Top Fives: the sports year in review

The fatal flaw with these kinds of lists? The difficulty to compare sports. Someone may reach the absolute pinnacle of the AFL, but is their accomplishment trumped by someone who achieves international victory in a sport such as fencing? AFL is seemed as a 'superior' sport in Australia, but fencing would involve international competition. Mind you, I'm not suggesting fencers are better athletes than AFL players, I'm just trying to illustrate why I don't like these kinds of lists.

db Our interest in sport can be piqued in a number of different ways. It might be via the champions winning, but for mine, invariably I'm drawn to the lesser-known stories, the unusual accounts, the unanticipated, the unknown, the genuine surprises, the romance even. There is a genuine fascination amongst Australian sporting fans of people from different parts of the world having a go at our game. It's true that they are all amateur, and the standards are generally low, although the top two, PNG and Ireland are approaching B Grade VAFA standard. Part of the fascination is seeing people adapt to our game when they haven't grown up with it, how they interpret it, and the little quirks they introduce to their pre-game preparations and post-game celebrations. We're all familiar with teams singing the club song after a victory (normally quite badly), but what about this post-game singing from the Tonga team: http://www.worldfootynews.com/article.php/2011122910255637#comments That's one of the true sporting highlights of the year for me. It's the little things that can sometimes move one so.

speaking of cheersquads ;)

This spastic Mals needs to learn to count to 6 straight. He was probably the same type wanking off over the Roar's meaningless recent record.

Yes, some of the teams are around that level, the better teams are close to a lower senior amateur level, e.g. C grade VAFA, etc, PNG and Ireland might be competetive with the lower teams in B grade VAFA.

It has been held in Australia every time so far, with the final generally played as a curtain-raiser to an AFL game. Some of the teams had a parade before a Swans game at Homebush this year as well. The AFL don't put much money into it, or try and gain much exposure for it. The standard varies a lot from team to team, I recall watching the final of the first International Cup and thinking it was a pity some of the PNG boys weren't spotted sooner. Loads of natural talent, and you could tell some had grown up with the game as their instincts were good; just a lack of coaching and finesse saw them lose. The best teams are probably close to a decent bush league side (a couple of South Africans played for South Launceston in Tasmania's state league prior to the International Cup last year, weren't disgraced by any stretch, kicked a couple of goals - the TSL is probably roughly the same level as a Melbourne Division 1 Metro comp; the cup before a few South Africans played WAFL reserves). No ex-pat Australians are allowed to take part as players. They do play in the various leagues (some have limitations, others don't) played on any open ground in a few nations. It is a very minor event, not a blip on the sporting radar really; but is a very small step towards making Australian Football more broadly accessible. Everyone knows it will never be more than a novelty sport anywhere outside Australia and probably not much more than that in some parts of Australia, but it is a good opportunity for those who do take up that weird game from the a** end of the world where the ball bounces around with a mind of its own.

I had no idea such a comp existed but it sounds like something the AFL should put a bit of money into. Was it held in Australia?

I just cannot believe that when talking about sporting achievments for this yr that one of the cheersquad had to include the IC. A mickey mouse comp with 50 people & a few dogs watching played between countries with no pro or semi pro comp is not worthy of mentioning here.Especially with the falling in love propaganda at the end. For me Cadel Evans wins .

I don't know if I agree. Ultimately I think one can make cross-sport comparisons based on the person's contributions to their sport. So Sobers was better than Scottie Pippen, who whilst great, wasn't as good a basketball player as Sobers was a cricketer. Regarding Fevola and Aloisi & Skoko, it's probably tougher as their contributions to their respective sports (especially in the case of Fevola and Aloisi) were pretty similar. However, if Aloisi & Skoko are to be included, the I don't see why Fevola should be omitted. Which is actually my point. I wasn't so much as getting into a cross-sport comparison, as defending Fevola's right to be listed, since Titus though that Aloisi & Skoko should have been listed instead. 'and yes, I’m probably influenced by his public fall from grace.' That was disappointing. I was a huge fan of him, and putting aside that I think he was massively unfairly treated, I think it is a huge shame his career ended the way it did. He had the potential to be among the all-time great full forwards. He was a beautiful kick, was extremely talented, and had another couple of Coleman Medals in him. However, obviously it wasn't to be. He reminds me a bit of Allen Jakovich, although Jakovich's problems were more related to laziness and lack of application than Fevola.

Maybe the reason nobody cared was because it was played at a local park, with the skill level of an Australian under 14's team.

I think it's impossible to say that Fev was as good as or better than Aloisi or Skoko, such cross-sport comparisons are difficult and are best avoided. As Titus says, Aloisi played in the top four soccer leagues in the world and scored in a world cup game, and that's a pretty good achievement. Josip's career was not as high profile, but it was a pretty good career, and being an ex-Geelong boy, I'm sure he was an AFL fan and would prefer to steer clear of code-war discussions, which are generally the province of mugs like us, most professional sportsmen don't go for that sort of thing, and the vast majority look at their counter-parts from other sports to learn different things. Interestingly, there are parallels with Hall and Fev, both being strong, leading full forwards (a dying breed, although Sheeds will try to turn Izzey into one), both with good goal scoring records, both got themselves into trouble, both sought redemption (only one succeeded), and both are about to try their hand at another sport aged in their 30s. Interesting stuff - but I still don't think Fev did enough to make a top 5 for the year, and yes, I'm probably influenced by his public fall from grace.

Bruce, it does sound a little harsh because I consider them great Australian sportsmen and I'm sure I am not alone. The fact that the AFL players mean nothing to me doesn't stop me accepting that they are legends to other Australians(apologies for the unnecessary attack on Fevolas character). I understand that Ryan is primarily a Rugby League fan so I was just helping him out a little. If being one of a handful of Australians to score a goal in the worlds biggest sporting event and being the scorer of the goal that became one of the most significant sporting moments of our generation (not to mention the fact he has played in the three biggest football leagues in the world), doesn't qualify you as a sporting legend, then I don't know what does.

QLD Maroons in the top 5 sporting teams of the year?!?! In a 2 horse race they won 2 games & lost 1 against a very average NSW team. Not a big deal! -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.

Fevola kicked 623 goals in 204 games at an average of just over three goals a game, won two Coleman Medals, won a Michael Tuck Medal, was named All-Australian three times, and in 2008 he kicked 99 goals. He was among the all-time pure talents and he was among the best full-forwards of the 2000's, and so I think his selection is fitting. To sum up his career as just that he 'urinated on a restaurant' is absurd; he was as good as, if not better than, either Aloisi or Skoko.

Titus This might sound harsh but nobody considers them as great Australian sportsmen. Just so-so soccer players but definitely not legends.

You'd think being named Female Athlete of the Year would be enough to make the list.

I regret to say this piece written by Ryan was conceived in too much haste, & with too little thought, before he ducked off overseas. Ryan can, & must, do better.....!

The story in todays Telegraph about rugby league Immortal Graeme Langlands adopting the dog that was chucked out a second story window would have to rank wouldn't it ??

I have been watching the tour for 15 years after getting hooked as a 16 year old when my Dad flicked over one night to SBS. It's been a joy watching the Aussies win the green over the years but seeing Cadel take the yellow rates as my number two sporting moment of all time behind the Socceroos making the World Cup in 2005. Sam Brown is spot on, once you watch one tour, you will be hooked, there is no way to avoid it. For those who don't like the idea of going 22 nights without sleep every year it is best to avoid it.

The IC11 was held in 2011, naturally enough. It's a small event, from every measure, so to many it does not warrant a mention, but this series did mark a bit of a turning point in the Australian game. It was the 4th IC, and perhaps the first one that the AFL had got fully behind in an administrative sense, and even providing a tiny bit of financial support. It was the largest one held so far, with 23 teams from 19 countries represented, and a women's division was held for the very first time. The three best countries outside of Australia: Ireland, PNG and NZ had won one IC each, so they were all aiming to be the first country to win their second IC, and that fell to Ireland in a come-from-behind victory against PNG, who have been in all four IC finals for only one win. The US leapfrogged South Africa to make the top four, which was a great achievement for them, and the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru, with a population of only 15,000 was good enough to finish 5th. Things are looking good for the 5th installment of the IC in 2014 to be even bigger than this year. It's always heart warming to see people from the other side of the world making a huge effort to come to Australia to play our game, all at personal cost - each and everyone one of them deserve our praise and encouragement. It's also fascinating to see many of the videos of the various teams either doing their warm-ups singing songs (South Africa and Tonga), or hearing the captain's pep up talk, imploring their team mates to put their bodies on the line in a foreign tongue at a three quarter time huddle. I leave the last word to the Canada Northwind from their website: "Think of us as the Jamaican boblsed team. We didn't grow up watching footy or dreaming of playing in the AFL but we have fallen in love with the game since the first time we picked up the Sherrin." How many others are out there waiting to fall in love with the Sherrin?