It is still a passion of mine to loathe both soccer and aussie rules. Soccer shows us everything that is wrong with sport. Aussie rules just shows us everything that is wrong.
Having been born and brought up in southern New South Wales and attended the local primary school before being despatched elsewhere, I played Aussie rules as a little kid (and I'm still a damned good kick!). It wasn't until I started secondary school I discovered rugby, and was promptly hooked. AFL is a credit to us as Australians that it's so successful in one country, it's EXTREMELY well-managed, and highly profitable although it's a very narrow, provincial and insular sport. AFL has donated excellent administrators to soccer (Buckley), cricket (Sutherland) and rugby (Carmichael). AFL can't claim to be a sport for all shapes and sizes, as only rugby can do this. I often point to a short, squat, strong young kid and say, "there are only two spots for you in the sporting panorama: a weightlifting pad or a rugby front row". As evidenced by the push into western Sydney, we all should ignore AFL at our peril.
Soccer? I thought we'd got past cultural cringe in this country, but obviously not. Scoring is too high in AFL (and basketball) while soccer's too low. No wonder the poor spectators have to entertain themselves before rioting.
