Sydney Swans v. Geelong Cats

I finally had the opportunity to go to my first AFL game. AFL stands for Australian Football League, which is the major league for Australian Rules Football (so much so that they're synonymous in Australia). And even above rugby, AFL is the sport to see in Sydney.

I went on a Thursday night to see our own Sydney Swans take on the (then) second-ranked Geelong Cats, a team well-known to be long-time winners. A friend of mine used to play AFL before he arrived at uni, and he approved of the matchup - it was going to a clash of the titans.

We walked from Fig Tree Hall to the Sydney Cricket Ground, and arrived just as the game was about to start. The field is circular, so the cricket ground is a perfect pitch for AFL. Rowan and Fahad, the two gents I went with, both had no background in AFL. I'd watched a youtube video on the rules, so I filled them in on everything I knew.

The game was a blowout! In front of a home crowd of 37,355, completely decked out in red and white, the Sydney Swans pummeled the Cats 148-38. It was the largest victory of that nature ever, and I was there to witness the smashing!

All in all, I like AFL the best of all the Australian sports I've seen. Rugby relies a lot on strength, power, and size, although good technique will get you somewhere. AFL, on the other hand, relies heavily on athleticism - there is lots of catching, kicking, running and tackling. What else defines a man, really? The only downside would be finding an insurance policy that covers AFL (in all seriousness, most insurance policies won't cover it, as it's considered the most dangerous contact sport - in fact, Sandra is not allowed to play AFL even recreationally when she is an au pair in the U.S. in the coming year. Bummer!).

#afl