Is Australia a potential American football powerhouse?

Sports in Australia are totally different. they are not played in the schools like the US, but instead played in "clubs". If you are considering moving to Australia, there would be a significant cultural difference between the two. All of the sports are played here, but American Football is not offered until the age of 14 and then its sometimes a modified game like 7 on 7. I'm from Louisiana originally and although I love Australia and living here, one of my biggest regrets is that my two 13 year olds do not get to experience sports in school like I did.

the american samoans also practised alot more as a team together. Multiple times a week throughout the year leading upto the game. The junior outback only had a 2 week camp prior to the game. We also need to remember there is only one way off that island for those kids. Thats football. Who do you think wanted it more?

Christ. Like a French backline

some of those that don't make it to NFL, may consider helping to make USA a rugby power?

you may be right there

how can you have a " spread pass " game in gridiron? I'm ignorant of the facts here, but in rugby you can play it via forwards, or use the backs Is there a Gridiron equivalent to this?

In Australia we start playing contact sport at 5 & 6. I don't know what's changed but we used to go by weight up to a certain age. The influx of immigrants may have changed things, as Islanders who've come to Oz can be large, even at 12 they are larger than their age contemporaries We had a gym in high school and started using that at 13 and that was a NSW state school. Maybe there's been change? Shouldn't take too long to strengthen up for the US collage system. Strength is a natural thing that can be capitalised on relatively quickly Remember too, we have a much smaller population with regionalised codes. Maybe with it's population, the US would be better seeing how many blokes they can get to play rugby and improving the game with corporate backing rather than look to us for gridiron talent

Nice article. I will weigh in and tell you why Australia do not make an impact on the world of American football and it starts with age restrictions. In Australia you have to be 14 to start playing. In American you can start playing at 5. In Australia you cannot go into a gym until you are 16. In America all highschools have a gym and it is compulsory for football players to work out from 12. By the time an Australian Gridiron player decides he likes the sport enough to try and go to a college he has only had 4 years football experience and is not strong enough for the American College system.

Vollmer played footbal here in Texas (University of Houston) before being taken by the Pats. I am considering moving my family to Oz, but my boys are both heavy into sports, i.e. American football (not soccer), basketball, wrestling, and water polo. I wonder if the intermediate and high schools in Oz feature any of these sports? I have a 13 year old and a 9 yr old. I played Rugby Union in college here in the states and liked it plenty, though I would rather play American football instead. Thoughts?

It depends on your definition of athlete. American football players are specialists. They play only one particular position either on offense or defense. Some positions require more of what you would call athleticism, but if you want to compare the "athletes", American players win hands down, not because we're naturally better, but because of what an earlier commenter wrote, the competition here is ten to twenty times as fierce. They're are only 32 teams in the N.F.L. representing over three hundred million people. If Aussies had been playing American football all their lives, you'd have about one player that could make each American team. If you consider American University and college football graduates each year, you have about one hundred thousand players coming from about 2500, yes, twenty five hundred schools. Out of these one hundred thousand graduates, each year, only about eighty make it to the N.F.L. where due to injury and competition, the average career is only 3.5 years, that's it. That's why they make the big bucks. For any player lasting 10 or twelve years, another hundred last less than two years. Imagine, 80 out of a hundred thousand.

remember the old saying, they can't run without legs. tackle them!

There is WAY more to be a Athelte than just sprinting and jumping. There is (SKILL), being able kick the ball and & hit someone on the chest 45 meters away while sprinting, dodge in and out of players then snap a ball from the Boundary Line 45 meters out, take a Hanger while sitting on top of a persons shoulders, curve a ball along the ground from 45 meters out. American Football players would probably trip over their feet if they tried to do any of that. Australian football players are (WAY) better athletes than American football players. And your comparing two different countries that have different systems. College sport isn't the next level down in Australia, we have the club system. You get crowd's of 60 thousand to a big VFL games. Australian footbal players are (WAY) better athletes than American football players.

Thanks to the shrinking world, as an American, I'm not limited to the ad-infested overhyped monotony of American football. To each their own, I guess. Glad I discovered rugby; union or league are both more appealing to me than our football. Now, if we can just get the NHL lockout settled, life would be good.

Great post! Like you said, the NFL is the elite of the elite. It is a sport that in the NFL alone generates 9 billion dollars every year. You have college games attracting over 60k every game. Could you imagine the Australian equivalent (something like Melbourne Uni vs Monash) attracting such a crowd at the MCG? Of course not. In terms of potential Australian players crossing codes to the NFL, I really don't think that it would be possible. I use the example of West Coast ruck man Nic Naitanui to make my point. Nic Nat is regarded by many as the biggest physical freak, with a rare combination of size and speed to grace the AFL. His vertical jump from a running start at the AFL draft camp was 102cm. I now look at arguably the fastest player in the AFL, Lewis Jetta. His 20 metre timed sprint recorded at the AFL Draft Camp was 2.95 seconds. Note that the fastest 20 metre sprint at an AFL Draft Camp ever was by Joel Wilkinson with a time of 2.75 seconds. I now compare these to Vernon Davis, the 49ers tight end. At the NFL draft combine, Davis recorded a STANDING vertical leap of 106.7cm, and his speed over 20 yards (around 18.1 metres) was 2.59 seconds. So you have a player who weights over 10 kgs more than Nic Nat, is jumping way higher than him, and yet he would be able to chase down Lewis Jetta in a foot race. Scary thing of all is that Vernon Davis isn't a one off commodity in the NFL either. Many players in the NFL share similar HWS (height/weight/speed) measurables. The only way I really see Australians having an impact in the NFL is in the kicking game, with one or two exceptions (like Jesse Williams) getting a spot on a line. Right now, we don't have the physical freaks to match it with the elite that America has to offer.

that's the problem

that may be true, still, they are different games. I couldn't see Benn Robinson playing AFL

Fixed your code war post for you. "A huge man of the type you find in rugby union, the larger ones I mean would find AFL difficult. They are fine for ramming into a bloke at closer quarter, but to carry that weight a few miles in four 30 minute quarters might be asking a bit" The bodies you see in the NFL are *built*, the same way low-slung props with lower body and core strength or lean Australian Rules sprint-and-endurance specialists are built. They are the product of highly determined, highly trained athletes working bloody hard on the track and in the gym.

Ian, it's not code war. A huge man of the type you find in NFL, the larger ones I mean would find it difficult. They are fine for ramming into a bloke at closer quarter, but to carry that weight a few miles in 80 minutes might be asking a bit I don't engage in code wars

Amband, I see your stupid code war comment, and raise you an Earl Thomas. http://www.seahawks.com/team/roster/Earl-Thomas/2b7944eb-8876-431d-9149-f29a6e51e5be

No not a chance, Our own rugby codes have copied, in part US traditions not required here, such as entertainers singing their arses off for hours before the game instead of a traditional kids match, cheerleaders. I how how much that costs? Singing the national anthems is another import. They usual to be played by a traditional band, like a military band or other appropriate band I go to see rugby, not a show