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What would the AFL need to do to expand beyond Australia?

14th April, 2011
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Roar Guru
14th April, 2011
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I’ll start this piece by stating what I mean: can Australian Rules get to the point of having a credible international competition, made up of players who were brought from overseas to the AFL to play, rather than immigrants who learned the code after they moved in their younger years, or code hoppers being retrained?

Here’s what would need to change for it to happen.

– The facilities

The first issue would be the grounds, oval’s rather than the rectangle which is used in most football codes around the world. You’d first have to go for countries which have cricket as a major sport, which the AFL is already doing with nations such as South Africa. More on this in a later point.

– An International Council which is entirely separate administratively from the AFL

You don’t want your sport to be dominated by a regional competition. While most of the money would be provided by the AFL, you couldn’t have them running the game if eventually a credible competition emerged, as it would be a conflict of interest. See the early days of the English FA and the sway it held over international soccer.

– A name change?

This one might be fairly contentious, but would an Englishman or a New Zealander want to play “Australian” football, or would this be detrimental in an international competition. Have a look at the NFL, a very popular sport locally, and financially, but you can’t help but wonder if being “American” football hinders it.

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This name change might only occur in international fixtures to preserve the history of the code, or could be disregarded entirely for this purpose, but it could hold the sport back for the sake of a few syllables. If someone came to you and asked you if you anted to play a new game, would you be held back if it was Russian football. Perhaps this would add an “exotic” appeal however.

It might also stop any embarrassment when some West Indian team beats Australia at Australian Football.

– Maybe reduce the number of players allowed on the field for internationals

You already see it with Auskick, less players to reduce the strain, and allow more participation. This could translate into development for overseas leagues, meaning less resources are needed, bigger wages, etc.

The fact that you would need to reduce the field sizes would make for less infrastructure development as well. Fields with a running track around them would suddenly be perfect placed to play.

It might not ever happen, but in order to increase the chances, a few tweaks here and there might be necessary.

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