s no known cause-and-effect relationship, they moved straight to the bottom of the standings for two straight years. However, they now have some promising young talent and are showing promise of playing some courageous, and hopefully better, football. Hope springs eternal.
On a typical footy outing I’ll pitch up with friend Dennis Floyd at either the retractable-roofed Docklands Dome, or at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, affectionately known as “the G,” where up to nearly 100,000 screaming fans at major games go wild over their favorite teams. Before the Blues moved to the bigger stadiums, Lisa, Alma and Tilly used to occasionally wander over to the smaller, more intimate, Princess Park stadium near Jacob and Lisa’s house to join Jacob and me for the last quarter when admission was free). Princes Park was the last suburban ground to be used in the AFL. We were in the 35,000-seat stadium when Carlton played its final official match there in 2005. The Blues played Melbourne in front of a sell-out crowd, but, sad to say, the they no longer play at that unpretentious but historic oval. Nonetheless, Lisa, Tilly and Eleanor still go to games at the MCG and the Docklands Dome with Jacob and all of them are keen fans. The kids collect football trading cards depicting well-known players, and the whole family is in a betting pool in which they tip their selection of winners. Even one-year-old Edie tips the winners. Lisa puts team cards on the floor and whichever one she picks up and puts in her mouth is her tip for the day. Amazingly, she has won the tipping contest many weekends, to the consternation of the so-called footy“experts” in the family.
The Princess Park footy games were a throwback to the days when Melbourne’s major “suburbs,” most of which actually are urban neighborhoods, each fielded a team. The tribal rivalries in those days were really heated. Supporters would stand in bucketing rain and cheer on their teams, which in times past played a pretty brutal form of football. They didn’t send players off if they were dripping a little blood. They just played on. This was also long before footy became big business, of course.
Tilly was not even 3 when she was brainwashed by Jacob to cheer loudly when the Blue Boys scored a goal. She thinks they are champions. She and Eleanor even know the words to the team song, which is sung to the tune of Lily of Laguna and includes the lyrics “We’re the team that never lets you down…We are the famous old dark Blues.”
While I still occasionally watch what Aussies call “American gridiron” on cable television, 15 years of living abroad before we moved to Australia had taught me the enjoyment of embracing new and unfamiliar sports, learning their mysteries and becoming an avid fan. “Going native,” as they say.
The
one thing that makes Australian Rules football so magical is the beauty of a
great “mark.” There is no forward pass in this game as American football fans
know it. Players can advance the ball downfield by drop-punting on the run to a
teammate 15 to 50 or more yards down field. Usually surrounded by defenders,
the receiver attempts a vertical leap higher than his opponents to catch the
ball, thereby making a “mark.” If the catch is made play then pauses for a few
moments while the receiver steps back a few paces and then runs forward to the
point of the mark and boots the ball through the goalposts for six points. If
he misses but the ball passes through two additional goal posts, it is one
point. Or, alternatively, he can kick it to a teammate if one has broken clear
of defenders. Players can also advance the ball by “handballing,” for striking
the ball with their fist, to another player.
A key aspect of the game is fluidity, or continuous play. It’s so important that rules have been devised to prevent interruptions in play up and down the field, such as stoppages in which players fall into a heap of bodies and wrestle over control of the ball, thereby forcing the umpire to call for a “ball up”(as in basketball). The instant that a player with the ball is in the grasp of a tackler he must dispose of the ball and maintain continuous play. If he fails to get rid of it he is penalized for “holding the ball” and the opposing team is awarded a free kick. This rule not only assures a fluid, continuous game, but it rewards good, hard arm-wrap tackling in which the ball possessor is unable to make a disposal. Some umpires seem to bend the rule in favor of the defense by yelling “Good tackle!” and awarding a free kick as if in appreciation of not having to stop the game to throw a ball up.
Here are a couple of photos of contested marks:
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In the photo at left, Melbourne Demons’ Michael Newton goes airborne for a spectacular mark. Above, Carlton Blues and their opponents go skyward to mark the ball. Vertical jumps higher than the players’ height are common. (Photos by The Age) |
Out in rural Victoria state, minor leagues and amateur teams have a wonderful tradition of country footy that may not be as sophisticated as that played in the big-city stadiums, but which nonetheless are a joy to watch. Recently I met a delightful bloke in the country town of Maldon. His name is Richard “Skreitch” Leitch, who not only is an accomplished poet but has coached country footy for years and is an avid supporter of the local team, the Donners. He published a poem about country footy which captures the essence of the game. Here it is:
Part of being a footy fan is “tipping,” or picking winners in a weekly office pool, and I’m happy to say that in one round I picked all eight winners and won $60. “Not bad for a Yank,” a few Aussies told me. In last year’s AFL online pool, I ended up in the top 20 per cent of 140,000 tippers and only two of 15 “experts”---mostly sports writers for The Age newspaper—bettered my cumulative tipping score. Last year, Jacob, Lisa, Alma, Tilly, Eleanor and I started a tipping pool of our own.
If you think NFL football is a physically grueling and violent sport, you should take a look at Australian footy. First of all, it is played on an oval nearly twice as big as an American football field (it is 165 to 185 meters long and 110 to 155 meters wide), and the players run at full tilt almost without interruption during four periods that are, effectively, 30 minutes each (with time added). No huddles between plays, as in American football. No time-outs. Coaches have to stay in a grandstand box and send cryptic messages to the field with a “runner.” Play continues while an injured player drags himself off the field as best he can, or is assisted by medicos who ignore the battle swirling around them. Only four substitutes are allowed on the bench to spell the 18 starting players. It’s fairly common for players to play on with serious injuries.
Hitting and tackling is often as hard as in American football—except the players are dressed in only shorts and tanktop jerseys. No helmets and no pads. Although blatant and deliberate punching of a player in the face can lead to a free kick, the line between fisticuffs and aggressive interference (which is legal) is fuzzy.
Footy seems to me to be a mixture of rugby, Gaelic football, soccer and kickboxing. At first, it seemed completely chaotic and directionless, but actually it is an extremely athletic and beautiful game to watch when it is played well. There are few things more graceful than a player making a running, vertical leap high into the air to make a spectacular one-handed catch for a mark. A fast break down the length of the field by a great team is also beautiful to behold, as the ball is kicked from player to player on a dead run until finally a forward man marks the ball directly in front of the goal and kicks it through.
The object is to score (6 points) by kicking the ball through two very tall goalposts. If you kick it past two shorter goalposts on either side of the first two, you get a “behind” for one point (sort of a consolation prize). Game scores typically are 100 points or more for a winning team.
Players advance the ball—in continuous, nonstop play—either by running downfield while bouncing the ball once every 15 meters; drop punting it on the run to another player, or “handballing” it (passing it by punching it with a fist). If you punt the ball downfield, your intended receiver attempts to make a “mark” by leaping higher in the air than his defenders and catching the ball. Literally running up the back of an opponent to gain spectacular heights is allowed.
Offensive and defensive interference is also pretty much allowed (blocking is called “shepherding” in footy), as is punching an opposing player if you can convincingly make it look like you’re swinging your fist at the ball.
If a player makes a mark, he can either immediately play on and kick or handball to another receiver before the defenders get themselves into coverage, or he can pause long enough to back up for a running start and then drop punt the ball downfield (or through the goalposts if within about 50 meters or so). Out-of-bounds play results in a throw-in by the umpire; stalemated wrestling for a ball results in a toss-up like a “jump ball” in basketball, in which case “ruckmen” fight over the ball.
The drop punting is so powerful and accurate that several Aussie Rules players are playing in the NFL as punters because of their long and high kicks.
If you want to read more about Footy rules, there is a good Footy FAQ website at http://www.footy.com.au/dags/FAQ1v1-5.html#Section0.0 Following is a diagram of the positions, showing only one team of 18 players on the field:
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From The Melbourne Argus, Aug. 16, 1858
“Football seems to be coming into fashion in Melbourne, and as it is a most manly and amusing game we hope that it may continue to grow in favour until it becomes as popular as cricket. To lookers-on a well-contested football match is as interesting a sight as can be conceived, the chances, changes and ludicrous contretempts are so frequent, and the whole affair so animated and inspiring.” |
Here are photos from Carlton Blues games we attended at the historic old Princess Park stadium and at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before games were moved to the larger Docklands Dome and the Melbourne Cricket Ground:
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Tilly, Jacob and Lisa at footy game several years ago at the Princess Park oval.
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Tilly, Jacob and Alma at “the footy” |
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Bill barracking for the Blues |
Part of the crowd at Princess Park Oval |
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The Blues were playing Footscray at the MCG on June 3, 2007, and Jacob brought Eleanor and Tilly, who joined Bill and 37,500 others in watching the game. Tilly’s mind may have been on the box of chips, but Carlton went on to beat the Bulldogs in a cliffhanger, thereby ending a six-game losing streak. The Blues and their young lineup are improving every week and are playing some exciting footy. But they still have a long way to go. (Photos by Jacob)
Tilly and Eleanor hit the food stalls at halftime |
Eleanor and “Papa” at Princess Park Oval for a Carlton Blues kids’ footy clinic in which Tilly participated on July 2, 2010. Tilly was a standout! The kids spent a morning demonstrating their Australian Rules football skills and meeting stars of the Carlton Football Club. |
Some photos lifted from Carlton Blues and AFL websites:
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The most famous mark of all: Alex Jesaulenko of the Carlton Blues defies gravity in the 1970 Grand Final at Melbourne Cricket Ground. It’s no accident that both of the marks pictured here were made by Carlton. That’s an unbiased view, of course. |
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Blues’ Kouta goes up the ladder for ball
The action in an AFL footy game |
Blues full forward Brendon Fevola goes high to snare a mark in a 2006 game against the North Melbourne Kangaroos. The rules allow a player to use the body of opposing players to gain a height advantage in catching a kick, but you can’t climb up the back of your own teammate, or use him to give you a boost up. “Marking” the ball, or making a contested or uncontested catch of a kicked ball, is how a team should advance down the field to within goal-kicking range if classic footy is being played. A 50 or even 60-meter drop punt through the goal posts is common, and a good kicker will bend a “banana” kick from a 15-degree angle between the sideline and the goal posts and score a goal. Fevola, the Carlton Blues leading kicker (and currently the league’s top kicker) is especially skilled in the difficult tight-angle kick on goal. GO BLUE BOYS!
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Not a game for sissies |
Blues phenom Andrew Walker marks ball
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Blue Boys sing the victory song, a locker room tradition in Aussie Rules footy. |
Sometimes the Blues leave the oval with a hang-dog look. |
