Australian Rules football has been played for more than 150 years and has grown into somewhat of a religion in many areas of the country.

Every weekend, from March to September, hundreds of thousands of Australians flock to venues nation-wide to cheer for their respective sides. Support is very much a tribal affair with most fans sporting the jersey of their side and waving flags, streamers, scarves and anything else they can find with the appropriate colour scheme. Choice of team is also, quite often, a family affair with sons traditionally handed the jersey of their father's team very early in life and brainwashed into joining him in support of the 'good guys'.

The sport is so popular in Australia that the AFL is actually the second most attended domestic sporting competition in the world, averaging more than 38 thousand people per game. This is only slightly less than the National Football League in the United States, an incredible statistic when you consider the nation has a population of just 20 million people, compared to the US with more than 300 million.

The Grand Final, traditionally played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the last Saturday in September, will draw a crowd of close to 100 thousand, regardless of who is playing.

Away from the game itself, it is almost impossible to avoid Australian Rules during the winter months. Most offices in the country will run an annual footy tipping contest where employees go head to head each week to see who can correctly predict the winners of each game. Usually these competitions cost a few dollars to enter with cash prizes on offer to the best and worst tippers. Typically, any money raised through football tipping will go towards a company Christmas party or Grand Final barbecue anything that involves a social outing and the consumption of alcoholic beverages really.

The media will also saturate the airwaves and newspapers with coverage of every tiny detail of the sport, from results and player performances to off field indiscretions and political grandstanding. It is not uncommon in cities like Melbourne and Adelaide to find the first 10 pages of the local newspapers sports coverage to be dedicated to the AFL.

Popular local television series like Neighbours will often use cameo appearances by professional players to help boost flagging ratings, and schools will regularly invite players into the classroom to assist in teaching the students important information about health and nutrition after all, they are far more likely to listen to a footballer than a teacher or parent!

Since the mid 1990's, the AFL has also been used to draw attention to important social issues like racism, sexism and violence. One of the showpiece games every year is between Essendon and Collingwood in Melbourne on ANZAC day. This game attracts almost as many fans at the Grand Final and incorporates a moving pre-game service that includes the playing of the last post and a minutes silence and I can promise you, you will not hear a sound from any of the 90 thousand strong crowd during that minute, it never fails to be an astonishingly surreal experience. It could be argued that the game has in fact given new life to the day after it appeared to be losing its significance at one stage.

Rightly or wrongly, Australia is a sports mad country. We eat, sleep and breathe sport and there is none more popular in winter than Australian Rules. It is our obsession and our legacy a sport that has, in many ways, shaped our identity as a nation.

Learn more about this author, Kiall Rowberry.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Australian rules football in popular Australian culture?
We want to hear your view. Write now!