Which "Football" code is the toughest, most skilled or simply the best?

[vlad]

Yep get the magic sponge out and the smelling salts out and hey good to go head split open no problem no pain-killing injections a good staple gun does the trick and a Crepe bandage round your Bonce.

[Smithydog]

1 hour ago, Rookiescot said:

Toughest is Gaelic football. Its just organized violence where occasionally someone scores a goal. Usually by accident. (Shinty is worse. They just hit each other with sticks).

Fastest is Aussie Rules. Love that game.

Most skilled would be rugby union (although I get that NFL is a close second, union requires the captain and players to decide on the next "play" not a team of backroom staff. They also need to be able to change that "play" in a heartbeat depending what actually happens on the pitch).

Rugby union is also the best in my opinion but I will admit I watch pretty much ANY sport including elephant polo. 

Rugby Union when I grew up flowed so well and I loved playing it. But then the southern countries started adopting more and more of the European rule interpretations which made it a penalty fest and slowed it down so much.

Far better now with the playing of advantage for penalties and seeing the outcome rather than the immediate pull up it used to be. I even stopped watching for a while as it was so stop start and you could see the players getting frustrated.

Ah, you haven't experienced life until you are trapped over the ball in a Rugby Union tackle, with people piling in on top and the studs on the boots raking down your back.

[Smithydog]

1 hour ago, BigHewer said:

A lot to unpack in your reply, so I’ll just focus on the first point. I will admit I know very little about rule modifications for junior versions of these sports. But I do think it’s a good thing to usher in the more advanced skills later. 

I played one season of AFL when I was 7. My parents were in Gove in the Northern Territory for a year, and it was the only junior sport in town. I don’t remember a whole lot. There were no positions, it was all fun in the mud. I enjoyed it.

The following year playing (association) football, I can still remember the “rules” which applied to me. A bit different.

The involvement for the kids is so much better these days. I too played under 8s but we had a pedantic coach that wanted all his players to stay in their allocated positions until the ball came near them. Often it would get nowhere near most as they had us playing on full sized fields!

I still remember Dad once being collared into being a goal umpire. He was happy to help but had absolutely no idea what he was doing! He didn't get a second chance after that and was demoted to the BBQ cooking sausages for the club, which I think suited him fine!

[Rookiescot]

13 minutes ago, Smithydog said:

Rugby Union when I grew up flowed so well and I loved playing it. But then the southern countries started adopting more and more of the European rule interpretations which made it a penalty fest and slowed it down so much.

Far better now with the playing of advantage for penalties and seeing the outcome rather than the immediate pull up it used to be. I even stopped watching for a while as it was so stop start and you could see the players getting frustrated.

Ah, you haven't experienced life until you are trapped over the ball in a Rugby Union tackle, with people piling in on top and the studs on the boots raking down your back.

The rules are much better than they used to be (still need to sort out scrums though).

Thing is the players themselves have no resemblance to what rugby players used to be like. Props had a beer belly. Wingers were racing snakes. Hookers were the smallest guys on the team. Half way through the second half everyone was knackered and just wanted to go to the pub.

Now look at them.

[vlad]

6 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

The rules are much better than they used to be (still need to sort out scrums though).

Thing is the players themselves have no resemblance to what rugby players used to be like. Props had a beer belly. Wingers were racing snakes. Hookers were the smallest guys on the team. Half way through the second half everyone was knackered and just wanted to go to the pub.

Now look at them.

Centers and wingers are 6ft plus 16 stone massive man mountains and props are 19 stone all muscle Rookie but Super league players now are past their prime at 33 through the injuries they've incurred.

[Mazz11]

2 hours ago, Smithydog said:

You do realise that in Rugby League and Rugby Union, the kids play a modified version of the games without the impact? The kids in Aussie Rules also play a modified version based on involvement and basic skills of kicking and handpassing, and a general environment of having fun. Serious skills are not taught until they are much older.

https://play.afl/auskick/parents

You obviously haven't tried to kick or catch an oval shaped ball. Compare doing it with a round ball when the ball is spinning end on end. Then try doing it with someone on your back and others around you trying to knock it away from you. Then sit back and kick it 50 plus metres or longer to land on a target. It is like a Quarterback in the NFL throwing the ball to a receiver except AFL players do it with their foot.

Or perhaps try and handball the ball to another player 30 metres away. Easy for a volleyball or soccer ball that is round, but not so easy with an oval shaped ball. Perhaps ask a neighbour if you can try jumping onto their shoulders whilst they are moving, and see if you can catch the ball and land safely.

Probably some members are unsure of what AFL is. So here is a video that explains it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMZYZcoAcU0

Love the discussion you have started.

I will admit straight off that I am biased on my preferred game. It is Australian Rules Football. for me their is no better game.

I began to play this game when I was five years old (no modified rules back then) and played as an adult as well as coaching senior and junior teams. There are so many different skills required to play this game successfully. It's not just being able to kick the ball, you need to master different styles of kick depending on what you want the ball to do. There is the drop punt which is used in the majority of situations, the stab pass which is a version of the drop punt but the ball travels lower and faster, there is also the torpedo which is used to kick long distances, the banana which enables you to make the ball travel in an arc (good players can kick a ball almost around a corner). Tackling, shepherding & bumping, many different moves to evade a tackle (which I was not very good at unfortunately), high mark, chest mark, standard hand pass, long hand pass, underground handpass (this is when you handpass with the ball rolling forward into the ground to evade an opposition player trying to block you from disposing of the ball. So many different skills to be mastered. The list goes on.

It is fast but nowhere near as brutal as it was 30 or 40 years ago. Gaelic football is the closest thing I have seen to aussie rules and the two codes have an international series that is usually played every two years between Australia and Ireland. Unfortunately Covid has put a stop to that for a while.

Fantastic topic   

[Smithydog]

Hi @Mazz11 Which team do you support?

[Smithydog]

I was watching a You Tube video the other day talking about the increasing Aussie influence on NFL kickers and the few Aussies that have actually made the grade as well. It spoke about the value of the drop punt and how many more are adopting it for the kicks.

I was very interested in the "hang time" and accuracy expected. Brilliant off one or a couple of steps!

 

[Mazz11]

23 minutes ago, Smithydog said:

Hi @Mazz11 Which team do you support?

I support the West Coast Eagles.

They are not travelling very well this year 

[Mazz11]

18 minutes ago, Smithydog said:

I was watching a You Tube video the other day talking about the increasing Aussie influence on NFL kickers and the few Aussies that have actually made the grade as well. It spoke about the value of the drop punt and how many more are adopting it for the kicks.

I was very interested in the "hang time" and accuracy expected. Brilliant off one or a couple of steps!

Yes, you can get a lot of control using a drop punt

[Smithydog]

51 minutes ago, Mazz11 said:

I support the West Coast Eagles.

They are not travelling very well this year 

Sadly no. Brisbane Lions for me and things looking much better until we get to finals...ha ha

 

[Mazz11]

4 minutes ago, Smithydog said:

Sadly no. Brisbane Lions for me and things looking much better until we get to finals...ha ha

I like Brisbane, very good team.

They have more years in their legs than some of my mob.

[King Cotton]

7 hours ago, Smithydog said:

Different spots in the world . . . 

Is this a sports or a tourism thread? . . . great typo, @Smithydog!

[Pinetree]

Of course, we are all dancing on the head of a pin.  We all know that its Quidditch. All that flying about around buildings is bloody dangerous.  

[Smithydog]

22 minutes ago, King Cotton said:

Is this a sports or a tourism thread? . . . great typo, @Smithydog!

Well spotted....fixed....sometimes I think the fingers don't engage with the keys it is telling them to press. Could say if was all the hard knocks over the years playing spots sports, but more likely the alcohol!!

[Rookiescot]

4 hours ago, Mazz11 said:

I support the West Coast Eagles.

They are not travelling very well this year 

Its strange but I only started watching Aussie Rules after I arrived here in Thailand and started drinking in bars full of Australians. 

Eventually had to pick a team and stumped for the West Coast Eagles because ermm they are from ermm Perth. Which is the same name as an old Scottish town.

Seriously wish I had put more thought into it given how much grief I get from my Australian friends. Stuck with them now though 

[BigHewer]

5 hours ago, Smithydog said:

The involvement for the kids is so much better these days. I too played under 8s but we had a pedantic coach that wanted all his players to stay in their allocated positions until the ball came near them. Often it would get nowhere near most as they had us playing on full sized fields!

I still remember Dad once being collared into being a goal umpire. He was happy to help but had absolutely no idea what he was doing! He didn't get a second chance after that and was demoted to the BBQ cooking sausages for the club, which I think suited him fine!

I played AFL for one season in the under 7s, though I use the term ‘played’ very loosely. It was the only junior sport at my age level in the town we were (temporarily) living in, which was Gove in northern Oz (mining town at the time).

I remember on registration day the coach asked how many of us had played the game before and only a few hands went up; two teams were formed with the aim being they would be of equal ability. I was put in “Carlton”, the other team was “Fitzroy” and we wore replica kits. 

In our Carlton team we had players from England, Romania, Denmark and some others. Some didn’t speak English. Plus a core of Aussie lads who understood somewhat. It didn’t matter. It was two herds chasing a ball. We played Fitzroy every week and beat them. 

I still remember finishing games and players would ask, “Did we win?”. It was all fun and games. 

Many years later after I’d left and then returned to Australia, I was approached by two inebriated chaps in Alice Springs who tried to recruit me to be their “ruckman”. I had no idea what a ruckman was. They asked me if I’d ever played before and I told them I was junior player for Carlton.  

 

[Mazz11]

11 hours ago, Rookiescot said:

Its strange but I only started watching Aussie Rules after I arrived here in Thailand and started drinking in bars full of Australians. 

Eventually had to pick a team and stumped for the West Coast Eagles because ermm they are from ermm Perth. Which is the same name as an old Scottish town.

Seriously wish I had put more thought into it given how much grief I get from my Australian friends. Stuck with them now though 

Keep the Faith 

[Mazz11]

 

On 5/3/2022 at 4:43 PM, Smithydog said:

Sadly no. Brisbane Lions for me and things looking much better until we get to finals...ha ha

On 5/3/2022 at 4:49 PM, Mazz11 said:

I like Brisbane, very good team.

They have more years in their legs than some of my mob.

Brisbane play West Coast this week.

On recent form I think you'll be smiling and I'll be crying

 

[Smithydog]

36 minutes ago, Mazz11 said:

Brisbane play West Coast this week.

On recent form I think you'll be smiling and I'll be crying

Know the feeling well. Supported Lions since they were the Brisbane Bears based on the Gold Coast. So have been through the bad, the shockingly bad, the rise and falls along with the joy of winning. Coach Fagan has done a good job with the current group but they need to take a further step over the next few years.

West Coast will be back up top. Keep your chin up. Too good a club not to rise again.