The Beautiful Game's Ugly Sister.

Last weekend I got to enjoy something iconically Australian. An Australian Rules (AFL) football match at the MCG stadium. This place is huge as it's where the finals are played. 56,000 people were in attendance that night and I was lucky enough to have an eight year old lad sitting next to me patiently explaining the rules (Doubt he felt as lucky).

Despite getting the rudimentary understanding of the game with the help of my young friend, a rule book, the internet, Nostradamus, a slide rule protractor and a bottle of household bleach I still didn’t quite get why when one person kicked or caught the ball everyone cheered and when the next player kicked or caught the ball it’s met with complete silence. One tackle’s OK but the other get penalized….the confusion went on.

It’s a bit like watching aerial ping pong on an oval grass field really. Still the atmosphere was great and a nice time was had by all.

Daz