AFL 2007 - Australian rules football - highlights

[razorgrade]

While an exciting Canadian Australian rules football scene that will see the Toronto Eagles defend the championship is still a while from kicking off, the Australian Football League has begun early with their knock-out format competition, the NAB Cup. While Australian clubs and media don't take this progressive competition seriously and want to take it off the sporting calendar, according to wikipedia, the average attendances for the tournament are higher than soccer's FA Cup.

The premiership season ad another year of fearless, tough, physical, spectacular, fast, exciting and action packed play is only a month away.

This thread will keep Canadian fans of the Aussie game (which blends the greatest bits of every sport known to man) in touch with what is going on at the highest level along with videos and photos.

Some more pics courtesy of AFANA
here http://www.afana.com/drupal/v/car_ess_nab1_07/
and here http://www.afana.com/drupal/v/haw_mel_nab1_07/

Advancing to the next round are:

• Brisbane Lions
• Kangaroos
• Port Power
• Western Bulldogs
• Carlton Blues
• Geelong Cats
• Hawthorn Hawks
• Fremantle Dockers

Both of last year's championship contestants were knocked off in the first round.

More to come ...

 

[hermanntrude]

I spent some time in australia once and without a doubt it has the worst TV in the world. hours and hours of aussie rules football (the rules of which are a mystery) and crap soap operas.

 

[razorgrade]

I spent some time in australia once and without a doubt it has the worst TV in the world. hours and hours of aussie rules football (the rules of which are a mystery) and crap soap operas.

I only wish we got seconds of it. I could live without soap opera though.

Really, there is a perception that the rules are hard to understand, but in reality they are much more simple than most other sports. It is just very different to what you are probably used to. Playing it really helps.

This is a great article on the subject: "Is Australian Football Hard for North Americans to Understand?"

Try this quick guide http://www.afana.com/aussiefbguide.pdf

 

[hermanntrude]

i'm british. to be honest i didnt try very hard to understand it. maybe i would have if it wasnt for the hours and hours of it that drove me crazy.

 

[razorgrade]

i'm british. to be honest i didnt try very hard to understand it. maybe i would have if it wasnt for the hours and hours of it that drove me crazy.

I probably haven't spent as much time there as you. Where did you stay ? I travelled England some years ago and found exactly the same thing about soccer. It was everywhere. It is the same in the US with American Football and baseball. We have it with the CFL and NHL. Popular sports do tend to have that effect on local television

 

[hermanntrude]

I stayed in wollongong and sydney. total two weeks

i spose u must have come at a time when something big was going down. usually british TV isnt overwhelmed by footy, although at world cup time u might find 2 of the 5 channels awash with it.

 

[razorgrade]

Two of last year's bottom teams will make an appearance in the pre-season final. Brisbane Lions and Carlton.

Carlton is a historically strong and well supported team which has underperformed in the last five years. Brisbane is a team which won three successive titles between 2001 and 2003 and narrowly missed defending a fourth title in 2004.

Here are some highlights from the knock-out rounds.

More photos from the AFANA
http://www.afana.com/drupal/v/bris_geel_nabcup_semi_07/

More to come

 

[razorgrade]

In the pre-season Grand Final, the Carlton Blues triumphed over the Brisbane Lions in front of 46,094 fans at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne.

Carlton 97
Brisbane Lions 72

apologies for the watermarks on the images. IN a bizzare move, the AFL has officially denied the world's media access to images from its competition. They are only accessible via its website. They are great pics nonetheless ...

Some video of fans from the big game:

Some more images here
http://www.afana.com/drupal/v/bris_carl_nab_gf_2007/