Australians Just Love It During Winter
Renowned for their love of sport, Australians especially love their football!
Actually, they love it so much that there are four separate codes vying for attention from sports fans.
The codes played in Australia include Association Football (Soccer), Australian Football, Rugby League and Rugby Union.
I haven’t covered soccer here, as it is played during the summer due to the crowded nature of the calendar during winter.
Whichever code of ‘footy’ they follow, Australians just love it during winter!
Rugby League
Left: A Rugby League game in Brisbane.
Rugby League Football is played with by two teams of thirteen on a rectangular grass field.
Rugby league is one of two major codes of rugby football, the other being rugby union.
League code is most prominent, and played professionally, in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and France.
The game is popular in Papua New Guinea, and is considered the national sport in that country. Many national players figure prominently in the Australian Rugby League.
The game is also played in several other countries, including Russia, the United States and Lebanon.
Rugby League Australia vs New Zealand
Rugby Union
Left: A Rugby Union game between Sth Africa and Samoa.
Rugby Union is played by two teams of 15 players each.
It is the more prominent of the two main codes of rugby football, the other being rugby league.
Rugby union is a popular sport, particularly in Australia, Argentina, Canada, Great Britain, Fiji, France, Georgia, Ireland, Italy,Japan, New Zealand, Romania, Samoa, South Africa, and Tonga.
Other countries that play rugby include USA, Japan, Sri Lanka, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Uruguay, Holland, Russia, Portugal, Spain and a number of African countries.
The USA are the reigning Olympic champions, from the Paris Olympics in 1924 (the last year rugby was played as an Olympic sport).
Rugby union is gaining popularity in Italy following its acceptance into the Six Nations.
Japan unsuccessfully bid to host the 2011 World Cup losing to New Zealand.
Rugby Union: Australia Vs South Africa
More about Rugby Union.
International Rugby Union Teams
Australian Football
Australian Football, also known as Australian Rules, a code of football played on large oval shaped fields, with four posts at each end.
The inner pair of posts are known as the goal posts, while the outer posts are known as the behind posts.
The game is played between two teams of 18 players each.
Each team is allowed four interchange players, and the primary aim of the game is to score by kicking the ball between the posts.
The Australian Football playing field.
The Australian Rules football oval is up to 185 meters long (about 202 yards) and 155 meters wide (about 169 yards).
The center square is 50 x 50 meters (about 55 yards).
The curved fifty meter line is 50 meters (yards) away from the goal line.
Australian Football is often played between October and March in tropical areas.
More about Australian Football
Australian Football Final 2006 Perth vs Sydney
Gridiron (American Football) and Gaelic (Irish Football) are also played in Australia, but are minor players in the market.
Gaelic football is similar to Australian Rules, and a game known as ‘International Rules’ is played between Australia and Ireland.
The different codes of football are so much a part of Aussie life, that the Federal Government has a website devoted to the topic!