The Aussie game: "Footy"

We had the big luck that our friends are big footy-fans and were able to get extra tickets for two Australian football games last weekend. Since there are so many club members who have preference, this was not an easy task - "footy" is a very popular sport in Australia! 

On Saturday we watched the local Fremantle Dockers team playing Melbourne, on Sunday the beloved local West Coast Eagles against the North Melbourne Kangaroos. Both home teams won!

"Aussie footy" is uniquely Australian with rules first codified in 1858. No other sport is as popular, next probably come cricket, rugby, netball and women's soccer,,, and, horse racing! The AFL (Australian Football League) currently consists of 18 teams, about the half of them located in the Melbourne metro area.

 

The Opus Stadium in Perth (above) is a state-of-the-art sports facility, surrounded by the Stadium Park with Boardwalk and Amphitheater and views towards the Swan River and the Perth downtown skyline. It opened in 2022 and offers seats for 60,000 fans. It's hosting a variety of sports and events, including Australian Football League, cricket, soccer and rugby.

Below the show at the start of the game:

The games we attended, marked the start into the the new season, which lasts till end of September. A game is divided into 4 quarters of 20 minutes playing time. A football field or "ground" is an oval between 135-185 m in length and 110-155 m in width, much larger than an American Football or soccer field. The goal consists of two sets of posts at the far ends of the oval and an achieved goal counts six points. What makes the game so unpredictable and interesting is the ball, an oval bladder covered with leather, not designed to be thrown, but to be "hand-balled" or kicked. It didn't take us too long to understand the general rules, and, compared to soccer the game is rather "unruly", but the players are very athletic and tough and no wimps – other than in soccer, where players are constantly whining and waling. And, it's fun to watch and never boring because there is a constant flow and not many referee interruptions.

Below, a statue of Nicky Winmar, the first professional Aboriginal footy player who made a clear statement for his people and their skin color by lifting his t-shirt:

The Eagles' win - the first one for 308 days, and, therefore rather unexpected! - caused quite an euphoria and also the gnomes in front of our friends entrance door were happy! And, Peter, of course, had to get another cap for his collection on the next day,,,