Australian rules football culture
The AFL teams from Brisbane and Sydney attracted a strong increase in crowds and television audiences when they won four premierships between them from 2001–2005 (and appeared in Grand Finals between 2001 and 2006 inclusive), though crowds and TV ratings have both declined as both teams' performances (in particular the Brisbane Lions who have suffered a decline since losing the 2004 AFL Grand Final) in subsequent years dropped.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is the largest stadium used for Australian rules football and the permanent home of the AFL Grand Final.
It is one of the largest sporting stadiums in the world and was the venue for the record Australian rules football attendance of 121,696 at the 1970 VFL Grand Final, between Carlton and Collingwood - which game was also historic, in that it heralded the dawning of a new style of football - still largely in use today, wherein handballing was introduced more to commence the attack from the back line.
Although crowds for state leagues have suffered in recent years, they continue to draw support, particularly for finals matches.
Outside of Australia, the game has drawn notable attendances only for occasional carnival type events, such as International tests and exhibition matches.
[6] According to OzTAM, in recent years, the AFL Grand Final has reached the top five programs across the five biggest cities in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
In 2012, the ABC commenced screening replays of the previous weekends VFL, SANFL, WAFL matches in the early hours of the morning during the week from 3.00AM - 5.30AM (local time in each state) nationwide on the ABC1 channel Australian rules also has a nominal but growing international audience.
[17] As part of their uniform, players wear shirts called guernseys, often referred to colloquially as jerseys.
Tight-fitting shorts were a notable fashion trend in most leagues in the 1980s and some players began to wear hamstring warmers.
A brief experiment with lycra by the AFL in the State of Origin series was quickly abandoned for more traditional wear.
[citation needed] Despite loud shouting and arguing, crowd violence, at least in Australia, is rare and there is no segragation between fans.
[23] With the exception of small official cheersquads, spectators at Aussie Rules matches will rarely engage in support for their teams with organised chants.
[citation needed] Most professional clubs have official cheersquads which will sometimes wave enormous coloured pompoms known as floggers after the umpire has signalled a goal.
[24] Meat pies,[25] beer and chiko rolls[citation needed] are popular consumables (sometimes noted as a tradition) for supporters at Australian rules matches.
In the AFL in recent years, this tradition has been more strictly controlled with security guards to ensure that players and officials can safely leave the ground.
Sometimes a mid-game pitch invasion is expected for various highly anticipated landmark achievements (such as a player kicking a record number of goals).
The practice was seen as flashy and inappropriate by fans and VFL clubs had abandoned their cheer squads after a few years.
In 2014 Collingwood president Eddie McGuire flagged the reintroduction of Melbourne Storm style cheerleading but with a gender diverse dance crew be introduced to the club though such a move was increasingly frowned upon by the public.
[30] Australian rules football is known for its high level of physical body contact compared to other sports such as soccer and basketball.
Combined with the range of activity including jumping, running, kicking, twisting and turning this means that injury rates are relatively high in comparison to other sports.
Pre-game warm-up and stretching exercises are a focus of the standard preparation routine for clubs at all levels to minimise these injuries.
Recently some professional players have undergone an innovative surgery that inserts a synthetic ligament in the knee which reduces the time out of football from twelve to three months.
[37] In a study of retired VFL/AFL footballers found that the most common problems amongst the group in old age included arthritis, hip replacements and significantly reduced capacity to participate in athletic activity.
[38][39] In recent years the AFL has commissioned official studies as well as introduced new rules and precautions aimed at reducing the number and severity of injuries in the sport,[40] and there are variation games which significantly reduce the contact and risk of injury to players and allow players of any age to continue to participate.
Women have been involved in Australian football since its inception, with many early match reports remarking on the equal representation of both sexes in the crowds.
[41] The trend continues with around half of modern day AFL supporters being female, which contrasts with other codes both in Australia and overseas.
The play was adapted as a film, directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Jack Thompson and Graham Kennedy, in 1980.
Traditionally office pools are done with footy tipping posters, however with the modern age these private competitions can be managed by PC or mobile apps.
Australian rules football has involved a diverse section of society and the AFL has multicultural programs to engage people from different backgrounds.
Performance enhancing drug abuse is also rare according to official studies[73] despite some high profile recent cases[74] and criticisms from the media and government[75] of the AFL's own anti-doping code [76] which allows players to test positive twice to recreational drugs and still continue to play and remain anonymous.
