Happy July! Bob and I are still in winter, though quite mild by Midwest US standards. Mostly highs in the low 50s and lows in the low to mid 40s, Fahrenheit, of course. Today, we had a true Australian adventure. We took in an Australian Rules Football game, or at least part of one.
This gave us an opportunity to see this unique (to us) sport as well as check out the Melbourne Cricket Grounds stadium where the game was played. The game itself is as active and fast-paced as soccer but has its own rules for advancing the ball and scoring. It’s played between 2 teams of 18 on an oval field, usually a modified cricket ground. There is some serious field to cover. It started in Melbourne in 1858 and has the highest spectator attendance and TV viewership of all sports in Australia. It is often referred to simply as footy.
We walked to the tram stop and had about a 50 minute ride to the Jolimont tram stop (stop #11), which left us very close to the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCG). As it was misting heavily all the way to the stadium, we were happy to see that our seats were covered. We explored the stadium a bit before we settled in for the game.
The welcome to country was an aboriginal ceremony.
They also played each team’s team song,
which seemed like they had been written to 1940s music.
none of which sounded familiar.
It is apparently better to have a high number of these contested possessions, as this means that you have won the possession.
At less than $8 US cans of beer and glasses of wine
were much more reasonable than what would be found
at professional sporting events in the US.
The game was between the Hawthorn Hawks, who play all but 4 of their home games at MCG and the remaining 4 in Launceston, Tasmania, and the Carlton Blues, from a Melbourne suburb. Almost half of the AFL teams are from the Melbourne area. We were cheering for the Hawks as the home team (and closely sharing the mascot name and colors of the University of Iowa), but the Blues were much better today. They won 112-52.
when the clouds started to break.
Peckish Travels 
2 replies on “Footy, Aussie Style (7/2/23)”
That’s one game I could never get my head around 😂😂👍
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Yeah, it seemed like there was a lot going on in the middle of the field but then when they got the chance to kick for a goal (1 or 6 points), it was kind of a gimme. But definitely impressed with the stamina needed to cover that size of a field.
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