The Australian Football League differs from the Victorian Football League in that rather than seeking to consolidate a local, state league as the premier competition of Australian rules football, the AFL seeks to broaden the game’s popularity, participation and fandom. This has an impact on the game’s culture and the kind of teams that are…
Kenny Dougall on Sparta’s First Season back in the Eredivisie So Sparta survived. On the final day, the Roda result went Sparta’s way, and Sparta won 1:3 away against Go Ahead Eagles: a team that had been destined for relegation early on in the season. Back in the Eredivisie for the first time in seven years,…
The AFL was criticised throughout the 2015 season, and subsequently, for not having dealt earlier with the persistent booing of Adam Goodes in previous years. Here was a legend of the game, being tormented week in, week out, on the footy field: his work place. Mr. Goodes left the game without fanfare. He left the…
Running is obsessed with numbers: distance run, elevation climbed or descended; minutes and seconds used up to complete X-event, age of runner, position finished – according to age-group, gender and whether one is or isn’t a professional or serious competitor. Chris, a friend who I run with, endorsed our coach for being ‘a numbers guy’….
The Tactics of Wayne Elliott Wayne Elliott’s work explores elements of play, pleasure and joy in sport. His paintings are bright and colourful. The figures are drawn with fine lines. The colours are cartoonish. His works don’t engage with contemporary (visual) arts theory. And this is one element which I immediately enjoyed about his works….
The Richmond Football Club has an alliance with Rumbalara Football Netball Club (see this article). This alliance is a means for Richmond to recruit talented young footballers from the north of Victoria. Rumbalara is on Yorta Yorta Country. These are the lands of notable figures such as William Cooper, Sir Doug Nicholls, Jimmy Little, Deborah…
& Talking with Swish about Very Important Matters I meet Swish on the corner of Spring and Collins St. I am wearing my Richmond baseball cap as a means for him to recognise me. I have no idea what he looks like. A couple of years ago Swish corrected a mistake I had made regarding my…
I’m doing a zine this footy season. It is based around my experiences as a Richmond fan and my engagements and conversations with the Club, other fans, the suburb, Punt Road Oval and the MCG. This is a continuation of what I do with Reading Sideways. Blogs are great, but sometimes it is nice to have something…
Andy Fuller, University of Melbourne Australian rules football is generally considered the dominant code in our sporting-obsessed nation. It is a hybrid game with contested origins: some elements are drawn from rugby and football, and some from marn grook, the Indigenous game. Whatever its origins, footy is played on suburban grounds, in country fields, on…