David EdwardsAustralian Sport - the definitive list.
March 28th 2008 04:18
Many of my friends have a "sporting hierachy", which is basically the top four football codes played in Australia, ranked from 1-4 in terms of preference. It is the list-holder's duty to have a firm list and to be ready to passionately defend their selections at any given moment, usually over a number of beers with a total stranger. As an unabashed rugby league fan, i can safely say my list would be:
1. Rugby League (clearly this has already been established..)
2. AFL
3. Soccer
4. Rugby Union.
Rugby Union comes last. This is a distant last in fact - such is my contempt for the sport. Whilst William Webb Ellis is to be commended for his initative in creating the game of rugby through his disregard for the rules of soccer, i dare say he would be turning in his grave at the way in which the code is played currently. For me, international rugby is nothing but a sleeping pill, one that is far safer than say Stilnox. In fact Rugby Union should be rebranded, not as "The Game they play in Heaven", but as perhaps the safest solution to insomnia.
Moving along to soccer. Whilst among red-blooded males it is perhaps gaining momentum as a spectator sport, it is not so long ago that it was dismissed as a sport for "Sheila's", and earned in some places the derogatory moniker of "Wog-ball". Soccer however, is palatable on an international market, and it crosses many boundaries, not least of them gender. Female spectators can understand the game, as indeed can anybody above the vegetative state. Try (as i'm sure many males have) to describe the complex "LBW" law to a girlfriend/wife/sister, and see how that goes down. But soccer? Easy as ABC.
AFL is a sport that is foreign to many New South Welshmen. However it has enjoyed a rise to the top - and again, i believe this is in part due to its simplicity. It appeals to females, and it has that real suburban rivalry that is only somewhat matched by rugby league. Aesthetically the most pleasing sport, it gets number 2. on my list.
Finally, we have rugby league. A simple game for simple people, it embodies what professional sport in Australia is all about. Basically the sport is rugby union stripped off all its unnecessary elements, leaving a sport that is both physical and skillful in nature. The kicking game is not domineering (such as in union or AFL), and leaves ample room for individual and team excellence. I cannot rate it highly enough, and i am a young man who went to a rugby union playing private school and have an AFL mad father from Victoria. Yes my friends, i am a paradox wrapped in a riddle.
So there is is, the definitive list. As this is my first post i am not sure how the system will work, but please feel free to rank your own sporting codes - or to criticise my own list.
Godspeed
-David Edwards
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