Aussie Football Blends the Best of Three Sports

I sat next to two young women on the long flight to Melbourne. One of the things they told me I should see while I was here was Australian Rules Football. So despite the jetlag, I took the tram down to Melbourne Cricket Grounds and soon I was holding a beer, chomping on a meat pie and watching the action.

It's a fun game that to me blends many of the best aspects of other sports. It has football's laterals and punts, soccer's precision passing and nonstop action, and rugby's tackling and shirt grabbing. The action takes place in a large circular field, with four posts on either end. The men jump high to grab at the ball, which is bounced hard off the grass and then they begin lateralling, punting and passing the ball trying to get in position to boot it through the uprights.

The fans are part of the fun. Most of them were dressed in team colors, including the sponsorship logos, and are a raucous bunch, waving flags, singing songs, and drinking big cups of beer cheering everything going on down on the field. With my $20 ticket, I was relegated to the high stands up on the fourth level, where the view of the field is excellent.

Collingwood was victorious on this Sunday game against Richmond, and when the game let out forty thousand rabid fans all made their way to the trams, which were mobbed. But everything sorted out nicely, and I had enjoyed my first game of AFL football here on a crisp fall day in Australia.