Aussie Rules - still a tough game?

Question

P.S...It seems I'm asking a lot of questions lately. The reason is, this section has quitened down a bit, so I'm trying to keep it going.

Additional Details

So, the umpires are blowing the whistle more often then ever, and some people are saying our games like netball now. I say its still one hell of a tough sport, and if you`re not hard, the likes of Archer & the Roo (retired, I know) will knock ya block off. What do you guys think?

I still say....the free kicks is killing our game, therefore making our game look "SOFT".

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

The game is still tough, especially in the minor leagues around the country because of the 'no camera's thing', players get away with a lot more.

But in any league one of the toughest things to do is stand under a ball waiting for a pack to crunch you, (notice rugby league players drop the ball almost every time when the ball is kicked up into the air into the try area), also running back with the flight of ball trying to take a mark, you know you have to go and it takes courage to do it.

You're right mate, the soft frees are killing the game, most are bloody ridiculous and make it very frustrating for the supporters of all sides.

With the hand in the back rule- why doesn't that apply in ruck contest in particularly at boundary throw ins, players put hands all over each other, if it's good enough to award free in the forward line, why not on the wing or half back flank, or any where on the ground, it makes no sense, it's the same infringement. hand over shoulder or arm around your opponent.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Good answer Rom....your comment on the hands on the back rule is 100% right.

Thankyou.

Answer 2

The reason it may not appear as tough as it used to be is because the more the game moves on the more professional we get with our tackling(which is one of the toughest assets of the game), kicking, handballing and everything else therefore making the game more smooth and not as much room for roughness as there used to be. The game is still a very tough game it is just alot smoother

Answer 3

It's not as tough as it used to be because of the rule changes but that doesn't mean it's not a tough sport. People who dont play football wouldn't understand. You go through months of pre-season training which is pain full as hell! All those time trials, sprints etc do take a toll on your body.

As far as the actual game goes, yes it's still tough. The pace of the game gets quicker every year and in my opinion it really is becoming a young mans game. Just because there's not as much bumps and fights as there used to be it doesn't mean that the game has gone soft.

Answer 4

Its a tough sport. However, the game has gotton softer, so to speak. The players these days can not do as much as they could when my Dad watch and played the game. They are saying that AFL is like Aus-Kick now-a-days.
Lets take a look back. My Dad started playing AFL when he was 8 years old. Full sized ball, all rules and full sized oval. My brother, now aged 8 is play "Aus-Kick", tiny ball, tiny oval and wont play full oval with full rules until the under 13s.
Yes AFL, in my own opinion, has gotton softer

Source(s):

I have lived with AFL football my whole life, with a Dad playing Masters, and 2 brothers playing too. They even find a way to play AFL in the Summer!

Answer 5

It is getting quite soft when players like Buddy Franklin get rubbed out for two weeks for a slight hip and shoulder it is getting soft. Quite a few times throughout the year contact was very minimal and players were getting rubbed out for a match or two.

As for the comment" If Aussie Rules was not still a tough game, we would not be seeing so many injuries." well Cricket is a completely non contact sport and Australia has had knee injuries, ankle spains, side injuries, finger injuries, arm injuries you name it. Same with football all you need to do is move your leg and you can pull a hamstring, move a bit and pull a groin muscle, calf muscle. Max Bailey landed on his leg in what appeared a very minor way and he is going to be out for 12 months with yet another knee injury, That's not because he was tough or had some big bump, that was simply because of a lot of bad luck with his body. The only recent example I can think of which is kind of tough is where players such as Brad Sewell put their head over the ball or players like Nick Riewoldt run backwards to take a make knowing someone is about to collect him. These players only do it knowing that the players surrounding him are so limited by woosy rule changes that they are too frightened to make any sort of contact which will cause anything more than a bruise. some of the things players are rubbed out for wouldn't even cause a player in girls under 13 hockey to give away a free kick let alone professional muscled up footballers who pack on the muscle to play a contact sport.

Answer 6

If Aussie Rules was not still a tough game, we would not be seeing so many injuries. Some of the great hard men have retired such as Archer and Worsfold, but there are always going to be players like that running around. Todays guys like that are Campbell Brown, Darren Glass, Barry Haul - you name it! Sure, they have minimized what you can do to oppisite players - but that doesnt take away the intensity and toughness of our great game.

We still see guys being flung hard to the ground, stretchers coming out and players like there motionless. If our game wasnt tough, would we see these things? I think not.

Answer 7

I noticed and thanks for trying to keep things interesting. I've been trying to think of an original Q or two that people will fnd interesting but so far no cigar. Anyway I think it's softER than it was I mean look at what blokes could do in the 89 GF and today Buddy bumps someone and gets rubbed out. That being said it's still not soft. Wasn't that long ago that guys like Byron Pickett were putting people in stretchers, literally. It's not like netball though, whoever said that is exaggerating. In netball you can't come within three feet of someone shooting for goal.

Source(s):

I won the best defensive player award when we were forced to play a semester of netball in ninth grade PE class.

Answer 8

it would seem that the umpires are having trouble keeping up with the fast pace of the game these days.
you think about it.
the ball can be shifted backwards, sidewards and then backwards again all in the name of keeping the ball of the opposition.
i guess this is where people think that it is getting like netball.
there are no limits on how many times that a team can do this.
but it is all in the name of getting the ball down the other end so the team that has the ball can score.
to be honest it can get a little overworked as i have seen my team do it a fair bit and then eventually turn the ball over because they have been farting around with it way to much.
but this does come back to the coaches as they send these instructions out to the players to do this.
as for the toughness of the game.
where is the stat on how many players get injured these days.
i bet that it is a hell of a lot more than it was 20 years ago.
if anyone is game enough to want to call our game soft then they should ask buddy franklin who was not smart enough to ware a mouth guard and lost a couple of teeth this season.
what a chump!

Answer 9

we in america are asking the same thing about our football. look up tom brady leg penalty or something like that. probably what is happening inyour football is that the league is trying to protect their best players. its kind of similar to ours in the fact that they both are some form of rugby so...

what the controversy was was that the qb tom brady threw the ball. a linemen touched his leg (not even hit it) and the guy gets a penalty. it was total bs.

its just a guess though.

i also say thee same thing about soccer. im not huge on soccver, but they always complain about getting hit without being touched to the point where anyone can play. what happened t athelets being the best of the best at their sport? in soccer now, if you can act, you can be good at it. its humiliating for soccer.

Answer 10

I, I still think that the game is tough. A lot of free kicks were paid for acting, which made some parts of this last season look as sooky as a soccer game, but the AFL says they're going to crack down on the fakers, so hopefully this game will become even more tough and physical.

Answer 11

How many sleeps to go till the 1st round...I miss my footy.

I agree with you about the umpiring...the rules though are to "grey" in parts which makes some decisions so contentious...I understand that we must protect the player's head at all costs but some of the good shirt fronts are now missing from our game.

Answer 12

I still think the game is hard as nails but its the little rules and its interpretations that stuff everything around.

Answer 13

I agree with you the are has quieted down lol

anyways sometimes the ump does give away sodt free kicks but its just human error the game is still tough

Answer 14

Um, the section may have gone a bit quiet because the season's over?

Source(s):

Last AFL game was on September 26 ... The Cats thrashed the Saints!

Answer 15

afl requires more skill and rugby league is toughest game in the world