If the rest of the world played AFL....

[verypoorboy]

Lets face it, if the US concentrated on AFL like they do on NFL.....they'd smash us and everybody else!The quicker players in the NFL are probably good enough to be olympic sprinters.....and they're definately no ireland when it comes to physical presence.

 

[BWST]

Ireland would be the only country to even look like challenging Australia.

The closest thing to Aussie rules is Gaelic footy. But they're too soft.

The whole thing would be a non event, the Aussies would smash the rest of the world at this game.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Italy would be the best. We would be diving around the park and get heaps of free kicks. We have a history or organising matches to go our way and if you don't comply we will breaka la legas.

Meaning Matthew Lloyd would play for an Italian club?

 

[cos789]

The closest thing to Aussie rules is Gaelic footy. But they're too soft.

Do you realise at various times gaelic Football had . an oval ball , tackling
and behind posts ?

 

[premier]

America would be the best. If they grew up with AFL as the culture as Australia does they would be the best.

Why do you figure that ?

They're no good at soccer yet its popularity there (in terms of population, playing population) at least rivals it in Austrailia and many other countries that are ranked far higher then them.

 

[premier]

Lets face it, if the US concentrated on AFL like they do on NFL.....they'd smash us and everybody else!The quicker players in the NFL are probably good enough to be olympic sprinters.....and they're definately no ireland when it comes to physical presence.

I really don't see peoples reasoning behind this. Name a single international team field sport that the USA ranks anywhere near the top in thats not American Football ? (I wouldn't consider this international anyways).

 

[Killer eagle]

The problem is a lot of the countrys dont have the grounds to do it. Soccer and gridiron stadiums are to small, the only other options is to find big enough parks, but with limited spectators.

Cricket grounds is whats needed.

 

[jbazzle]

Watch this space ...
And I have heard on "bigfooty" Ayce Cordy" a likely father-son selection for the Western Bulldogs is trying or looking int an American college basketball scholarship.

I know a kid who was offered Scholarships for both Hawthorn and Melbourne but knocked them back as he wants to play Basketball in the US.

 

[fishmonger]

....what countries do you think would do well and why and, conversely, who would struggle? eel free to speculate on other countries.

What do you mean if ?

They already do, at least at amateur level.

Look at the International Cup results from 2002 and 2005 if you want a form guide.

And see www.worldfootynews.com

The big movers for me are New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, USA, Canada and South Africa.

But there are plenty of others that may one day play against Australia.

If Denmark (see http://www.dafl.dk/) ever grew their footy substantially, the tall strong body types would excel at our game. Ditto the Netherlands.

In my opinion, if any country could play footy, I think that you could pick just about any West and North African country. They have the sheer height and endurance to kick our arse. The AFL should make growing the game in countries like Ghana, Somalia and Kenya big priorities.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Well it is a lot easier if you reference the actual countries that will be competing in the upcoming 2008 International Cup for Australian Football ......

Nice summary cos. I have mates who have played in a few of the leagues around the world and seen the game played in Canada and USA and you summarised them well. But I especially like this comment;

India/Pakistan - has the cricket ovals and the population .
However I'd hate to umpire an India vs Pakistan game .

Daryl Hair I believe is looking for a gig.

 

[PumpyChowdown]

What do you mean if ?

By "if", I mean if it was the main sport of the country and has a long tradition and culture within the country.

(See Soccer)

This, by a HUGE margin, is not some type of scientific study. I'm just interested in what countries other people might be good at footy if they played it all the time.

 

[cos789]

I really don't see peoples reasoning behind this. Name a single international team field sport that the USA ranks anywhere near the top in thats not American Football ? (I wouldn't consider this international anyways).

Ice Hockey ?


.

 

[cos789]

The problem is a lot of the countrys dont have the grounds to do it. Soccer and gridiron stadiums are to small, the only other options is to find big enough parks, but with limited spectators.

This is indeed a problem in non cricket playing countries ,
however what once was a problem is now seen as a bonus .
Most clubs in this situation played reduced numbers .
9-a-side is pretty common .The beauty about 9-a-side is that it is
easy to set up a standalone team and enter a competition .Like the
Inland Empire Eagles that play in a L.A. league , but most clubs start with
two 9-a-side teams playing against each other then morph into the traditional 18-a-side when they play another club . Most of the USAFL
clubs have these metro leagues that are popular with the locals and grow
easily with the club leaving the Aussies to push the more traditional competition which usually involves costly travel.


.

 

[premier]

Ice Hockey ?
.

Ice hockey is a field sport ?

 

[estibador]

I really don't see peoples reasoning behind this. Name a single international team field sport that the USA ranks anywhere near the top in thats not American Football ? (I wouldn't consider this international anyways).

That's because all the best athletes in America are drawn to playing either gridiron or basketball. If those athletes grew up in an culture where they all played Aussie rules the USA would hand our arse to us on a platter.

 

[Verbeek]

Lets be honest here. If the US took our sport seriously there would be no more than 5-10 Aussies actually playing in the AFL. Far more people and far more athletic stock to pick from.

Places like Nigeria, Cameroon and Senegal(West Africa basically) would also be a massive breeding ground.

What a crock of shyte! Cause they're really fit those Yanks arent they

Why are so many people saying the US would be so good compared to us? Per capita, we smash those lard asses. Plus, they're into girl sports like athletics, softball, basketball etc and their footballers wear padding and helmets

 

[estibador]

Why are so many people saying the US would be so good compared to us? Per capita, we smash those lard asses.

But sport isn't played with a per capita handicap.

If the cream of American athletic talent all grew up on Aussie rules they would wipe the floor with us. I'm surprised that anyone could disagree.

Catch an NFL game sometime and watch the way the running backs move. There's no way your average AFL player could compete with that.

 

[thatswhatimtalkinabout]

Just watch those Samoans I'd say.

A mate of mine retired a couple of weeks ago after 413 games of senior footy in the Bendigo League (as well as some games at Balranald), 4 premierships, 3 as coach, VCFL captain & rep many times and played the most exceptional effort in the last ten minutes of his career to get his team over the line for the premiership at the age of 39.

 

[Verbeek]

But sport isn't played with a per capita handicap.

If the cream of American athletic talent all grew up on Aussie rules they would wipe the floor with us. I'm surprised that anyone could disagree.
Catch an NFL game sometime and watch the way the running backs move. There's no way your average AFL player could compete with that.

What??? So you're certain of something that can never be proven? So are you saying they have superior genes to us? You sound like a yank yourself "dude".

I have watched NFL quite regularly in the past and really enjoyed the 12 minutes of actual game time. Have you seen the way AFL midfielders run for 100 minutes PER GAME? There's no way your average NFL player could comepete with that.

 

[The_Eagles]

USA would pump all teams if it had started in America in 1850's instead of NFL

 

[WoGiTaLiA]

There's no way your average AFL player could compete with that.

Even the elite AFL players can't compete with it. There are guys in the NFL who run a faster 100m time than anyone in Australia. Not just one guy, there are probably 20-40 guys that do that. We dominate the swimming at the olympics but we get our asses handed to us every single time in the athletics which, of olympic events, is the closest thing to football. The USA continually dominate it.

Quite simply they have sports that demand more from you physically and they have the athleticism that translates to AFL. Their aerobic fitness would probably need work, but do you genuinely think there is a matchup in the entire AFL for a guy like Terrell Owens, Randy Moss or LeBron James? Randy Moss is like Goodes on steroids. James would kill the ruck, we are talking about a guy the same sort of size as Cox that moves like Judd and is built like Browny. Don't need to mention that the slowest WR and DBs in the NFL are on the same level as the absolute fastest guys in the AFL. Hell, some of those "big fat guys" are as fast as guys like Judd.

 

[WoGiTaLiA]

I have watched NFL quite regularly in the past and really enjoyed the 12 minutes of actual game time. Have you seen the way AFL midfielders run for 100 minutes PER GAME? There's no way your average NFL player could comepete with that.

That's why teams like Sydney and Collingwood have gone over to the US to learn conditioning routines from the NFL teams. You seem to completely underestimate the fitness levels of the DBs, WR and RB positions. Sure you get the odd anomalies, like a Whitnall, that aren't super fit. Take a guy like Adrian Arrington at Michigan, his pre-season included running the steps of the Big House every single day, if you haven't ever seen that place, think the MCG only bigger. This is a guy who is bigger, faster and stronger than Judd and would be just as fit, you think he can't run for 100 minutes?

Some people really need to take their heads out of the ground when comparing things. The AFL is great, it is a great sport and its fun to watch, but to think that our players are as good athletically as those in the NFL is just plain ignorant. They may be on average, but that's because of the positional requirements of the NFL, not because the top athletes here are even close.

 

[estibador]

What??? So you're certain of something that can never be proven? So are you saying they have superior genes to us? You sound like a yank yourself "dude".

I'm no Yank dude, don't worry about that. There's nothing I like more than seeing America lose at anything.

But I watch a lot of different sports and I can recognise natural talent when I see it. Some of those black American athletes are built for a game like Aussie rules. Power, speed, athleticism - they've got it all.

There's a reason why the US completely dominates us Aussies in track and field events at the Olympics.

Have you seen the way AFL midfielders run for 100 minutes PER GAME? There's no way your average NFL player could comepete with that.

They could if they trained like AFL players.

 

[bigbrev]

I believe America would be 2nd best, if not the best, because they have the resources and the money. Also, could you imagine Michael Jordan at CHF, that would be a sight worth seeing.

Could you imagine it..Goldberg vs Carey. 'Carey runs back with the flight of the ball..." Oh no Goldberg has speared Carey"

 

[Subprime]

I really don't see peoples reasoning behind this. Name a single international team field sport that the USA ranks anywhere near the top in thats not American Football ? (I wouldn't consider this international anyways).

Errm ... Baseball for one. I realise they didn't win the classic last year but it would be hard to argue they're not the top nation in the world.