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The Swans v Saints AFL game in Wellington, New Zealand provided me, and no doubt many thousands of other New Zealanders, with the first real, serious opportunity to watch AFL on home soil.
What an outstanding spectacle. I found the game highly entertaining and fast. The players are blessed with amazing skills, particularly catching and kicking, and wonderful fitness levels.
I hope the AFL see this match as the first in a long-term strategy to bring the Australian game proper to New Zealand, because the AFL provides kiwi sports fans with a refreshing alternative to the rugby codes.
I can’t understand why it’s taken the AFL 150 years to venture over the Tasman. What were they scared of?
The ultimate in transtasman sports would be a competitive Australian v New Zealand international AFL match, with teams of even ability.
Such a match is well into the future, but imagine the All Blacks of AFL. Such a game would stop both nations, which is something league or union can’t currently do, despite all the hype that surrounds State of Origin and the Bledisloe Cup.
If the New Zealand Rugby Union want to increase revenue streams, may be they should bank roll the New Zealand international AFL team based on the All Blacks brand. Now there’s an innovative thought.
Neither the ARU nor NRL can crack the southern states. With a bit of nous and a joint venture with the AFL the New Zealand Rugby Union could show them both how to do it.
But enough of the dreaming.
Watching the AFL match made me understand why union and league can’t crack the southern states.
Both rugby codes are stodgy and slow in comparison. League’s lack of a contest for possession is a serious handicap, while union’s technicalities boggle the minds of even it’s own supporters, let alone the uninitiated.
My main concern before the game was whether I would understand it. Surprisingly, I found it quite easy to follow, despite terms like ‘handball’, ‘behind’, ‘Sherrin’ and ‘Ruckman’ being completely foreign to my sporting vernacular.
Other aspects of the game I found refreshing were:
1. Televising the final words of the St Kilda coach in the dressing room just before the start of the game
2. The TMO was conspicuous by his absence. 18 points can be scored in an AFL game in the time a union TMO takes to make a simple decision
3. The free-flowing nature of the game
4. A decent ANZAC pre-match ceremony
5. Decent looking on-screen graphics (the Super Rugby ones in New Zealand haven’t changed in ten years)
6. A decent length game. You get a lot of bang for your money with AFL. Union and league seem to be over in the blink of an eye, but AFL delivers more value for money, simply because the game lasts longer, and the ball is in play far longer.
7. A 20,000 plus crowd in Wellington for the first time in ages, for any sport.
Finally, a word about the skills. As you watch the players kick the ball to each other, it’s easy to forget the supreme skill required to run at full speed, kick the Sherrin 50 metres under pressure, and still put it on a dime.
Now that’s sport. Welcome to New Zealand Australian Rules Football.
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