Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

Sign Up Now!

"Can you smell the fear?", do the other football codes in Australia (AFL,NRL), genuinely fear football?

Frankly Speaking said:
I suggest that this thread should be retired.
There is no threat to the Neanderthal codes. They are culturally entrenched.
So how about ditching this thread?
Click to expand...
I believe that football is bigger than AFL in Sydney and easily so.
In pubs. Cafes, work offices i hear more talk of their football teams playing on weekend, the O/S teams, the Socceroos. The Matildas then any talk of Swans or AFL.

Yes NRL is king in Sydney but football, not A- League is also very big.
 
grazorblade said:
Anyone have the original Simon hill article? I am interviewing him next Wednesday
Click to expand...
books.google.de

Simon Hill. Just a Gob on a Stick

English-born Simon Hillrsquo;s devotion to his beloved Manchester City led him to follow his passion into a career as a football presenter and commentator in both radio and television. In Just a Gob on a Stick Simon relives all the action and the electric atmosphere of some of the most memorable...
books.google.de


www.thekennel.net.au

Can you smell the fear?

Can you smell the fear? Simon Hill (SBS - The World Game Presenter) Can you? If you live in Sydney, you'll hardly be able to breathe for the pungent stench. The egg-ballers are starting to sweat - and the putrid odour of fear is enveloping the Harbour City in the only way it knows...
www.thekennel.net.au www.thekennel.net.au
 
Robbos said:
Yeah when their AFL national team plays it really unites the country unlike the Socceroos and the Matildas.

The last AFL world cup kept me up to all hours, i lost so much sleep.
Football just can't compete with AFL internationally.

I can tell you most sport fans who's main sport is AFL watched most of the Socceroos game.
I consider myself a sports fan and can assure you that I couldn't name one current AFL player without being prompt and never watch a game this season.
Click to expand...
I am not sure if you realise or not, but 170,000 paying fans sitting in stadium watching a sport dont really care if it is played in any other country or in any other city.

Being a self proclaimed "sports' fan and also being proud of your ignorance of a major Australian sport is sort of a paradox wouldn't you say?
 
Robbos said:
Yeah when their AFL national team plays it really unites the country unlike the Socceroos and the Matildas.

The last AFL world cup kept me up to all hours, i lost so much sleep.
Football just can't compete with AFL internationally.

I can tell you most sport fans who's main sport is AFL watched most of the Socceroos game.
I consider myself a sports fan and can assure you that I couldn't name one current AFL player without being prompt and never watch a game this season.
Click to expand...


The AFL obviously knows that we have the advantage of international competition.

However that advantage which comes around every 4 years hasn't made a lasting impact on football's local popularity as measured by viewership and investmen, despite 6 WC's in a row.

In fact it could be argued its regressed.

AFL, on the other hand goes from strength to strength. They do not fear us.
 
Monoethnic Social Club said:
I am not sure if you realise or not, but 170,000 paying fans sitting in stadium watching a sport dont really care if it is played in any other country or in any other city.

Being a self proclaimed "sports' fan and also being proud of your ignorance of a major Australian sport is sort of a paradox wouldn't you say?
Click to expand...

The AFL in the southern states and the NRL and NSW and QLD should not fear us. The simple fact is that at a national level football operates for the most part in their off season and football doesn't dominate there either. You have the big horse racing carnivals, the real national sport cricket, a grand slam tennis tournament and of course beach weather to contend with. That's what 'sports' fans are concerned with.

I will admit that AFL lost me years ago when I tried to follows the Swans. I has watched it as a 'sports' fan for years on the tv. While I didn't mind it on television the live event looked like watching a bunch of 6 year olds playing football with vast majority of players within a stones throw of the ball and the rest standing around looking disinterested.

I didn't get the fascination live then and I still don't. NRL is also a better tv sport than AFL and has the advantage live in that a mild NSW or Qld winter is always a better experience that a cold Melbourne winter.

p.s. that is a generalisation of the weather, not always the reality, and supported by most Melbournians I know.
 
Quicky said:
I don't think thats true. But they are AFL obsessed though. If you aren't from there you probably don't get it.
Click to expand...
I worked with a guy from Melbourne who was a mad St Kilda fan. He went down to watch a game and came back with a few days worth of the Herald Sun. I expected the AFL to dominate the back pages, which it did. What I didn't expect was the banishment of any real news from the front pages as the AFL dominated there as well.
 
patjennings said:
I worked with a guy from Melbourne who was a mad St Kilda fan. He went down to watch a game and came back with a few days worth of the Herald Sun. I expected the AFL to dominate the back pages, which it did. What I didn't expect was the banishment of any real news from the front pages as the AFL dominated there as well.
Click to expand...
Lucky they have pared down the classified section too, most of that was people selling AFL merch. hahahahah
 
Last edited:
BA81 said:
Only due to cause-and-effect.
Click to expand...
Doesn't make a difference.

Love it or hate it, the ones making the most noise about how AFL should fear football, are the ones who are trying to make a buck out of the game like S Hill and the ones defending the opinion are the APL customers trying to maintain market share or whatever metric garbage is important to them. "Old soccer" has co-existed with the egg ball codes for decades.
 
patjennings said:
I worked with a guy from Melbourne who was a mad St Kilda fan. He went down to watch a game and came back with a few days worth of the Herald Sun. I expected the AFL to dominate the back pages, which it did. What I didn't expect was the banishment of any real news from the front pages as the AFL dominated there as well.
Click to expand...
It hasn’t resembled a respectable publication for a long time now. Which is a pity because despite being a Murdoch rag since day-dot, there was a time when it wasn’t at all blatant w/its ideological socio-political biases.

Heck, they even used to do cartoons parodying their once-and-future Lord Saviour John Winston Howard..then he came to power.
 
Last edited:
patjennings said:
The AFL in the southern states and the NRL and NSW and QLD should not fear us. The simple fact is that at a national level football operates for the most part in their off season and football doesn't dominate there either. You have the big horse racing carnivals, the real national sport cricket, a grand slam tennis tournament and of course beach weather to contend with. That's what 'sports' fans are concerned with.

I will admit that AFL lost me years ago when I tried to follows the Swans. I has watched it as a 'sports' fan for years on the tv. While I didn't mind it on television the live event looked like watching a bunch of 6 year olds playing football with vast majority of players within a stones throw of the ball and the rest standing around looking disinterested.

I didn't get the fascination live then and I still don't. NRL is also a better tv sport than AFL and has the advantage live in that a mild NSW or Qld winter is always a better experience that a cold Melbourne winter.

p.s. that is a generalisation of the weather, not always the reality, and supported by most Melbournians I know.
Click to expand...


If you're not watching as a fan of one of the teams its not fascinating to you because you're not emotionally invested in the outcome.

If you are a fan then you react with every contest win and loss.

If you've never played it, you won't appreciate the skills required either.

I'd rather stick toothpicks in my eyes than watch NRL: roll the ball under your foot, smell the guys arse in front of you, throw the ball to the side, catch it, run into opponent. Repeat.
 
BA81 said:
Not harmoniously though - even in the cases of Collingwood Warriors and Carlton SC.

Heck, footy bogans used to vandalise sokkah pitches w/broken-glass shards and the odd firebomb-attack back in the ‘40s through till the early ‘70s💡
Click to expand...
Yeah I guess not always harmoniously, but its just an accepted part of life.. I would guestimate that 80-90% of NPL supporters down here have an AFL club and I guess maybe simialr in WA and SA? From what I understand, most NSW NPL fans are the same with NRL clubs??

Its only ever Aleague fans who I have heard that are absolutely opposed to AFL or NRL, Im not sure why?
 
Monoethnic Social Club said:
Doesn't make a difference.

Love it or hate it, the ones making the most noise about how AFL should fear football, are the ones who are trying to make a buck out of the game like S Hill and the ones defending the opinion are the APL customers trying to maintain market share or whatever metric garbage is important to them. "Old soccer" has co-existed with the egg ball codes for decades.
Click to expand...
OR people like me and I'm sure plenty others up north who dislike the game and annoyed the press behind it.
My fear is purely that it smothers anything regards to football - sure doesn't live rent free by contributing to conversation in the thread and I enjoy taking the piss quoting gayfl for lets face it our game has copped worse from their sideline.
Yep we have co existed (ol sockha) forever but lets not consider that’s ok - their admin have worked against ol and new mls I mean apl always.
That is what is in my head more than anything else.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top