One of the many frustrations stemming from the VFL/AFL monolith for footy historians is that small differences between the major leagues are now almost entirely forgotten to the general populace. Whatever was taken as standard practice from the VFL is now often assumed to be standard practice for the Australian football, even though it was not that way for most of history.
Only from reading a thread here did I discover (or perhaps rediscover, can't remember) that it used to be standard practice in the SANFL for the umpire to bounce the ball on its end, rather than its side - as it was in the WAFL. Of course, the balls themselves had different manufacturers by league (, and Burleys are generally believed to be the first to go yellow in the WAFL.
Even knowledge of the VFA is scarce, I think, including the success of the throw pass in bringing crowds along. While I could go on into the general scarcity of knowledge or interest in leagues beyond the AFL, what I really what to achieve in this thread is simply a discovery of all the significant and insignificant differences between the SANFL, VFA, VFL and WAFL, in their rules and regulations, style of play, and community perception. To me, these are the things that make sports history valuable.
Only from reading a thread here did I discover (or perhaps rediscover, can't remember) that it used to be standard practice in the SANFL for the umpire to bounce the ball on its end, rather than its side - as it was in the WAFL. Of course, the balls themselves had different manufacturers by league (, and Burleys are generally believed to be the first to go yellow in the WAFL.
Even knowledge of the VFA is scarce, I think, including the success of the throw pass in bringing crowds along. While I could go on into the general scarcity of knowledge or interest in leagues beyond the AFL, what I really what to achieve in this thread is simply a discovery of all the significant and insignificant differences between the SANFL, VFA, VFL and WAFL, in their rules and regulations, style of play, and community perception. To me, these are the things that make sports history valuable.
