Footy players vs. Olympians: who has it better?
Columnist By Chris Chard, 6 Aug 2012 Chris Chard is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- AFL, Athletics, London 2012 Olympics, NRL, swimming
103 Have your say
At this time every four years, athletes must switch on their tellys, stare at the shenanigans going on and wonder what might have been if they had taken their talents to a different South Beach.
Yes, it must be tough work being an Olympian watching the footy from back home, while your stuck at the world’s biggest school carnival listening to the Bulgarian weightlifters next door play ‘100 Club’.
One of the arguments going around defending our 50 Shades of Silver in London is that Australia’s four pro football codes are siphoning away young talent from the Olympic disciplines, and what we’re being left with are just the nerdy chalk-boned cast offs, who’s Mum wouldn’t sign the permission slip.
This line of argument is a flaky one, yet inevitably springs up whenever Australia chews the poo in athletics, swimming, slamball etc.
Yes, four pro football codes seems somewhat excessive to anyone who needs to do yard work on their weekends, but trying to paint the footy administrations as some sort of Gargamel type figure creeping around in the dark kidnapping any ten-year-old with a decent 40m sprint time is not helping anyone.
The fact is, outside of the sports everyone wants booted out of the games anyway, what can the Olympics offer the young athlete? This is a serious business decision for the youngster and when one party brings to the table little more than the chance to learn a few words in French, why wouldn’t they give them le stiff arm to go kick a ball around?
For arguments sake lets compare a few major factors of being a professional sportsperson between footy and athletics (a sport many football players would potentially excel in) to see which one is more appealing .
Fans
Fans in all forms of football are by and large lunatics. Grown adults who will deck themselves out in outfits you’d normally dress your three year old in, then inevitably behave like three year olds when given the opportunity.
To say they will ‘always support you’ is a stretch, but they will always recognise you… even if it’s to heckle you for a dropped pass from thirteen years ago when you’re lining up at the vets to have your dog de-sexed.
As for athletics, well most people don’t mind a bit of athletics. Every four years. And don’t make me watch any of that heat crap either.
Also you’d better win at least a couple of Commonwealth golds or have, err, other reasons to have a decent profile (cough= Tamsyn Lewis= cough) if you want to make an appearance at the local school fete.
Lifestyle
Your footy player trains hard. Watches what he eats. He does a small trip every week or so with occasional longer stints away from home. And come every weekend, he needs to perform.
His life is a hard grind, but he’s surrounded by a likeminded bunch of teammates lightening the suck by motivating him and putting deep heat in his speedos for laughs. More often than not he gets to sleep in his own bed after winding down with a few beers following the weekend match.
Your athletics type trains hard. Watches what he eats. If he’s good enough is zigzagged all over the world, in between working at Foot Locker trying to make a buck.
His life is a hard grind, but luckily he is surrounded by a couple of teammates trying to cut his grass for the one or two team spots available.
Come the Olympics he needs to peak, before passing out in the athletes cafeteria after his first beer in four years.
Money
While it differs between codes to a degree, most footballing player agencies have negotiated a minimum wage for footballers appearing in elite competitions that bodes well when compared to us 9-5 suckers.
Athletics? Well there’s only so many multivitamin ads to go around isn’t there. You don’t happen to hold a European passport do you?
Legacy
And here’s the kicker. If you’re after a place in the ‘Big Aussie Sports Almanac’ then yes, it’s pretty hard to top the Olympics. While it may not go with a lot of evening wear, an Olympic medal does get you past even the strictest of bouncers.
Miss out though and you’re just another well toned face in the crowd, and unlike footy, there ain’t always ‘next week’.
The AOC will be looking for a scapegoat in the next week or so to find its lost gold. Instead of accusing the football codes of stealing it, maybe they should be asking them for a couple of tips instead.
Follow Chris on Twitter: @Vic_Arious
Chris Chard is a sports humour writer commenting on the often absurd nature of professional sport. A rugby league fan boy with a good blend of youth and experience taking things one week at a time, Chris has written for The Roar, Rugby League Player Magazine, US Sports Downunder, the QRL and People. Tweet him @Vic_Arious
- Explore:
- AFL, Athletics, London 2012 Olympics, NRL, swimming
August 6th 2012 @ 8:28am
Bondy. said | August 6th 2012 @ 8:28am | Report comment
You dont need a great deal of skill sets playing these ball carrying sports where the primary aspect to these sports are to throw people to the ground what great skills are being exhibited there virtually zero ” throwing people to the ground is not skillfull “, so nobody will ever know if they actually drain decent talent away I love myths where are we without them.
August 6th 2012 @ 8:54am
Tigranes said | August 6th 2012 @ 8:54am | Report comment
Bondy
There are plenty of NRL and AFL players would probably could have given athletics a fair go – Im not saying they might win gold medals. Who knows, a few HAL players could probably give it a fair shot as well.
And Im not sure I would say to someone like Benji Marshall, Jonathan Thurston or Preston Campbell that they dont need skill/never needed any skills to play top level NRL – these guys play their game where they risk being smashed by 100kgplus behemoths, its a differant kind of pressure to playing soccer.
August 6th 2012 @ 11:04am
Chris Chard said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:04am | Report comment
Just off the top of my head Jarryd Hayne and Justin Oneill were pretty skilled sprinters as juniors, whilst Jamal Idris was a junior Olympian level javelin thrower.
It’s sort of a shame they can’t have a crack at both, surely Jamal could have snuck in a few Javelin throws in the off-season to stay competitive?
Back in the day Warren Ryan competed in the Perth Commonwealth games as a shot putter whilst still involved in footy.
CC
August 6th 2012 @ 11:57am
The High Shot said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:57am | Report comment
Melbourne Storm’s Matt Duffie was a NZ junior high jump champ as well.
August 8th 2012 @ 7:47am
llieno said | August 8th 2012 @ 7:47am | Report comment
There’s also that kid running around for the GC Suns at the moment from Townsville who is a former high jump champion
August 6th 2012 @ 9:49am
SE Informer said | August 6th 2012 @ 9:49am | Report comment
What a load of crap. The domestic football codes are simply big fish in a very small pond. I can only wonder about Lewis Jetta of the Swans. He has a turn of pace that leaves you wondering about wasted potential.
August 6th 2012 @ 10:12am
Ian Whitchurch said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:12am | Report comment
SE Informer,
Then I hope you will be paying your $20 at the next Athletics Meet you go to, so the sports you like can hire the talent scouts to identify the next Lewis Jetta, and then convince him to be a professional in a sport you like.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:20pm
SE Informer said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:20pm | Report comment
Ian, your comment highlights the point about the very small amount of funding that goes into AA and more importantly I suspect that there is an incredible pool of talent in our indigenous community just waiting to be picked up.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:46pm
Ian Whitchurch said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:46pm | Report comment
SE Informer,
By AA do you mean ‘Athletics Australia’, or Amateur Athletics ?
If it’s Athletics Australia, what are they doing to raise their own money, through sponsorships, membership drives and other fundraising ?
August 6th 2012 @ 10:36am
The High Shot said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:36am | Report comment
Nerdy, chalk-bones cast-offs you say? I am also obese, asthmatic and lazy. Where’s my grant god damn it?
August 6th 2012 @ 10:57am
Chris Chard said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:57am | Report comment
Errr Judo?
August 6th 2012 @ 11:58am
The High Shot said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:58am | Report comment
Too much hand slapping, I don’t want to end up in hospital.
August 6th 2012 @ 11:33am
Pope Paul VII said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:33am | Report comment
Tim I think you’ll find people play and watch Aussie Rules because they love it. Maybe if they got rid of the offside rule and reintroduced the hip and shoulder into soccer, people would love soccer to.
August 6th 2012 @ 11:40am
Kasey said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:40am | Report comment
What are you on about? Most of the world loves football essentially as it is right now. Why would it change for you? arrogance much?
August 6th 2012 @ 11:51am
Gwils said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:51am | Report comment
Australia is better than the rest of the world.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:06pm
Punter said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:06pm | Report comment
Yes we are, imagine if swimming was like AFL & only Australians swam, Daniel Tranter would be the best all round male swimmer in the world.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:12pm
Tim said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:12pm | Report comment
Australia is better in what way? With the amount of natural resources at our disposal we should be by far the wealthiest and most educated country on earth, yet we’re not even close.
August 6th 2012 @ 2:04pm
Gwils said | August 6th 2012 @ 2:04pm | Report comment
Choose a range of indicators: political, economic, social, even sporting, select a median for all of them, and Australia exceeds the median across all indicators, therefore, we are better than the rest of the world (as a general proposition).
So it’s not for Australia to match the rest of the world, it’s for the rest of the world to match Australia.
August 7th 2012 @ 12:51pm
Ted Skinner said | August 7th 2012 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
We are top of the world believe it or not:
“The envy of the world
Peter Hartcher
Saturday, 12th November 2011
For so many different reasons, Australia is the most successful country on earth
It used to be said that when America sneezed, Australia caught a cold. Instead, Australia has proved to be the rich country most immune to the economic ailments of the US and, indeed, everywhere else. Australia sailed through the Asian economic crisis of 1997–98, prospered through the US stock market bust and recession of 2001 and continued to grow through the savage global financial crisis of 2008–09.
Going into 2011, Australia’s unemployment rate of five per cent was half that of Europe or America. ‘Australia astonishes,’ was the 2010 summary by France’s Le Monde newspaper, which carried a front-page cartoon of smiling kangaroos standing next to the Sydney Opera House and flashing V-for-victory signs as a chart showed Australia’s exceptionally resilient rate of growth.
Australia has a higher average income per head of population than Germany, Japan, Singapore or France, a figure one and half times greater than that of its ‘mother country’, Britain. And in 2008, Australia passed a major milestone. For the first time since the first world war, its income per head surpassed America’s. A decade ago, Australia lagged 40 per cent behind the US. By 2010, it was well ahead — by about $15,000 per head, or almost a third, in fact.
If this achievement were a sporting triumph, Australians would have erupted in a frenzy of celebration. If the Aussies had beaten the Yanks in the medal tally at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the country would have gone wild with ticker-taped self-congratulation. In the event, Australia’s athletes won half as many medals as did the US in Beijing, but the country was still thoroughly pleased with itself.
Yet surpassing the country regarded as the benchmark of prosperity in the key measure of income was not even noted in the mainstream media. Winning sporting gold is a national triumph.
Winning real gold, the gold of high incomes and high living standards, is, apparently, trivial. Perhaps we needed a medal ceremony to get people’s attention?
History shows that Australians developed their outsized pride and enthusiasm for sport partly as a national consolation prize.
The country might not have been able to compete with its colonial master, Britain, for wealth or artistic accomplishment, or with its great and powerful friend, America, for prosperity or power, but it could always walk tall on the sporting field. For most of the last century, the Aussies could reliably thrash the Poms at cricket or rugby and make the Americans sweat for their prizes in
tennis or swimming.
Perhaps it’s too new, or too incredible, for Australians to absorb, but the country has now become such a prosperous modern power that it can afford to take a little credit for winning the real prizes of international life, rather than just the consolation ones.
It’s about more than income. In its annual ranking of all the countries on earth, the United Nations combines measures of
income, education and health to create the Human Development Index. The UN describes it as a way of measuring how well ‘people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests’. In its 2010 assessment of 194 countries, Australia scored second only to Norway in enjoying the best living conditions available to the human species. The two countries scored near-identical tallies of 93.7 for Australia and 93.8 for Norway. If the index incorporated climate, of course, Norway would have to vacate the dais.
This was the highest ranking Australia had achieved since the Human Development Index was first published in 1990. In that year, Australia was placed seventh. Also in that year, Australia’s per capita income was 15th in the world. Today it’s sixth according to 2010 figures from the International Monetary Fund, behind Luxembourg, Qatar, Denmark, Switzerland and Norway. The long list of 176 countries that follows after Australia begins with Sweden, the US, the Netherlands, Canada, Ireland, Austria, Finland and Singapore.
But then Australia, ranked second in the world in the Human Development Index, went one better. In late 2010, and even without an adjustment for the weather, the UN published an updated tally which ranked Australia ahead of Norway and, indeed, every other country on earth. In an improved measurement that it called its ‘hybrid’ Human Development Index, combining its traditional items with new data measurements, Australia was awarded a score of 93.82 and Norway 92.89. Australians, in short, enjoy the benefits of living in the world’s superpower of living standards.
Want a second opinion? In 2011, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published a new index measuring living conditions in the world’s 34 developed countries. It was called the Better Life Index. This survey covered a much broader set of measurements including not only health, education and income but also personal security, working hours and community connections. It found that Australia’s overall living conditions were the best. This was not a back office, after-lunch hands-up for a tabloid magazine but an objective study painstakingly prepared in Paris by expert staff of all nationalities, reporting to 34 governments. So both the UN and the OECD found that the country offering the best living conditions in the world was Australia.
It seems that two decades of unbroken expansion have created the sense that this is situation normal, and that no one should get any special credit. Yet both in Australia’s own history and in world experience, such a long run of prosperity is unique. Nor was it accomplished by digging gold and other resources out of the ground. Australia reformed and renovated and emerged as a successful new model before the latest resources boom arrived. By the time the commodities boom of the 2000s began its first phase in 2004–05, Australia had already developed a flexible, high-performance economy that was consistently outstripping US growth.
The Nobel Prize-winning American economist Paul Krugman said as early as 1998 that Australia’s impressive new resilience made it ‘the miracle economy of the world financial crisis’. By 2005, the OECD reported that ‘in the last decade of the 20th century, Australia became a model for other OECD countries’.
Australia was a model in two ways. First, in the sense that it had crafted a unique set of conditions. These settings made it distinct from the two models that had dominated 20th-century policy choices for democratic countries — the American model and the European. Australia combined the best elements of each: American freedom with European fairness. And it adopted the worst elements of neither, avoiding America’s inequality and the oppressive cost of the European welfare state. Australia was not only different, but also highly successful.
This is the second way that Australia is now considered a good lead for others to
follow. One of the distinctive characteristics of the Australian model was that it achieved all this — sound growth, high living standards and the protections of a social security net — while living within its means. The Australian government was running consistent budget surpluses, not deficits, for the ten years from 1998. This set Australia apart from the main economies of the developed world: the US, Europe and Japan. And it was happening years before the mining boom was even a glint on the horizon. The federal government paid off the last dollar of national debt in 2006.
But surely Australia is now so dependent on mining that it must owe everything to the commodities boom? Not at all. Ask yourself this: how big a part of the economy is Australia’s mining sector? Based on the rhetoric of our politicians and commentators, Australians formed the impression that it accounts for about a third, according to a survey by the Australia Institute. In fact, even at the peak of the boom, Australia’s entire energy and mining sectors together constituted only 8.4 per cent of the national economy in 2010.
That’s not a misprint. Only one dollar in every 12 generated by the Australian economy in 2010 came from the combined industries of oil, gas, coal, iron ore, gold and other minerals. The finance industry is bigger, accounting for 10.6 per cent of the total economy. So is manufacturing at 9.3 per cent. And mining is one of the smallest jobs generators. Of the 19 industry categories counted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, mining is the second-smallest employer, employing just 1.5 per cent of working Australians. Even the ‘arts and recreation services’ industry hires more. Mining’s strength is its contribution to exports: a little over half the national export earnings comes from energy and mining.
But you can’t build a successful modern nation on an industry that accounts for only eight per cent of the present-day economy and employs just 1.5 per cent of the workforce. If the country depended on mining and energy, it’d be a Third World nation.
Australia’s accomplishment is far greater than generating wealth and services for an elite. The rich can live well in any country. That is no achievement. The wider picture is that Australia is one of the world’s fairest countries, one of the most tolerant, and one of the safest.
This will jar with the image that many Australians have of their country. We have been told again and again that inequality has grown worse, that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer, that racial and religious intolerance has sharpened, and that the crime rate is on the rise: in short, that society is in decline. And while you can always find anecdotes to support any argument, the hard and comprehensive evidence is that none of these claims is true.
Against the tide of events elsewhere in the world, Australian income inequality has become less unequal. The rich have got richer, but the poor have not got poorer, and the gap between them has actually narrowed. This has not been constant or unequivocal, but it did occur in the eight years to 2008. As the international experts at the OECD reported in a major 2008 study of 30 rich countries: ‘Income inequality in Australia has fallen quite sharply since 2000. It is now below the OECD average for the first time.’
As Australians have become wealthier, they have not become more selfish. The proportion of private incomes that is given to charitable purposes has doubled in the past decade, according to the Giving Australia report. After the Irish, Australians are the most generous donors in the world, on the OECD’s count. And the rate of giving of time and energy — volunteering — has also been rising.
The crime rate has been falling fairly consistently for 20 years now. This, too, is hard for many to accept. The rate of murder, a proxy for crime more generally, doubled between the 1950s and the late 1980s. But since then it has fallen, almost to the level of the 1950s. In international rankings, Australian crime rates are about average for a developed country.
Australia is one of the most ethnically diverse societies on Earth. No country has been more successful in building a harmonious national pool from so many diverse streams. Riots at Cronulla Beach in 2005 raised hard questions about whether Muslim immigrants could live peacefully in Australia. The conviction in 2010 of five Muslim men for plotting terrorism raised yet more. While anxiety still surrounds the Islamic integration challenge, 2011 began with a promising portent. A young immigrant from Pakistan, Usman Khawaja, became the first Muslim to represent Australia in cricket. He won his place on the national team with his brilliant batsmanship, but he has been embraced for his character — he’s the most popular member of the NSW squad, according to its captain. His father remarked: ‘It shows that it’s a fair system and whoever puts in effort can achieve anything
in this country.’
So Australia has managed to become one of the richest countries in its financial wealth, perhaps the richest of all in its living conditions, and also rich in its spirit of fairness and cohesion.
Australians are long accustomed to assuming they are second-rate at anything but selected sporting events. The truth is Australia has become one of the most successful countries on earth. Indeed, by some of the most important measures, it is the most successful of all.
Peter Hartcher is political editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. This article is extracted from his new book The Sweet Spot: How Australia Made Its Own Luck — and Could Now Throw It All Away (Black Inc), which is out now.
August 6th 2012 @ 11:53am
GCS said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:53am | Report comment
Kasey – I guess he is saying that Australians would like soccer if more happened in the game and it was a bit more physical. Americans seem to think the same.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:23pm
Bondy. said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:23pm | Report comment
Very interesting the sports watched on those tv screens in America (gridiron primarily) including our own physical games suggest they’re not played by the people that watch them on tv,most football codes in this country and America only dominate on tv and nowhere else certainly not in participation.
We watch what we dont play.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:38pm
GCS said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:38pm | Report comment
Not sure I agree with you there, but not every kid can play the physical sports. They would probably love to, but not every kid has intestinal fortitude to do it.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:54pm
Bondy. said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:54pm | Report comment
Skill will beat braun.
August 6th 2012 @ 1:36pm
GCS said | August 6th 2012 @ 1:36pm | Report comment
Bondy – the problem is that Australia is not getting the skill factor. This has been shown by not being able to qualify for the Olympics. Beaten by UAE, who are ranked 116 in the world is a poor effort. It seems to me that soccer in this country is getting the leftovers. The kids that don’t take up the eggball codes. Either because they are unable to, or maybe not allowed to by their parents.
August 6th 2012 @ 4:58pm
Titus said | August 6th 2012 @ 4:58pm | Report comment
GCS–Football is under resourced as simple as that, and the kids who opt to play Football are not exposed to the culture because their parents grew up on RL/AFL and there isn’t much in the way of Football in the media and on FTA TV.Things are changing though.
As for the idea that Aussies don’t like Football and would prefer a more physical game, it’s just not true. Aussies love Football and this is demonstrated by their love of the EPL/La Liga/ World Cups/UCL and the a-league, as well as their love of playing the game.
August 6th 2012 @ 5:20pm
GCS said | August 6th 2012 @ 5:20pm | Report comment
Titus – would you agree that soccer is not attracting the best junior sportsmen / athletes in the country? I still think that the best kids go to the AFL or RL, unless they have recently arrived in Australia and soccer is ingrained into them.
August 6th 2012 @ 5:36pm
Titus said | August 6th 2012 @ 5:36pm | Report comment
No I wouldn’t GCS. I think kids who play AFL/League have an easier, better resourced, more identifiable path to a comfortable living, whereas Association footballers often leave the sport because there is no path.
But the Football players who do make it through are the most acomplished footballers of any code.
August 6th 2012 @ 5:49pm
GCS said | August 6th 2012 @ 5:49pm | Report comment
Titus – don’t soccer players have the A League path to go down? On your last point, I take it that you think that someone like Lucas Neill is better than Gary Ablett or Billy Slater just because he has played in the EPL. I’ve had British people living out here telling me that if soccer was the country’s main code, then Australia would be like a Germany or Brazil. If that was the case, then guys like Lucas Neill wouldn’t get a look in.
August 6th 2012 @ 6:35pm
Titus said | August 6th 2012 @ 6:35pm | Report comment
GCS–The a-league has been around for 7 years, it’s effects are only beginning to take effect, a kid who was 4 when the a-league started is now 11.
Of course if Football was the number one code we would be better at it, some AFL players and league players would have undoubtedly reached the top level, though possibly not the ones who have reached the top in AFL/League. We still wouldn’t be beating Germany or Spain though, just as we aren’t as good as we think we are at the Olympics.
It’s not that Lucas Niell is better than Ablett or Slater, it’s just that he has accomplished more, his path to the top was harder and further. If Football was our No. 1 code he would have still made the National team at times, but he wouldn’t still be there at 34 and playing in the UAE.
August 6th 2012 @ 11:50am
Bondy. said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:50am | Report comment
Pope, Why are you trying to create another physically punishing game haven’t we got enough here already ! , is that all that makes sense in sports physicality, I dont think parents see it that way .
August 6th 2012 @ 12:08pm
Tim said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:08pm | Report comment
Why would anyone with half a brain want to get rid of the offside rule? It introduces an entire new level of tactical thinking and defensive technique that Aussie Rules can never replicate. As for hip and shoulders, spare me, if I want to see full contact sports I’d watch League or Union.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:24pm
GCS said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:24pm | Report comment
Ian, I think it is probably best for you to just say that you haven’t watched much AFL, and that you don’t really know the intricacies involved with the tactics or techniques.
August 6th 2012 @ 1:33pm
Ian Whitchurch said | August 6th 2012 @ 1:33pm | Report comment
GCS,
I think that was addressed to Tim, not me.
Personally, I think Tim only watches one sort of football, and has no idea without googling who two our of three of Jack Dyer, Jack Charlton or Jack Gibson are, or why they are important.
August 6th 2012 @ 1:44pm
GCS said | August 6th 2012 @ 1:44pm | Report comment
Sorry about that, I’ve done you a disservice. Its amazing the amount of hatred some people have for AFL. Still, its probably better than indifference, which is what most AFL supporters have for the Rugby codes.
August 6th 2012 @ 1:46pm
Football United said | August 6th 2012 @ 1:46pm | Report comment
ffs, the offside rule exists to encourage more goals by leaving space behind the defenders. if it wasn’t in place everyone would just congest in front of the goals and defenders would simply park the bus everytime.
August 6th 2012 @ 2:11pm
micka said | August 6th 2012 @ 2:11pm | Report comment
Good GOD!!!!!!! The offside rule promotes scoring?!?!?!?!
I reckon the goalie should be only allowed to use the parts of the body that every other b***ard on the field does.
I don’t really get it when one player operates on completely different fundamentals.
It would be like a game of rugby where the full back can pass forward and isn’t allowed to be tackled at all or the version of volleyball where one of the team is allowed to catch the ball after it bounces and then carry the ball around the side of the net and throw it towards any piece of open court.
Just thinking to myself…
August 6th 2012 @ 2:14pm
Kasey said | August 6th 2012 @ 2:14pm | Report comment
Of course it does(Offside rule promotes scoring), don’t get angry at us because you’re too lazy to figure this out by yourself, football isn’t for everyone I guess;)
August 6th 2012 @ 3:02pm
micka said | August 6th 2012 @ 3:02pm | Report comment
Not angry, Im just amazed.
So you promote scoring by ensuring that the defenders are artificially protected from a proactive and forward thinking striker?
Goal hanging could make the game a bit more exciting to be honest. Park up and wait for someone to lob it in and bang.!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 6th 2012 @ 5:06pm
Titus said | August 6th 2012 @ 5:06pm | Report comment
“Park up and wait for someone to lob it in and bang.!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Yeah Micka, that would be heaps more exciting.
If Football was all about getting the ball forward, scrapping for it and kicking it through massive goals so that you ended up with scores of 30 a piece, it would lack all the skill, all the beauty and all the tension.
I’ve actually stopped watching AFL until the final 10mins and then if it is a close game I will watch it because it has some of the tension and excitement of Football, where goals really count.
August 6th 2012 @ 6:41pm
Lux said | August 6th 2012 @ 6:41pm | Report comment
Titus
the AFL and the AFL community is thankful that you are able to spare 10 minutes of your time in catching a bit of an AFL game.
In this day and age of declining crowds, ratings and overall support, the AFL is thankful for small mercies.
August 7th 2012 @ 1:23am
Seriously, Who says Oi? said | August 7th 2012 @ 1:23am | Report comment
Micka, your parents must be so proud.
August 7th 2012 @ 11:46am
micka said | August 7th 2012 @ 11:46am | Report comment
Seriously, Who says Oi?
Safe assumption. I’m a country Victorian who didn’t end up playing soccer, so Mum and Dad are pretty happy. Ill be sure to pass on your warmest regards.
Titus,
It would be a hell of a lot better than those nail biting nil all draws that leave you with blue b*lls.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:05pm
Pope Paul VII said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:05pm | Report comment
Bondy and Kasey I just wanted to make a point to Tim that Aussie rules speaks for itself ( although quite a lot of people like to speak about it ) and it’s following hasn’t got much to do with strategy,skill, how much they are paid or how often they train, though there is oddles involved. The last bit was just a dig.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:12pm
Bondy. said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:12pm | Report comment
Pope.
I’ll be seeing you Sunday for my sins ‘confession”, put a bit of spread on the bread mate theres no taste too it otherwise.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:34pm
Tim said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:34pm | Report comment
Post removed – but thread below remains. Thanks, Roar Mods.
August 6th 2012 @ 9:38am
Ian Whitchurch said | August 6th 2012 @ 9:38am | Report comment
Tim,
Yes, but hundreds of thousands of people voluntarily pay money to watch them, and therefore the code prospers.
When was the last time an athletics meet had a disasterous crowd of 6500 ?
August 6th 2012 @ 9:49am
Tim said | August 6th 2012 @ 9:49am | Report comment
Exactly my point as to why AFL players have it better, they require few specific skills, the code in itself is tactically lacking in comparison to most other football codes and any athlete that has failed at his chosen sport can be “poached”. The media specifically the Melbourne media turns them into these invincible, heroic folk figures of supreme athletic ability and the public at large laps it up, ignorant of the amount of work that the track athletes, the association footballers, the cricketers and the like put into crafting their profession. AFL players in comparison sit around and play xbox half the time.
August 6th 2012 @ 10:04am
Gwils said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:04am | Report comment
Admittedly it does sound like the good life, sitting around all day long, plying Xbox, while a-League players slug it out, day in, day out, fr a measly $80,000 per annum.
It doesn’t seem fair, but what can you do?
August 6th 2012 @ 10:10am
Ian Whitchurch said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:10am | Report comment
Tim,
All elite professional athletes train about as hard as each other – to the level is the level just before the body breaks down with injury.
Australian Rules does have about the same level of tactical sophistication – for example, what association football calls a catanecco is the plan used by Ross Lyon in the AFL , and tiki-taka of Barcelona is called “possession football”. Route One is of course Pagans Paddock and the forward press is the total footall of Ajax. And so on.
The ability to maintain hand and foot skills under physical pressure and physical exhaustion is rightly valued in the AFL, as is pace, acceleration and height … but to be elite, players need to understand when to seek a contest, and when to move into the space the ball will go into.
Elite young athletes with drive and determination do make decisions about careers in sport, and these decisions are usually driven by making a living.
If the State is willing to fund olympic institutes, then thats where they go.
If spectators or patrons are willing to fund professional teams, then thats another option.
August 6th 2012 @ 10:31am
Tim said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:31am | Report comment
August 6th 2012 @ 11:52am
Gwils said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:52am | Report comment
Don’t hold back Tim, we want to hear what you’ve got to say
August 6th 2012 @ 10:33am
Tim said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:33am | Report comment
“Australian Rules does have about the same level of tactical sophistication – for example, what association football calls a catanecco is the plan used by Ross Lyon in the AFL , and tiki-taka of Barcelona is called “possession football”. Route One is of course Pagans Paddock and the forward press is the total footall of Ajax.” Not sure whether to laugh at this or cry, next you’re going to tell me that connect 4 is as strategic as chess!
August 6th 2012 @ 11:23am
GCS said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:23am | Report comment
Tim – don’t laugh or cry. Just tell us why Ian is wrong. Tell us why AFL players don’t need much skill.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:40pm
Tim said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:40pm | Report comment
AFL players need a minor amount of skill relative to the much more technical football codes like Association Football and Rugby ie: codes that require proper tutelage and education of players from a young age in the specific techniques and skills of the sport. In AFL, “development” lies at throwing money at failed Rugby or Basketballers at having them pick up the game and playing at the top level within a couple of years, in the other football codes, 16+ year olds would have been discarded already if they weren’t good enough.
August 6th 2012 @ 1:28pm
GCS said | August 6th 2012 @ 1:28pm | Report comment
Tim – you will have to explain the technicalities involved in throwing a ball backwards. Sounds complex. AFL players have to work on their foot and hand skills on both sides of the body.
August 6th 2012 @ 2:30pm
micka said | August 6th 2012 @ 2:30pm | Report comment
Cmon Tim, Ive watched soccer. Nothing more to it than kicking a uniform, round ball to an open team mate or away from a competitor and then having a stab at goal, you only need a couple to win a game. At worst you just have to get it around a bloke who cant touch you and can only use his feet.
Chess it is not….
BTW, do I sound ignorant? Might be how you sound to AR supporters who actually understand what is going on in a game of Aussie Rules (having seen it more than once or twice).
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
But on a serious note, why does everyone get so wet over a soccer player bending the ball? If you can’t impart a bit of variated pressure and spin on a round ball to make it swing through the air you would have to be physically challenged…. Id like to see Beckham do a checkside punt along the ground with an oval ball on a tight angle at full sprint while some 6 foot 5 defender tries to level him.
August 6th 2012 @ 2:38pm
Gwils said | August 6th 2012 @ 2:38pm | Report comment
I don’t wish to take sides in this fascinating question, to my mind, sport is the winner.
However, GCS makes a very good point, does any other team sport require you to display ambidexterity on all limbs and by all players?
August 6th 2012 @ 10:38am
Punter said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:38am | Report comment
Currently all of Britain are feeling very good about themselves & proud to be British, so this is what the State pays for.
The elite level in Athletics is great, a large majority of the world were tuned in to see who is the fastest human in the world, you can count on 2 fingers the sports that has the ability to capture the world’s attention.
To be the best of the best, it’s not easy. This is what The State funds.
August 6th 2012 @ 10:51am
Ian Whitchurch said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:51am | Report comment
Punter,
I want to nail them on literacy rates. I want to see them crushed on the childhood mortality league table. Denmark thinks they have the wood on us over Nobel Prizes per capita – it’ll take work, but we can beat them.
Subsidising running fast in a straight line and horse-dancing ? If it has to be spent on sport, can I spend the money on increasing participation in community sport instead ?
August 6th 2012 @ 12:02pm
Punter said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:02pm | Report comment
Ian,
Yes I agree, sports minded people are so narrow minded.
It gets worse, some people are even interested in Collingwood beating Carlton or South Sydney beating Manly or Liverpool beating Manchester, how insecure we sport fans are when there are other more important matters in the world.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:38pm
BigAl said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:38pm | Report comment
I don’t know about you Punter, but speaking for myself I don’t consider these things ‘important’
– I consider them to be great fun (like hobbies ?), and I don’t expect people who have no interest at all to subsidise my fun.
August 6th 2012 @ 4:34pm
Punter said | August 6th 2012 @ 4:34pm | Report comment
Exactly BigAl, I watched the 100 metres this morning & saw the fastest man in the world, it was awesome, it was fun, it was exciting & whatever Ian thought about did not subside my interest.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:46pm
Ben Z said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:46pm | Report comment
Dear Tim
Sorry… please name these “failed” athletes that have been poached? A silly comment if ever I have seen one.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:52pm
Ian Whitchurch said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:52pm | Report comment
Ben Z,
Dean Brogan. Ive seen the man try and shoot free throws
August 6th 2012 @ 12:51pm
Ian Whitchurch said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
Tim wrote.
“in the other football codes, 16+ year olds would have been discarded already if they weren’t good enough.”
So you’d discard a prop at 17 ? Why, because he isnt big enough ?
August 6th 2012 @ 1:41pm
Pope Paul VII said | August 6th 2012 @ 1:41pm | Report comment
Hey Tim. Don’t soccer clubs target giants in order to develop them into goalkeepers as they have the potential to defend a greater area?
August 7th 2012 @ 7:54am
Kasey said | August 7th 2012 @ 7:54am | Report comment
Your holiness, haven’t you been reading the Participation Numbers? Football doesn’t target players(gee unlike a certain other sport of limited catchment), the players come to football. So many in fact that our junior clubs are running out of room and are having to turn kids away.
August 6th 2012 @ 3:14pm
Bondy. said | August 6th 2012 @ 3:14pm | Report comment
Micka.
I’d like to see Beckham do a checkside punt along the ground with an oval ball on a tight angle at full sprint while some 6 foot 5 defender tries to level him.
That would be a fouling technique I assume leveling him ,where’s the skill in that.
Afl must be a bloody good game with a 10 point spread through the game,but if its not than gee,it is strange to put tips in knowing a teams going to beat another by at least 50 and the bookies have a line of 60 . Rugby League play more representative football in Victoria.
August 6th 2012 @ 3:27pm
GCS said | August 6th 2012 @ 3:27pm | Report comment
Bondy – the skill is executing the kick at full pace while someone is trying to level you. For the defender, the skill is laying the tackle without giving away a free kick. I’ve read your last paragraph a couple of times and have no idea what you are on about.
August 6th 2012 @ 3:35pm
micka said | August 6th 2012 @ 3:35pm | Report comment
Bondy “That would be a fouling technique I assume leveling him ,where’s the skill in that.”
I’m not sure if that sentence reads as you intended it…. Where is there fouling in tackling a bloke or hip and shouldering him in Aussie Rules? Are you asking where the skill is in delivering such a technical kick under pressure at high speed with a ball that has an inherently difficult to manipulate bounce?
In regards to AFL scores, keep in mind that Hawthorn came back from 50 points down in the first quarter against Geelong to nearly win. They only lost from an unreal after the siren kick. That is why AFL is awesome, something that looks like a blowout has the potential to turn into an inspirational, against the odds comeback. 1970 Grandfinal and Carlton were down by 44 at half time and 17 at the close of the 3rd quarter and then won by 10. They kicked 7 goals 1behind in 13 minutes.
That is why leading by a big score in AFL doesn’t mean anything until the last 10-15 minutes of the game and even then there is the possibility for a big, glorious turn around.
August 7th 2012 @ 7:43pm
lolly said | August 7th 2012 @ 7:43pm | Report comment
God, it sounds bizarre when fans of different footie codes try and claim the skill prize. All passing games need skill, speed and a shit pile of physical co-ordination. Pretending that one or the other of them doesn’t sounds so childish I don’t know where to start with it.
August 6th 2012 @ 3:40pm
Dan said | August 6th 2012 @ 3:40pm | Report comment
Any sport can have close scores and comebacks
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August 6th 2012 @ 4:04pm
micka said | August 6th 2012 @ 4:04pm | Report comment
But there aren’t many where you can be 50 points down and come back to win it in the penultimate match….
My point was primarly against people who think a big score difference in the AFL is tantamount to a finish and therefore unwatchable. I doubt there are many other sports where an apparent flogging can, and frequently does, turn into a massive swinging comeback and victory.