haresfur wrote:

The game was Essendon Bombers vs Carlton Blues. I think it was the Blues that won. A comeback win.

Ya, I did wonder about the running before kicking the ball. Like, how do they know how long they are allowed to run before kicking it. I did figure out when they scored a 6-pointer but correct me if I'm wrong it only counted as 6 if it was a continuous play right up to the kick? There were times it was only 1 point but (again, correct me if I'm wrong)  only if a kick was received inside the opposition's zone. Then he could kick between the post for 1 point.

Shoving, that's the word I was looking for. Players will keep shoving each other and then just give up. Lol now I know why they don't bother taking it to the next level. Just isn't worth it.

There was a goal today that was under review because it appeared to have been touched by an opposing player. The replay was played over and over and nauseum, forward and backward as the ball passed the player's outstretched hand. It looked like it touched his hand but I missed what the call was. Thanks for the info. I'm gonna keep an eye out for more games on TSN. I'll be rooting for North Melbourne Kangaroos if they ever show up on TSN.

 SeriousLee wrote:

Do you know who you were watching? I barrack for the North Melbourne Kangaroos. That's because I'm a glutton for punishment. Ok, really because who doesn't love a kangaroo? The league and media hates us so we rarely get televised. Happy to provide advice if you want to choose a team. Not Collingwood

Starting with the really basic rules, To move the ball you can run with it, kick it, or hand pass. You are correct that for a hand pass, you punch the ball. Throwing is too easy. When you kick the ball more than 15 m and someone catches it without it first hitting the ground or another player, it is called a mark and that player gets a free kick from that point. Actually from behind that point. An opposition player stands on the mark and the kicker gets to take a run up from behind there. If they take too long or veer off line towards the mark, the umpire calls play on and the opponents can go for them. You can only run with the ball for 15 m so you have to get rid of it or bounce it on the ground like a basketball (harder to do on grass with a ball that isn't round).

A goal is scored when it is kicked through the middle two posts without being touched by an opposing player. It has to be kicked, not handballed or carried through. A goal is worth 6 points. If it is kicked between the shorter outer post and a goal post it is called a behind and is worth one point. People who are fans of Rugby League or Rugby Union call that getting a point for missing. 

If someone has the ball and is tackled then it is turned over to the other team but only if they had control of it for enough time to get rid of it, called holding the ball. That's called having prior opportunity. You don't actually have to tackle them to the ground, just pin their arms so they can't get rid of the ball. The player being tackled will try to drop the ball then everyone scrambles for it. Getting tackled without prior opportunity means a ball up from the umpire they used to bounce the ball on the ground or throw it up if conditions were shit. The league is trying to speed up the game and is cutting out the bounce which sucks, but frankly the umpires weren't practicing enough and generally suck at it. If someone is tackled without prior opportunity the fans of the opposing team have to stand up and shout, "BALL!" angrily to complain that it should have been holding the ball. It is very subjective and no one knows when it should be holding the ball, when it should be no prior opportunity, and when it is a high tackle which is a penalty. That includes the umpires.

The fighting is nearly always just a bunch of shoving. There is no penalty box if someone throws a real punch or does something else that is seriously breaking the rules. Instead, they are referred to the Tribunal during the next week. The tribunal can suspend them for a number of games, I'm not sure if there is a maximum number. They can appeal but if the appeal fails they are suspended for longer.

Like most sports, there are a ton of other rules but that's the main stuff

Last Sunday I turned the TV on to watch the Jays ballgame and when I saw the Orioles pounding them decided to look for something else to watch. TSN had Australian Football. Don't recall ever watching that. I thought it was rugby at first. Then they were kicking the ball to pass it. Ok, that's different. But what was weirder was that it looked like they would punch the ball to pass it. Am I really seeing that? Wouldn't be easier to just throw the damn ball? Of course, after a few minutes of watching the game I figured that it had to be a rule, that's the only way to pass the ball besides kicking it. So yeah, initially I was like...how can there be that many people in the stadium that actually likes this? So weird.

Well, weird because that's not what I'm used to watching. I watched the game until the end. Today, I'm actually watching another game instead of the Blue Jays. Mind you, the game is now close to over and there will still be lots of Jays to watch after.

I think I'm slowly becoming a fan. 🤷

edit: I forgot to mention how impressed I was with one aspect: anytime a couple or a few players started going at each other the referees just let them be. Eventually the guys would give up. So different than hockey where the refs jump in right way to separate them unless the players drop the gloves first to fight.

---

Not all love the US cock though

49ers to play Rams in first regular-season NFL game in Australia

 Coaxial wrote:

The power of love.

 Red_Dragon wrote:

+1 That's like when someone picks up a car to save someone trapped underneath...Incredible, superhuman indeed!

 SeriousLee wrote:

wow!

'Superhuman': Teen swims four hours to save family

Australia's US ambassador Rudd to step down early

 NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote:
Similar to Canada. Toxic Trump(ism).

 R_P wrote:
From the Guardian:

Trump cast a long shadow over the opposition’s campaign, particularly after early Coalition policies including a “government efficiency” push and public service cuts proved unpopular. The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, who lost his own seat of Dickson, had intermittently flirted with Trump-style politics, as did the shadow minister Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, whose mid-campaign call to “make Australia great again” was seen as a decisive moment by some in the Labor government.

The Muppet won

 R_P wrote:

Perth Mint sold diluted gold to China, got caught, and tried to cover it up

Vandals destroy 22,000-year-old sacred cave art in Australia, horrifying indigenous community

Somerton man mystery 'solved' as DNA points to man's identity, professor claims