As I was thinking about writing this piece this morning, I ventured into a newsagency.
Perusing the sports section for something, nay anything, that would pique my interest I was greeted by AFL Record edition about Fantasy 2019. Was it fate? I doubt it.
However, it was another sign that the mysterious sport of Australian rules football needs my full attention. As an Englishman living in Australia, I have taken a passing interest in AFL. I have watched each grand final since arriving but have not spent too much time exploring the nuances of the sport.
Living in Queensland feels like I am already at a disadvantage. Having moved to the Victorian football heartland of Melbourne and it would have been a fait accompli. Here in sunny Queensland, there are other things to occupy the mind. Both AFL teams have not garnered my attention enough; going deep into the finals may have been a shirtfront that I couldn’t ignore.
However, the Lions and the Suns have neither roared or blazed so I put the blame back on them. I consider myself a Brisbane Lions barracker despite my indifference. Like a supporter born into a family of, say Richmond, fans then I must follow them as they are ‘my’ team. I live here, therefore, I barrack for them.
I am not a complete novice. Watching the last five grand finals does not make me an expert either. I have read The Coach by John Powers and was more intrigued by the leadership and management techniques of Ron Barassi than understanding the finer points of gameplay in the 1970’s VFL. I am currently enjoying Bob Murphy’s Leather Soul but it’s the man and not the game that is the primary motivator. Football Ltd and several Martin Flanagan books are sitting on the bookshelf.
My interest in AFL was ignited by the ‘The Greatest Season That Was 1993’ podcast. My game is cricket so when I heard that Adam Collins and Dan Brettig had a new podcast then I was in. Along with Shannon Gill, Collins and Brettig produced a wonderful audio history of the 1993 season.
I bought into the zeitgeist of the piece. Hearing stories of Winmar, Ablett, Buckley, Modra et al set my mind racing that, perhaps, I was missing out. With 1993 being the greatest season, or at least that’s the claim, will the 2019 season be able to hold my attention?
Clearly, the game has moved on and there certainly won’t be any pigs on the ground.
(Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Apart from the physicality of AFL, there are two aspects that win me over: history and statistics. I love history and AFL has it in abundance. Going back to 1897, the VFL has plenty of seasons to pour over before the expansion era added a new national dimension to the sport.
Statistics, or data analytics as the cool kids now call it, intrigue me. It’s why I love cricket so much. So, finding Footballistics in a bookshop was numerical nirvana. Opening the book at a random page and finding a scatter graph of games played and distance travelled was definitely an invitation to buy and I accepted it warmly.
The enjoyment of sport is, usually, formed from experience at a younger age. I can remember being hit on the thigh with a cricket ball at school. Being tackled during a rugby game in the snow. The feeling of a mistimed slide tackle in a football game as the defender’s studs scraped down the side of my leg.
For me, AFL cannot have such an experiential angle. I am far too old to take a contested mark in a match. I won’t feel the rush of adrenaline, with a Sherrin in hand, trying to reduce my heart rate to be able to kick a match-winning goal.
My only recollection of AFL, at an earlier age, was on television when living back in England. It’s the reason I have ‘One Day in September’ anchored to the sport. Not sure if it’s a curse or a requirement to have such a psychological attachment to Mike Brady. However, it’s in the darkest recesses of my mind and comes flooding back whenever my brain feels that it needs such a reminder.
At this point, I guess you are starting to think that this is all very well, but why have I taken the time to get all of this down? Well, it’s a public letter of intent to the AFL that I fully intend to immerse myself in the 2019 season. It’s a call to action from me, to you, to join me on the way.
I have this fantasy that with all roads leading to the MCG on September 28, I’ll be there.
I probably won’t, just like ‘my’ Lions, but going to have a go nonetheless. Like a rookie at pre-season training, I have a lot to learn…
Jakarta Fan
Roar Rookie
Great job. Well done. Loved it!
Aligee
Roar Rookie
Not really focussing on your good article but more on your UK heritage ---- you may enjoy it .... https://www.theroar.com.au/2018/12/07/from-west-devon-to-geelong-via-the-cape/
Paul D
Roar Guru
They've been really welcoming, I think they just like having new faces, as a lot of other clubs really struggle for numbers - Aspley are quite solid though. I admit I'm not the most physical bloke going around - I don't mind putting myself in harms way, but some of the more solid blokes carrying a few tyres are a bit hard to shift or knock over. But I play a good role - I enjoy running, I like getting free into space and taking marks, and the mids now know to keep running through because I'm always looking to handball off Sandilands style to someone who's a better kick (ie. just about anyone) unless I'm within about 35m, haha I just like that no-one really cares so long as you're putting in the effort, it's great for the state of mind to just know if you're putting your best foot forward you're not going to get a bake for making a skill error, it gives you a lot more confidence and I've found that in itself has meant the skill errors decrease over time anyway
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Paul D Ah yes - but in footy there's also the (slightly out of date now - given AFLW) old put down of "Built like Tarzan, plays like Jane"......still gotta be able to get the job done!!! But yep - I'd suggest most over 35s would be very pleased to see someone of your proportions rocking up with the perhaps even greater athleticism from touch????
Paul D
Roar Guru
I'm 6'3, 90kgs and have played touch football for about 8 years. And yeah, I was already pretty fit when I started and am big enough to not get too rattled by contact. So yes, I do have natural advantages, that should probably be a disclaimer
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Paul D I ponder at your sporting background. The key thing is in Aust footy - that there's such a variety of skills/attributes involved that there is always some form of role that can be found. If you've played Rugby or League, there are some transferable skills. If you've played soccer there are some but different transferable skills. Likewise, basketball, volleyball.... .....or you may just be a running beast.
Paul D
Roar Guru
never too late to learn. I'm in Brisbane too, aged 36 and just starting on my second full (hopefully) season of masters footy for over 35's, having never played before about 18 months ago. has been a hell of a lot of fun and very welcoming to newcomers. If you're willing to commit to it and put in the hard work it is an incredibly rewarding game to play
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
Not sure how old you are - but - there's superules and masters footy (AFL) that is welcoming to people of all ages - I've played with people learning the game at over 40 and loving it and winning premierships within a few years (one of my mates who'd come from NSW, became our premiership ruckman - is not club president and helped establish a womens masters team). Re England and footy - a nice story is Luke Matias. Nice guy. Met him during the 2014 AFL International Cup when the Great Britian team hung around out at Bulleen for the Fiji team fund raising night (helping cover the travel/accom costs).
Billy Mumphrey
Guest
Footy is Ace!
Grand-Dag
Roar Rookie
Interesting article, reflecting a little of my experience. Grew up in Perth playing lacrosse for thirty years with only a begrudging interest in footy. Getting WA team into the VFL/AFL stirred hormones a bit and then beating the Vics in 92 and 94 cemented my Eagles devotion into fanship. So never having played the game, I started to watch most weeks and slowly picked up the nuances. This started real emotional input and outflow, fluctuating with the teams performance. The only rule was ' My demeanor on Monday morning was not to be determined by whether the club won or lost'. I floated through about twenty years of this 'Interested but not enthralled' status until last season. Perth had a new stadium, all the pundits had the Eagles dropping out of the eight, quite a few players, including stars were dropped and unknowns were promoted. So I now recognize that it was definitely a ' backing the underdog' syndrome feeling which propelled me into becoming obsessed with the footy. Watching all the post and pre-match videos, buying the paper to match my tipping against the 'experts', watching replays mid-week. All traits never before followed but now imperative to my addiction. The dismissal of the Eagles chances and lack of appreciation of their abilities by the East Coast media fueled this fanatical drive, especially as the finals unfolded. The last gasp win in the Grand Final iced the cake, and I have spent the last four months re-watching every game of the 2018 season. My reason for noting that my experience has been similar to Jonathan Northalls is to prompt him into immerse himself in the game, pour over the stats, look for the little wins and do lament the loses whilst soaking up the wins. Have fun.
Robin Barker
Guest
It gets you in, AFL. From an outsider's perspective it's a weird anarchic mess. There's no other 'football' like it (apart from maybe Gaelic which is not well-known anyway). No offside, difference sized grounds, punching the ball, leaping, tackling, high-scoring non-stop chaos. The players, shaped more like muscular dancers than footy players in tiny (not as tiny as the past) shorts and sleeveless tops, provide plenty of eye-candy for the ladies (I know an elderly Swiss woman who always makes sure she sees an AFL match every time she comes to Australia - she finds the soccer players' baggy, daggy outfits rather dowdy in comparison. It's not only outsiders who get the bug, many Australians from the non-AFL states (NSW and Queensland) also become full immersed as adults without family or local history of the game. The songs, the excitement, the emotion plus, yes, Brisbane could have a great season. You're gunna luv it Jonathan.
Aligee
Roar Rookie
Well, without Englishmen the game wouldn't exist, of that i have no doubt, recently i discovered that both the first President of North Melbourne one of the oldest football clubs in the world (1869) and relative newcomer Collingwood (1892) first Presidents were both Englishmen born in London. More recently from living in Perth where about 10% of the population was born in the UK, which does not include kids born here or 10 pound poms kids etc the UK population is huge, some suburbs up North have around 50/60% UK migrants which has given rise to junior footy clubs such as Brighton Seahawks, when i was involved in junior football the club was primarily run by English parents and let me tell you the egg and Bacon rolls were magnificent. Another interesting English involvement in footy was in Adelaide out at Elizabeth which was the center of Holden and plenty of 10 pound poms .....and i quote from wiki .... Centrals now have the largest attending support in the SANFL. Uniquely for an Australian Rules club, Centrals have a very strong British migrant identity and supporter base as Elizabeth was a centre of UK migrant settlements in South Australia. The colours and emblem of the club also reflect this rich British background. The colours were adopted from a UK soccer side depicted on a souvenir card however the exact identity of which club inspired the colours has not been revealed. To this day, many Central supporters carry Union Jack flags at matches and sport UK soccer paraphernalia. The colours were also influenced by Footscray in the VFL, the new club's inaugural patron, and the same Bulldog emblem was adopted for its working class connotations
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Nice piece! Welcome to footy, arguably the best sport in the world. ‘Your’ Lions might have a great season, so that’s gonna be good. Enjoy the season!
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Lions might have their best season in a decade, that might help a little bit. Welcome.