The Barassi Line - Australia's Great Sporting Divide
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
- I hope you all enjoyed this video! Again a shoutout to Geohawk who made the original video that inspired this.
Here is Geohawk's video: • The Barassi Line Expla...
Any and all feedback is appreciated, thanks!
Excellent video. You forgot to mention that NRL draws on the Pacific Islands nations as well as Australia and New Zealand for its player base. I don’t know of any islanders who play AFL. I’m a rugby league fan from Newcastle. Going to Melbourne is like visiting a foreign country. I can’t name a single AFL player.
David Rodan for Port Adelaide, Richmond and Melbourne (now a goal umpire), Tongan background, born in Fiji.
Nic Naitanui for West Coast (now retired), and Esava Ratugolea for Geelong and Port Adelaide are both Fijian.
And there was quite a few more.
EDIT: 12 days later and I see a bloody typo. And the fact that I’m of a Fijian background too making that… stuff me.
Interestingly enough, I grew up in Victoria and most of the Islander boys I knew started playing footy, but only to stay fit for the Rugby season 🤣
@@XTrapolis942M Mykelti Lefau has a Samoan background, born in New Zealand, moved to Australia to play for Melbourne Storm and ended up taking up footy. Alipate Carlile, Aaron Hall and Atu Bosenavulagi were all Fijian. Hewago Oea for Gold Coast was signed directly from Papua New Guinea.
As Kiwi living in Brisbane, I tried to get into Afl. Found it was filled with too many poncy boys, worse than rugby union.
@izzy031096 As a kiwi living on the GC I find League is way too repetitive. There are way more variables which can win or loose a game in union, Union = MMA, League = Boxing.
The Barassi Line is one of the beautiful parts of Australian culture
How exactly?
@@manchagojohnsonmanchago6367 it shows that the state you live in can define what you support
@@NoovaRB The Barrasi line was drawn by Barrasi himself .. WHAT ELSE CAN YOU EXPECT ? Talk about one eye' d ...
@@saintjohnnowhat are you even saying?
@@NoovaRB well I don't know that that's beautiful though
For future reference - rugby as shorthand typically refers to rugby union (can also use union), whereas league is the shorthand for rugby league
both are still a form of rugby tho, the only ones who think this deeply on it are NRL fans mostly
@@Rebekahlavy yeah true, and the afl is also a league so we should just call it league as well then. And league and union both have rules and are played in Australia so let’s call them both Aussie rules as well.
You can be wilfully naive and continue to be wrong in calling rugby league “rugby” but that’s your prerogative.
For reference I’m not even a league fan, I follow the afl as my main sport.
@@jordansorbello8995 afl tho has never been referred to as a league or league, it’s been known as footy. I live in a NRL state & being the rare AFL fan instead of a NRL one. NRL is younger than AFL but also it’s a form of rugby and there are many different variations that all have a Rugby ball & come from the original game of Rugby union. I personally just say rugby league, or rugby union.
You are obviously south of the boarder and dont know the difference.. Rules are different so if you take the time to watch ( you wont ) you could then make a honest assessment..
Its both
Just to give a little bit more context, it has to be remembered that Australia wasn't a nation until 1901. Before then it was 6 separate colonies independent from each other and this fed into inter-colonial rivalry. Back then Aussies Rules was more commonly known as Victorian Rules or "that Victorian game" and it was looked down upon in NSW. The NSW-Victoria rivalry would have been much more prevalent then than it is today.
In Sydney Rugby Union quickly took hold, a competition being established in 1874 and the Victorian game was relegated to being a minor sport. In Brisbane the two codes plus British football, ie Association Football or soccer, were equally played but as mentioned, the independent schools decided to adopt Rugby Union as the code of choice. The Queensland Football Association administered both Rugby and Victorian Rules but it was the prospect of inter colonial matches with NSW that seemed to sway Queensland to veer towards Rugby.
Rugby Union still exists as a popular code (especially in private/independent schools) in both NSW and Queensland and is strongest at a provincial and international level, witness the Super Rugby competition and the Rugby World Cup and other international matches. Rugby League was a break away code from Rugby Union for the same reason it happed in England (1895) due to the fact that Rugby refused to compensate players for time off work due to injuries sustained whilst playing Rugby and Rugby's staunch policy on remaining amateur. Rugby League started in Sydney in 1908, Brisbane 1909 and in Newcastle in 1910, though Newcastle did have a team in the Sydney comp in 1908 & 1909.
Despite Aussie Rules having a large portion of the dominance geographically, Rugby League does have the biggest market by population (Sydney) and the 3rd largest by population (Brisbane), though on a national level Aussie Rules is marginally bigger.
The unique thing Australia has compared to other nations is four professional football codes, Aussie Rules, Rugby League, Rugby Union and Football (soccer). Football has the greatest presence at grassroots level and is the only code which is truly nationwide but is not the dominant code in any State. It was also the first code with a national league, the NSL which started in 1977. The AFL grew out from the Melbourne based VFL and likewise the NRL from the Sydney based NSWRL. For all of the above, in my opinion it is cricket that is our national sport as I don't think any of the football codes can lay claim to it.
also no one in Australia calls soccer 'football' outside the most dedicated soccer fans.
@@Lorenzogino I believe that it is beginning to change and will do so even more in the coming decades. The clubs from the grassroots up, for the most part, now call themselves football clubs, not soccer clubs, and the national federation changed their name from Soccer Australia to Football Federation Australia in 2005. In part it was to bring themselves into line with the rest of the world and also not bow to the thinking that Australian Rules had sole right to referring to their code as football.
@@peterelworthy4601 if its changing its a very, very slow change. a bunnings donation drive I saw on the weekend for a local 'football' club had to write in 'soccer' on their sign to clear up confusion.
@@peterelworthy4601 a bit more than “marginally” but for the rest, nice post with important details. Thanks.
Why did Rugby League become the number one Rugby code in Australia (NSW and QLD) but not in other countries?
@@LomuHabana There's good history to that. Rugby League is known as the working man's sport, and Union is for the rich, at least in Australia. Back in the early 1900s, A large working class population was attracted to league's professionalism and inclusiveness, and the game adapted itself with rule changes to be a more attractive spectator sport than Union - the latter deliberately making their sport exclusive. League also had a strong connection to the Labor movement, whereas union was already trapped by its elitism. This is still seen today as the only people that have access to professional Union are rich private school boys, whereas League is a lot more accessible, and provides much more opportunities at junior level.
Accessibility can never be understated in the growth of a sport, it's why Soccer is the biggest sport in the world. It's the most accessible sport on the planet. It's also why League is growing tremendously across the Pacific Islands, Polynesians are being poached left and right.
It seems very likely that the next NRL team will be based in Perth and have a partnership with the North Sydney Bears to play as the Perth Bears. (Basically, like the Fitzroy Lions and Brisbane Lions). They will have a huge fan base from day one because the North Sydney fans refuse to support a team other than the bears.
I believe there is quite a sizable English and South African immigrant population which could make a new NRL team a viable proposition there as they would be more familiar with the game than Aussie Rules. Murdoch and Super League buggered up the whole thing when the Western Reds were there in the 90s.
I personally am not looking forward to that since it 5 hours away from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane areas. Imagine the warriors finishing up a Sunday game in Auckland then having to fly like 7 hours straight to Perth! It would be crazy and exhausting journey. They should be doing a Fijian team since there are so many Fijian players like Mike Ravawala, Appi Korisau and many others and there are literally 0 Perth players.
@@notairborne
A 7 hr flight is nothing. You just have a snooze and you are there.
Look at American sports.
Their baseball players will play 3 days in a row in LA, hop a flight after their 3rd match and play the next day in NY for three days straight as well.
Their basketball players might find themselves on the west coast Monday, on the east coast Wednesday and then back on the west coast for a game on Saturday.
They are professional athletes.
Travel is part of their job.
The easiest part of their job.
A high 6 or 7 figure contract should make it alright for them to do that.
Especially when we live in a country that already has a fly in fly out work culture that exists for many dudes just scrounging wage in normal jobs.
@@bobhawke7373 The difference is in American sports, ALL the teams do ALL the travelling. A Perth team will do 12 7 hour flights a year, and the Sydney/Brisbane teams will do 1.
Fitzroy Lions and Brisbane Bears you mean...
I also think that AFL is better to watch at the venue, allowing you to see the options available to the player looking down field.
NRL is better on television due to more rules being harder to notice from the grand stands, like a small knock on in a tackle that might be missed by the crowd (and ref...), but seen clearly on the tv.
I grew up in a place where AFL (VFL at the time) was derogatorily termed, "mexican handball", and i still can't watch more than 5 mins of TV coverage, yet really enjoyed a live game while visiting mexico (AKA- Melbourne - south of the border with NSW)
I'm a die hard, rusted on NRL fan, but AFL live is a brilliant product. Fact is NRL, the action is concentrated to one part of the field which makes it easier to watch on TV, whereas AFL moves up and down the field so quickly (and there is plenty of action off the ball) that it's a more viewer friendly sport in person. I actually think the NRL's TV coverage is 'too good', in the sense that it makes it easier for a fan to make excuses to watch it at home rather than go to the game in person. Theres a geography issue involved in that too (Sydney teams are much more spread out and play across many more venues), but in general I've always been jealous of the big crowds and atmosphere of AFL games.
Lol what, hence why they have jumbo screens for close up views. Nrl is great livw. Atmosphere is electric.
@@kylegibson5933 Being a fan of both, NRL is great live, but AFL is far better.
I live in Albury-Wodonga and I know so many people like myself who enjoy watching both codes. Soccer is also very popular around here.
I'm in Albury, seems that they love the footy but you still get a few pockets of people going to pubs or whatever to watch the nrl.
Tbf tho, Albury-Wodonga is akin to Narnia to the rest of us, in that for those of you that live in and around the region it exists, but for the rest of us, it's just a name you see in a book or on a screen. You may as well talk about the number of sports they play in The Bermuda Triangle it's that irrelevant 😂😂😂
@@itsfqndaveMay I suggest you take the opportunity to travel around the country.The benefits are enormous, particularly for expanding your knowledge.
It maybe popular I found it especially popular in Canberra but most of our professional players are incompetent. Just look at Lamine Yamal, 16 years old first team European club, youngest ever goalscorer in the euros.
We won't ever have a 16 year old professional footballer at that level.
He's earning more than the the top earning NRL player and on level with the top level AFL player. No doubt he will out earn them once his career progresses.
@@TomHommus its actually against the rules for anyone to play first grade in the NRL before they turn 18.
One correction about the NRL expanding, they are heavily considering a team in Perth. The Western Reds had good crowds in their first year in 1995 but they came in during the Super League War which set the game back by 10 years and a lot of clubs either merged or folded including them. When teams have moved home games to Perth the crowds have been pretty good, and in recent news it looks like the North Sydney Bears, a foundation club that was forced out because of the Super League War, may relocate there to re-enter the league. The Newtown Jets, a team that folded in the 80s but are now a small community club, also want to move there and get back in the league. Perth is seriously being considered.
Rugby League did try expanding in the 90s very rapidly but the Super League War caused a lot of damage. In 1995 Perth, Auckland, North Queensland and South Queensland getting teams but only Auckland (now New Zealand Warriors) and North Queensland survived. In 1997 Adelaide were added to the Super League but only lasted two years, by 1999 Perth and Adelaide were gone but in 1998 Melbourne were added.
The NRL isn't thinking about anything in Adelaide and only recently added a second Brisbane team in the Dolphins. Right now other than Perth they are thinking of a second NZ team (based in the south) and the Bears playing out of the Central Coast of NSW, which they intended on doing in the late 90s but were forced to merge with their rivals Manly but that ended in their demise. There is talk of Papua New Guinea getting a team but economically they are not ready despite having 6 million people and being the only country in the world where Rugby League is the national sport.
Gawd I forgot about the Super League wars. For a year or two we had TWO Rugby League competitions on TV, plus the AFL (usually on delay in Sydney if you were lucky), and while that was going on, somewhere was also the Rugby Union and NSL soccer.
It's all the more surprising that Europe converged on soccer then. I wonder if the USA had to work hard to unify for gridiron. Canada has it too I think but they usually talk about the ice hockey proudly.
Did New Zealand just look at Australia and pick a side in all this?
@@poonoo87 I think Super League set the game back 30 years. We’re only just back to where we were in 1994 now in 2024.
@whophd The US sporting culture is incomparable to the rest of the World. Unlike most sports where professional leagues started off from amateur clubs or were spun off from them, US teams are franchises from the start. Recreational soccer has always been big, but it never had the TV and Radio coverage as the other three major sports.
College sports play a big part too. There was a brief period in the early 20th century where Ivy League teams switched back to Union rules because of serious injury concerns, but other than that it's been solidly gridiron.
In Canada, they saw over the border how the game was changing and picked and code what they like. It's why there's still more holdovers from rugby like the ball still being live after kicks. The CFL trophy still says it's for rugby, when though actual rugby union never stopped being played there after Canadian football spun off from it (mostly in British Columbia).
Average attendance in 1995 in W.A. for the 'Western Reds' at the W.A.C.A was 13,390. Average attendance in 1995 for AFL matches at the W.A.C.A was 27,105.
Note too: The VFL/AFL 1897-2024 have had 20 different teams competing - all but two (Fitzroy and University) no longer compete.
The (National) Rugby League has had 34 teams competing 1908-2024 with 17 currently competing.
@@MichaelRogers-et8dq I’m not sure what apples and oranges you’re comparing here but Rugby League was near destroyed by Super League - how the game, let alone any club, survived is quite something.
This is a great summation of the codes at the top level. At grass roots level it really divides up by state - the Barassi line is an attempt to accommodate the outlier that is Canberra (where I live). The more interesting divide is the NSW/Vic border where AFL leaks into NSW quite considerably.
Canberra is ultimately a big public service town. In the 1960s it had a big transfer of public servants from Melbourne and it continues to pull in young people from around the country which keeps the AFL interest higher than it might otherwise be. The presence of the Raiders and the proximity to Sydney is a big bonus for the NRL side.
The AFL really fumbled not putting a team in Canberra as soon as they could!
I'm a big footy fan and dont know basically anything about rugby however im a big believer in sport in general, if we grt rid of the inter-sport hostility i think both sets of fans would find stuff they enjoy from both codes even while still preferring one over the other
Agreed, it seems like a pointless divide in this day and age, let’s enjoy both!
Having not been born in Collingwood. Carlton.Essendon.Richmond. No I was born Melbourne city and if you know your sports you should know! Rugby means wallabies. It means Waratahs.Brumbies… nothing to do with the Melbourne Storm! Unless you call it Rugby League. Rugby on its own means Rugby Union by default!
@@Rob-ww6nc Honestly same in Sydney, if you just say rugby people may assume you're talking about union, even though league is talked about much more
@@mitchellsmith300that’s because in NSW and Qld “footy” actually refers to the NRL for most people. These are fundamentally all forms of football and “footy/football” is always the default term for the most dominant game in the zeitgeist. There’s a reason Channel Nine’s Thursday and Friday NRL games are called “Thursday/Friday Night Football”. We don’t call AFL “footy” - we just call it AFL, and so Union just is mostly just called “rugby”.
@@DeftPol Yeah makes sense. Football in America is NFL, in Europe its soccer and in Australia it's AFL or NRL depending on where you live.
Only just came across this now. Great video! Thanks for the shoutout too, you covered a few things I forgot to mention
Thanks man! Keep up the good work on your end, love the topics you cover!
I like games that you can represent for your country
Really then not Rugby league, international league is a joke. I'm a Kiwi BTW, the world cup of league is a laugh so surely you don't mean league over AFL, neither have any real international presence.
To be fair, international rugby league is very small compared to union still
AFL fans who look down on NRL as not a truly 'domestic' or 'authentically australian' sport need to keep in mind that while rugby league might have started in England and might be an international code, Australia has become its spiritual home and the host of its toughest domestic competition. the best rugby league players in the world fight for an NRL contract. while our soccer talent bleeds out into overseas clubs, for rugby league other countries are sending their best here. that's something to be proud of.
As someone who grew up in Melbourne as predominantly an AFL fan, I've never understood why the NRL don't try and expand into other states and become truly national like the AFL. I believe there's room for both codes.
I also agree with your second point, that is the advantage of the NRL over sports like soccer. All the best players are playing on home soil. All these soccer fanatics keep complaining that we don't take soccer seriously.....but if we did and soccer was our national sport, we would never get to see our best players play live because they would all be in Europe.
@@rhysh2639 you should read up on the history of Rugby League in the 1980s and 1990s and then the Super League War. Rugby League had a very clear plan for full expansion that was well on the way but was destroyed by the war - clubs axed, merged etc all as part of the peace plan. It was traumatic and set things back beyond an outsiders imagination. The game is finally back to where it was in 1994 today.
Plus, 7 out of 10 of Australia’s largest cities are Rugby League territory, so with Melbourne having a team, the politics and confidence to return to Perth and Adelaide is only now just starting to return.
The nrl is also actively trying to buy the super league in England
I don't know any Australian Rules fan who looks down on League for not being a truly domestic or Australian sport. I have never heard anybody even mention it until reading your comment.
I know plenty of people who enjoy both sports.
Those I hear dismiss League do so for one reason they find it boring.
I am an Australian Rules fan and I don't care if others prefer League, Union, lawn bowls or professional basket weaving and I really don't give care where your sport originally started.
If iwe cared about where sports originate then why aren't all Victorians out practicing Trugo?
Been a North Melbourne fan since birth as a Victorian, but grew up watching almost all televised sport. Anything that was a final/championship/world cup game played regardless of who you supported
I’d also like to add, that in Queensland and NSW the NRL pathways are extremely strong. Every grassroots club in Brisbane at least has a pathway to an NRL team, I’d also add that Melbourne Storm have just started a huge grassroots expansion in Victoria and Victorian born players are starting to make it into the NRL.
They will cannibalise the rugby union players that have been down here forever.
@@RatzaChewy I still see the Melb Grammar rugby team training in the park during the week. That'll never change. Some sort of socialising project for the unco wealthy kids that are not up to playing AFL.
@@VelvetRiot-hz5mp yet Rugby is a world game 😂 where is the Australian AFL side ?
The grassroots AFL pathways have traditionally been strong until recently (lockdowns). I suspect they’ll bounce back well in AFL-first states quickly
player pathways are strong in the NRL because recruitment is unbalanced through zoning. The AFL switched from zones to the draft for equal youth recruitment across the country
I’m from South Australia so I bleed Aussie Rules Football whether it's on-field performance or news drama but as a lifelong Foxtel/KAYO customer I am a huge rugby league fan. I often change the channel not just between AFL games but between the NRL and the AFL because of the difference in game time and kickoff time in each code. with 21st-century technology, it's much easier to cross the barassi line and anyone who doesn’t know what's going on across that line is just ignorant rather than dumb. there is nothing stopping anyone from defending your football but paying attention to the other football at the same time. thank god for 24/7 national sports media. pride of South Australia we're the mighty Adelaide Crows glory glory to South Sydney
I remember when AFL tried having a few games here in Wellington, NZ a few years back. Despite initial intrigue as a novelty in the the first year, interest noticeably dwindled in the next couple of years and almost seems forgotten about today.
The amount of knock-ons in that game is staggering.
@@clemfandango619 That's what has always pushed me away from it. It's such a scrappy, loose game. Feels like a bunch of blokes messing around with a footy at the oval rather than a professional sport.
Praise be🤣🤣🤣
Now we just have to get rid of league and then New Zealand will be much better off 😉
The nrl is actually looking to expand past the line again with a perth bears team
I come from northern england where League is the predominant sport and I now live in Melbourne. I’m an adopted doggies fan and obviously turn out for the Melbourne Storm. I love both codes and really do believe there’s more than enough room for both. They’re both incredible to watch and it really makes Grand Final weekend great!
As always, the fact that more people live above the line than below it is missed
Well that just strengthens the AFL side then doesn't it? If there are more people above the line but have far worse attendance, league obviously isn't even that liked above the line. I mean that's my personal experience, almost everyone south has a club and knows what's going on, its not like that in the north.
@@rerooarany single State of Origin game pulls 3x the viewership of the AFL grand final as well
@@artemthedeitylobov8012 Mate that's bullshit, game 1 was watched by about 1.5 million more but the rest were basically the same. Also that's a state comp also viewed in NZ and not a club comp like the AFL. So why not compare the NRL GF to the AFL GF? Oh yeah because it was less. At least be honest.
I like how you show footage of both Brisbane teams kicking ass!
Things you forgot to mention for rugby league:
League has state of origin one of the most watched events each year in Australia.
Perth bears coming in 2027 as the nrl newest team.
Another team in 2030 in either NZ South Island, png,pacific island team or another qld team are the front runners.
Rugby league has a World Cup where a lot of neighbouring countries play and northern hemisphere teams as well.
You forgot to mention that the two things that legitimise origin is the fact that Australian rules *gave* you the idea for league origin (you're welcome), and that what makes it successful is the fact that league is popular in two states. Two.
@@joelmicallef5189league is world game, no other country plays GayFL
@@artemthedeitylobov8012 It's a pretty telling story then, AFL is more popular per capita than NRL. NRL gets viewership from overseas, yet AFL not only competes with it in T.V. viewership, but demolishes it in live attendance. I love both, but it's funny that NRL fans have no good arguments other than "AFL is gay" what? that's your argument?
Both are great sports with different strong points. AFL is far more athletic and requires far more skill. NRL is easier to learn and follow as a new fan. AFL is an exciting sport that is so different to any other sport that makes it exciting to learn, whereas NRL is similar to Rugby Union and a new fan can transfer what they know from Union to league. Even NFL is somewhat similar to League.
@@SilentHotdog28I hope you realise your CEO has destroyed the AFL even with all your attendances and viewership the NRL about to become a Billion dollar sport without the $600m PNG team. I live in cairns and the AFL have left it this late to try enter the pacific with moving teams up here ect. the AFL got caught glazing themselves so much that they about to be toppled.
What is it with a certain cohort of League fans being unable to comprehend that homophobia, in all its forms, is not funny?
Rethink your comment and in future try and call it out.
Great video, I passionately follow both codes (Hawks and Storm) people look at me like a space creature when I say this 😂
I grew up in northern NSW, and no joke i had not heard of Aussie Rules until i was in my late teens.
You also need to remember that there is also a divide between the fans of Union and League. Just because they have rugby in their name doesn't mean they are the same sport. Both Aussie Rules Football and Association Football have a common word in their name, but are very different, with different fan bases.
We are the same, rugby league and rugby union the same thing right? Just one if amateurish the other for Pacific islanders.
@@VelvetRiot-hz5mpAs the saying goes: One is a game for gentlemen to play, to be watched by the common man. The other is a game for common men, to be watched by gentlemen.
To be honest I think that saying is a bit shit.
If you say 'rugby' on its own, it's assumed you mean rugby union - otherwise you specifically say 'rugby league' or just 'league'.
@@whophd “Football is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans, and Rugby is a hooligans’ game played by gentlemen”
Most common form, Football as in Association football (soccer).
Never heard of your version.
@@LomuHabana Nah all good, thank you, your version is probably right, and my memory was hazy. Appreciate the correction.
Irish guy here, no interest in NRL what so ever because we have our own rugby leagues and teams in this part of the world, AFL I get 3/4 matches on tv every Saturday morning which I first tuned into just out of interest about a year ago and it’s a fun watch, I enjoy it on a sat morning and it’s nice to see some Irish guys playing out there, always look out for Zach T cause he from laois like meself.
We also get NRL on tv on sat mornings but as I said no interest, great video, enjoyed it
I'm an Aussie who was born abroad and has lived in SA and VIC for the last six years. I've tried watching league but I just can't get into it. I just don't find it very entertaining at all, and it always feels strange going up to Brissy or Sydney and seeing people be so passionate about it. I'm currently living in Melbourne, and I don't think I know anyone here who ever watches a game of league. I even forget that the Storm are a team. They don't feel like they're even in the top 10 most followed teams in the city.
Aussie rules, however, is massive here. No matter who you're making small talk with in Melbourne, they'll always have something to say about the footy. It's everywhere, and people are so invested. I love it. It's a fantastic game and I can't get enough of it.
There's some VIC bias for yous. Let me have it.
im from WA and literally dont know a single person who watches NRL
im not joking, i could ask 100 people randomly you might get 1
Same here in nsw, i couldnt name 1 person that follows afl
You might find some among older people in certain parts. They used to have a fairly well followed League team.
Perth got 46,000 to a double header last year and sells out Origin games. Its also getting a team in the future so you better get used to it lol
Same in Tassie, you'd find more badminton fans that NRL lol
@@xbc2000_ are they the ones with two heads?
I live on the Barassi line where my rural town has a League, and AFL team which both have a firm following almost 50/50
I don’t hate rugby but I couldn’t name one all time rugby player and I don’t care for the sport
I love AFL it’s my favourite sport I watch all the games and I play it whenever I can
Seems like you don’t know much about the NRL development programs or its popularity in GC
I am an American who has never been to Australia… but I play afl here in the states as well as rugby union. I have never played rugby league, but I do watch nrl highlights quite a bit 😃
I love both codes and I couldn't imagine winter without either!
When I was a kid I participated in Auskick, which got me interested in Aussie rules. This was also during the time the Brisbane Lions were pretty dominant (they were my team). Once Michael Voss, Simon Black and my favourite, Jason Akermanis finished up I lost interest. I was really into it at that time. Obviously being from SE Qld I was brought up on NRL predominantly as well.
Have you ever come around and been into it again?
I grew up in Newcastle, and can absolutely understand you meeting people there who didn’t know Australian football existed. As an AFL fan there, I was very much in the minority. When I wore my jumper, sometimes I had people asking me what it was.
However, more often I got derision, occasionally bordering on verbal abuse. Newcastle people can be very parochial, and many see Austrslian football as an outside infiltrator (of course the rugby codes are from Britain, but that fact is irrelevant). A fair few rugby league fans there, and rugby union fans even more so, seem to take offence at the existence of Australian football.
Austrslizn football has grown in the area somewhat, but it's still not unusual for the TV news sports report to ignore AFL matches.
Great video! As a non-Aussie, both sports are great and no doubt that the NRL is also unique in its own right as they play the lesser known Rugby League vs the more internationally played Rugby Union. But the cake has to go to the AFL. Purely just because of how unique and bonkers of a sport it is. It was invented in Australia, it’s pretty much 3-4 hours off the most insane team sport action you can get. If there’s any sport that needs to go international, it’s AFL!
You need to do more research about this topic. You completely neglected to mention key factors for NRL and Rugby League's current success. If you broaden the map to include pacific nations, you will see that NRL is expanding much more than AFL. Not to mention that NRL will almost certainly have a new team in Perth by 2027.
Rugby League has put a lot of emphasis on building international games. The Samoa v Tonga games are highly competitive and compelling to watch. Not to mention the giant elephant in the room you won't mention (State of Origin.) I'm sure these concepts are completely foreign to an AFL supporter, but you should at the very least try to wrap your head around, it before you make a UA-cam video.
He also didn't mention the 1995 Western Reds entry into Leagues history. But maybe Perth just doesn't matter because the line doesn't cut through it.
isn't there also talk of a team coming to Papua New Guinea.
The influence Polynesians have on League can't be understated as they have a far reach out into the Pacific, League is growing like fire in NZ. Especially State of Origin. Would be interesting to see if NRL successfully expands into WA and how that may affect a state of origin in the far future.
Good points. And timely - it’s fair to say State of Origin game 3 again put to bed any challenge that rugby league has the greatest athletes and the biggest single competitive spectacle in Australian sport.
State of origin was copied off of AFL so if AFL didn't exist then NSW and Qld wouldn't be playing each other every year
Something important to note about the TV ratings is that the AFL lasts longer than the NRL, and given the AFL is only just behind in total viewership, the TV deals for the AFL always tend to be better than the NRL
I live in Newcastle NSW and ive been playing AFL for 9 years 😂. They were definitely having you on mate we have a big competition for it up here.
And then there's me, an English rugby union fan sat here on the outside wondering how the sport in Australia managed to screw up on a golden generation with two World Cups to their name that they barely get mentioned in this conversation any more.
League is simply the better sport the quicker the world accepts it the quicker we go back to dominating you all 😂
Rugby League and Aussie Rules were always the most popular working-class sports. Rugby Union's popularity during that era was mainly people on the Wallabies bandwagon. Plus, there was a craze of sporting patriotism then surrounding the Sydney Olympics, Aussie cricket team etc. The problem was Super Rugby is rubbish compared to NRL or AFL, so no week-to-week support of Rugby, only the odd Wallabies game.
@@AJWRAJWR The Super League war happening between the 2 RWC wins probably helped too. As soon as the NRL picked up some steam Union were fighting an uphill battle and the Blazers were too out of touch to notice.
Rugby Union is a private school game played mainly in the eastern and northern beach suburbs of Sydney. They failed to garner the support of the many pacific island folks out in the western suburbs of sydney who are traditionaly RU players...... NRL is a better run outfit and more rewarding game to play financially
one thing i will say for a rugby league fan from western sydney the NRL media does bring up the AFL alot. Every end of year youll hear fans bringing up why NRL is better its international this and that. Then go to ch 7 and u will never hear the AFL talk about the NRL. I think its obv that the NRL cares more about beating the AFL than the AFL does about the NRL. Its just how we are in sydney aha
One of the only times I hear the AFL media bring up the NRL, or more accurately just Rugby League, is the occasional personality saying they're excited to watch State of Origin during that time of the year. Not very common, but it always gets my hopes up for the two codes to start appreciating each other's game a bit more
Just my opinion of course, but I do get the sense that the AFL administration has an air of arrogance about them, that they are something special because they are the local code. However I do have to say that the AFL administration do run their code better than Rugby League, for the most part. I also have the feeling that long term they are probably more concerned about Football being a rival code than Rugby League, especially with women, as in terms of the available playing pool they would be competing for the same type of athletes. The athletic demands of Aussie Rules and Football are quite similar to each other but different for Rugby League players.
Also for Aussie Rules there is nothing much beyond the club competition whereas in the other codes you do have international representation. I'm not sure what happened to the hybrid rules games that were played against Ireland.
@@peterelworthy4601it’s a shame a lot of our best athletes play a sport that is internationally irrelevant. If only Melbourne were more dedicated about Soccer, well probably be a top 10 nation.
@@peterelworthy4601 that’s my point why the AFL is run better. Rugby league keeps trying to grow the sport where as AFL wants the league to succeed in another way. Similar with America the nba is more world wide than the NFL. however the NFL is the biggest league in the states by far. It’s their national game and they do not care or give 2 cents about “other countries participating”
@@rhynoreigns7568 I agree, if football was the national code then we'd be at least at the level of England, but in reality that won't happen in my life time. Aussie Rules is a part of the heritage of the other States, just the way it is.
Grew up in Canberra with a dad from Tasmania who got me into the AFL and heard a lot of “gayFL” remarks at school. Definitely felt like a union and league town. Great that Giants get a bit of support when they come to town
Having live in Perth WA for a short while I appreciate this. Firmly on the west of the line.
im in a place that barracks rugby as an afl fan, tho my local area has an afl community growing in it
Great to hear!
As an American, I find this video interesting because both the NRL & AFL broadcast their games in the US often late at night or early in the morning & often at the same time in an effort to see if their sport can gain popularity (or at the very least develop a loyal audience). So far the NRL seems to be doing this better than the AFL mainly because of the fact that the NRL this year began its season in Las Vegas with a doubleheader of games that was well attended, even though no Americans currently play in the league. The AFL on the other hand has done very little outreach apart from airing games in the US even though an American in Mason Cox plays in the league for Collingwood. As a result there is very little interest in the league. If the AFL is to gain a greater foothold in the US, they need to promote their league more & what makes it exciting to the American viewer. They also need to explain the rules as well. One of the reasons why the NRL has been growing in popularity over here is that the games are exciting & the rules are easy to understand.
BTW, the under-20s USA Hawks rugby league team was invited to compete in the rugby league under 20s Euro championships, and so far, they won 3 games.
Great video!
One point is that NRL crowds are actually quite large on a global basis, especially given our relatively small population. AFL crowds are just extraordinary by global standards. They are higher than the Premier League and La Liga.
I think the Super League war was a massive win for the AFL, because it allowed the Swans to get a good foothold in the Sydney market, especially in the North when the Bears were kicked out of the comp, and inner city, where you'll find most Sydney AFL supporters reside. Also many league supporters desserted the code following the 2 comps, as it highlighted corporate greed, in what is a working man's game. It also meant the end of the Perth and Adelaide NRL teams, which was a huge loss to the game. Both were more successful in attracting crowds than the Storm were, imagine where they would be now with 25 years in the local markets. Dare i say, both would be very strong clubs which i would liken to the Brisbane Broncos.
Also, I'm a Sydney sider, and have always been fascinated by the differences in sporting culture across Australia. I work for a national firm and had to often fly to Melbourne and found out very quickly that I needed to keep up to date with the AFL if I was to have anything to talk to anyone about! Still, I just can't get into the sport. I'm from League Heartland and AFL just wasn't really a consideration growing up (other than that one victorian kid) and was very much frowned upon.
You do not thave higher crowds than the Premier League. The average attedances were approx 37800 AFL versus Premier League 38500 in season 23/24. The PL also has much much higher occupancy in the high 90s across the board and if/when the stadiums expand then they will sell many more seats whereas the AFL cannot fill all its venues to capacity when I bet the ticket prices are much lower.
I have a kinship with your balanced approach to the topic. I'm also from Sydney and am fascinated by the way that the Melbourne Sydney rivalry plays out through the 2 football codes. In 1994 when the communications deregulation allowed pay television to come in Rupert Murdoch wanted League more than Aussie rules. The war he caused that followed destroyed clubs that were part of our cultural fabric. It upset and disillusioned core fans that are lost forever. I know many Bears fans that are now's Swans fans. The AFL are smarter and have targeted the Union fanbase areas of Sydney very successfully.
the NSW VICTORIA rivalry may have also been born from the NSW Victoria interstate cricket matches which eventually had the other states form the sheffield shield, this has been more or less ongoing since the 1850's, it also influenced the creation of the MCG, the SCG and other major ovals which form the centres for AFL game viewing and the SCG was for a very longwhile a home and an important ground for the NSWRL competion, and famous moments throughout the leagues history
Funny how at the time of me writing this, the Melbourne team is first in the NRL, and the Sydney team is first in the AFL
Not a coincidence, teams in the heartland of another sport usually get much better support from the governing bodies solely for the reason of expansion
@@artemthedeitylobov8012 ooo that makes so much sense! Thank you I didn’t know that
If the NRL has any chance of expanding into the US of A, it's gotta do it like F1 did. Money, glitz, glamour, and successful marketing - none of which the NRL has. Personally, I wouldn't consider it a success if they couldn't sell out the stadium with half the fans being Australian and the product being way too close (on a surface-level) to the NFL.
Great video, by the way.
I think a key point in this topic is that 7 out of Australia’s top 10 cities are rugby league territory. NSW and QLD accounting for more than half the national population.
Sure...if if you dont count Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, and Hobart
@@raystaindl2191 mate, I said 7 out of the top 10, which leaves only Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth as AFL territory. The others you mentioned aren’t in the top 10 😂
Yes however Sydney and Brisbane AFL is number Two! So the population in those cities is still split on Aussie Rules and league! Not as big as rugby league but still popular!
@@user-mg1p you must be from Victoria if you think that, or living in a dreamland. I hate to break it to you but the general awareness of AFL in NSW is pretty much exactly the same as the NRL is in Victoria, QLD it’s treated similar to NRL in WA.
Check tv ratings if you don’t believe me.
I don't think it I know it!
From Albury to Broken Hill to Wagga Aussie rules is as popular as Rugby League.. Laurie Daley will tell you that. As he grew up playing both.. And up here in Brisbane. Darren Lokeyer grew up playing for Springwood Aussie rules club. Besides I have been to three NRL GFS. To me it's like comparing basketball baseball or cricket.. Aussie rules is totally different to Rugby league .. That's why the Storm .. According to Australia's number 1 poll shows the Storm as being the most popular NRL team..
Because every AFL club fans follow the Melbourne Storm. @@daveb3987
In Sydney, NRL has shifted and the popularity of it is really mostly the Western Suburbs and South Suburbs. More kids in the North to East side of Sydney are playing AFL and attending AFL games more. I go against what is "popular" for NSW, as our family are big AFL fans and only my dad occasionally watches the NRL. My brother and I also played AFL as a kid which especially back then was a rare thing, now not as much. The Sydney Swans academy has helped grow the game in Sydney more as well as the team being successful. Personally for the GWS team I believe they should look at moving to Canberra or doing more games there. Their fans barely stay for the whole game even when they are winning.
nah eastern suburbs you find league and Union
@@Rebekahlavy The Eastern suburbs is dominated by Rabbits fans.. and the majority of Sydney’s population is going to be in the West very soon either way (fastest growing region in NSW and that gap will continue to widen as Sydney expands.) This is something I assume the NRL have understood for a long time
Nice video, keep it up 👍
Thank you! 👍
Great video, very informative.
Australia is very unique in the sense that the code of football you follow, depends on what state or territory you reside in.
I’m from Sydney, so I live on the NRL side of the “Barassi Line”, but I don’t mind Australian rules football.
One thing for sure the AFL is the most cashed up sport in the country.
Was same in England until introduction of football (soccer)'s Premier League in 1992. Obviously football (soccer) was most popular sport in vast majority of country. However, there are pockets of the north where rugby league still probably trumps it, (and is still extremely popular in Leeds and Hull, whilst they also support football there).Plus rugby union was more popular than football even in the West Country, (Bristol being a big city in that part of England)
I'm a Queenslander and follow both sports, but the way I put it is I am an Rugby League Fan first, with the Gold Coast Titans being my #1 team in any sport. I watch every game of every round and could probably name 95% of the total starting 13 for every team in the comp. AFL however I do very much enjoy, but mainly just for the Lions. I watch Lions games but not usually many others throughout the season (other than big matchups and finals). Not anything against the sport, just preference.
I'm a member of the Titans and go to every home game, but even I can confidently say that AFL is a beautiful spectator sport whereas NRL is almost perfect for TV (as much as I love irl games) thats the beauty of the sports, either can cater to what you enjoy
Rugby union for the win
As a kiwi I wish we got more AFL here.
When I was a kid in the 70s we had this exchange program where the local Australian rules club I was playing for played a game against a team in Western Sydney and they also came to Melbourne to play a game. I don't know if they ever had a genuine comp up there or they were trying to get one going, but I remember when I got to Western Sydney I had never even heard of rugby league and they had to tell us about it. I lived in nsw during the 90s and had of the noughties and briefly followed rugby, but back in Vic quickly ensconced in afl haha
England is similar. They play league in a few suburbs of Leeds and Manchester, the rest of the nation has no idea about it.
I didn't know the Barassi line was a thing. I've been talking about it for years, assuming that it actually crosses the east coast at about Wollongong.
That's because it's bullshit.
I'm on the eastern side in NZ. Nobody really watches AFL here but huge support for League with the Warriors. AFL was popular here before WW1 but never recovered it's popularity here following the war. Will probably never be popular here with basketball becoming the most popular sport among young people. Cricket is dying here too.
Yeah I don’t think AFL is ever going to be more than a novelty in NZ
Thanks you did a great job on this video and your right about the hatred of Melbourne from the people of Sydney on anything Victorian
Glad you enjoyed it!
As a Sydney sider raised by a Victorian father and that used to spend a week a month in Melbourne, I can assure you the feeling is clearly mutual. I got to the point where I stopped telling people in Melbourne I was from Sydney so I didn’t have to engage in the reflexively boorish comments that always come your way if a Melbournian hears there’s a Sydneysider in their midst.
@@DeftPol yes what about being called a Mexican from Sydney Siders
yeah fair crack, I was born in Sydney but at this point have now lived the second half of my life in Melbourne. So based on my experience in both places it's probably fair to say it cuts both ways, with each city being obsessed with one upping the other - including of course in sport codes.
@@DeftPol Melbourne does it to everyone from outside their city. Never copped flack from a Sydney sider for being from Brisbane, but from a Victorian they act like I stepped out of the 19th century.
I watch the AFL from Toronto, Canada
"Loyal Rugby League territory..."
NZ is dominated by Rugby Union. Leage is not the number 1 code there.
yeah but we definitely dont watch afl
Aussie Rules has never been more popular than league in Canberra. Stop talking shit.
Finally a reasonable and rational comparison of the 2 sports. I’m a league person and personally I just can’t stand Aussie rules but I don’t go around rubbishing it or making it public knowledge cause there is absolutely no need to and vice versa. Both great Australian codes can co exist here and tribalism is a huge part of that but arguments over which is better are so over the top and completely redundant because of which side of the barassi line you are . Both sports are here to stay there is no need for one to cannibalise the other. The only stat I will correct is the junior numbers for AFL are overly inflated by Auskick sign ups that aren’t actual junior participants
Completely agree mate! Let both codes grow and co-exist
Personally, I live in Sydney and somewhat follow rugby but don't even know the rules of AFL very well, this shows the line.
AFL is deeply entrenched in Victoria. You are expected to have chosen a team by age 6, even if you otherwise have no interest in sport. It’s normal for kids to pick a different team to their father just as a source of banter. You see more families at games. My grandpa was still going to games into his 80s. It’s hard to imagine anything ever even coming close to its popularity.
really cool insight into the barassi line thanks for the vid! growing up in Sydney id heard of AFL and as you said followed the swans because they were convenient but there's one thing NRL definitely does better and that's reaching an international audience , iv spoken to French , English , Irish, south African and even Japanese people who have watched or heard of NRL though be it through the similarity's of union but haven't a clue of AFL. i think its also important to note the population density east of this line compared to the rest of aus
I definitely concede that point but chose not to include it as there are no NRL teams in those regions. It’s a fair call though
I feel like people used to argue over which was better, but now most people from either side of the line are just indifferent to the other code! (Or is this just a Vic opinion? I can name an NRL player, however - hard to forget a name like Cooper Cronk, played for Melbourne I believe.
1. No one east of that line calls it rugby. 2. There will be a team in western Australia in 2 years (Bears).. 🤷♂️
I’d be surprised if the Perth team gets much local support - Eagles and Freo are both huge and are two of the better supported teams in the country. It may do well with heaps of Kiwis, Poms and Saffas that all live in Perth - but they usually prefer Union to League.
@@swanny1236you’d be surprised how many people from nsw live in Perth working for mines army etc Perth sells out nrl game on the rarity it’s played over there not too mention Perth had a team years ago and will be introduced back in 2027
@@coreydrew7899 yeah that’s probably the hope. You aren’t going to get many west Australians onboard - they are die hard AFL - but with the mines NSW, QLDers, Kiwis, Poms and Saffas are the best hope. Won’t they all have other teams though?
@@swanny1236 dolphins have been in the nrl for 2 years and are already over 40000 members it won’t take long for the Perth bears to meet similar numbers don’t think the nrl goal is to dismantle afl I think they just want to spread the game internationally with the inclusion of dolphins 2 years ago the Perth Bears a and Papuan team in 2027 and future plans for a Adelaide team and a 2nd New Zealand team the NRL is currently trying to buy out the English Super League and slowly spreading the game to the USA the game hasn’t been this big since the early 90s and could possibly rival European rugby union in 10 years
@@coreydrew7899 dolphins are in Brisbane, a rugby city. It’s tougher to get members in a city where most people don’t even know the rules of the game.
The NRL is rugby league not called rugby
The Barassi line was literally AFL propaganda. The fact the line goes through eastern NT and western QLD is proof as those places are staunch rugby league territory.
Also, a correction to your claim of Canberra being Aussie Rules heartland originally.
It is true the Raiders didn’t join the New South Wales rugby league till the 80s, but that’s due to teams having to be from…you guessed it New South Wales. The Raiders were the first exception. Brisbane didn’t have a team in the comp till the very bad of the 80s, so you can see how silly it is to make that a reason to say it wasn’t Rugby League heartland.
You also missed that the Brumbies are Australia’s most successful Rugby Union team and are based in Canberra and have been there for much longer.
Ah yeah I remember it was "the NSWRL" before it was "the ARL" and then NRL.
yeah, Canberra has always been a traditional Union hold out.
Yeah but unions out of the picture now
@@thomasmarshall7570and leagues the largest it’s ever been in Canberra and the surrounding areas and has overtaken Union
The Brumbies only truly started in 1995, before that it was just an ad-hoc amateur Canberra XV for tour matches I believe
The progression of the Barassi line Eastwards is an interesting thing to watch. The AFL is slowly capturing inland NSW and QLD.
Victoria recorded its largest ever increase to rugby league participation this year, as well as a massive increase to Melbourne Storm membership and attendance. the progression is going both ways.
I’d say it’s more southern nsw around Albury most people in western nsw Dubbo etc wouldn’t even know what afl is
And yet, as someone living in Melbourne, I hear nothing about them.
Western Australia has the wealthiest AFL team, West Coast, and a successful rival team Fremantle. And even though WA has had a failed attempt the NRL it now has the largest player pool in the country. Expansion team will be close with the Sydney Bears.
Being from Canberra I like both codes and follow raiders and calton but I don’t think afl is very popular here it’s probably 4th place and below cricket and rugby union in every aspect the afl definitely missed there chance as there good attendance is because small stadium and central location unlike rugby league and union
Do note though Canberrans love afl but as a local level afl is failing here and more people are playing and watching league and union at a local level but afl is just seen as a really cool event to go to in Canberra because of it only being 3 games
@@lachlangray9701 yeah I laughed when he said AFL was once more popular in Canberra than Rugby League. I’ve heard some other Victorians say this too - where do they think the Queanbeyan Leagues Club and the Canberra Raiders came from? Do they think the NSWRL just pulled it all out of their arse at the start of the 1980s?
I wish wish wish they had of jumped on a Canberra AFL team early! It was such a missed opportunity by the then VFL
@@LifeInOz2023yea there’s not much grass roots here either and the little we have is all north Canberra all south Canberra is union territory and north Canberra is largely union to
@@daveb3987not gonna lie I like afl but I reckon we have a better shot of a second union team then a afl team because in 2016 we had 2 pro union clubs
If you didn't grow up playing one of the sports it's hard to fully appreciate what makes a good set of plays and therefore get properly invested in it even if you decide to give it a watch. NRL to me looks like a line of a dozen massive dudes crashing another line of massive dudes over and over and I'm sure footy looks like a bunch of clowns constantly fumbling the ball to people who haven't played it.
@@Tai1 love playing AFL can't stand watching it.
Think it's a combination of a lack of handling ability and too high scoring, 6 points means something in league, in AFL it's just another moment out of dozens of others
Couldn’t agree more mate, I’m sure I would learn to love NRL if I grew up with it and played it
Aussie Rules is the dominant sport on the NSW far south coast at least to Batemans Bay. To wit: the Barassi Line is more north in that area than this video suggests.
I like AFL I’m a Swans fan as i live in Sydney but I’m more passionate about NRL and the Manly Sea Eagles and the NSW Blues
The next beam they are trying to bring to the nrl is most likely going to be a Perth based team in either 2026-27
Great video. While I live in NSW, and AFL definitely doesn’t get much attention, I have seen more open hostility towards rugby union than AFL amongst people I’m surrounded by. There’s a strong perception that it is an elitist private school type game. My dad is a huge rugby league supporter, and has a certain respect for AFL, he hates union with a passion hahaha
Union is becoming more hated in all states I think. The “private school” label it’s rightfully earned isn’t helping
really good video
Thank you mate!
I was watching a video where a guy was asking people, "Do you know what cricket is?" I was taken aback that some people didn't even know what cricket is. For a country that is a five-time world champion, it's a shame to see that the sport is no longer popular.
I kinda doubt this, I went to a school with a lot of immigrant kids from Africa or Asia and even then you could have a cricket game on the oval or beach and every student would know what they're doing
Nrl is way better
Never heard of it.
yes i am subbing nice video
Awesome thank you!
Having lived half of my life in Sydney and Melbourne and travelled a lot all of my long life I feel well qualified to comment here.
1) AFL is a much more dominant part of the culture in Melbourne than NRL is in Sydney ( sorry NRL diehards). Every nights news bulletin is proof of that alone even in the off season let alone crowd numbers.
2) Rugby suffers because the code is split into two variants. That's not the case with AFL.
3) NRL does get a massive boost from State of Origin however the concept that there could ever be other states involved is impossible. AFL's State of Origin comp. foundered because there were more states, more games, more injuries and so the clubs white anted it.
4) My favourite code is soccer and that is definitely bigger in NSW than Victoria plus the junior participation rate is much bigger there.
Personally I enjoy all the codes. A good game of any of them is great to watch. So stop the hate and broaden your horizons.
AFL is simply a better product imo. They are trying hard to ruin it with the MRO etc, but it’s still a more interesting watch than NRL which feels a bit less nuanced or tactical - it’s just big men crashing into each other - but then again I’m from WA so I’m obviously biased.
I would say that I don’t particularly think either league should bother too much with the other side. AFL needs to focus on Tassie and NT, whilst the NRL has PNG and South Island NZ as potential new markets.
I've resided for 30 years in Kenmore - Chapel Hill a few kilometres inland of Lang Park (Suncorp Stadium), the number 1 rugby league stadium in Austalia. The suburbs are very high education, high income demographically. I found it astonishing in the '90s that 'AFL' was offered at my children's state school but NOT rugby league. Turned out higher education mums and dads don't want theIr kids bashed up or paralysed playing league ('NRL'). It continues to this day where my step daughter no way will allow our grandsons to play league or union.
I personally played QAFLJ through to QAFL under 19s and rugby league at school. I can't name a single AFL player outside of the Lions. We watch the four Queensland NRL teams, plus Melbourne Storm and state of origin on TV and just Lions only AFL on TV.
despite that, youth rugby league participation is up this year.
As a Victorian I don’t hate nrl but I find afl to be a much more exciting game to watch but also the afl don’t do themselves any favours with the constant tweaking of rules and interpretations so it’s understandable at this stage if anyone switches over to nrl or find it hard to get into afl because of said changes
NRL is absolutely pushing into Western Australia and have been talking expansion for the last few years.
Btw the NRL is more than likely going to expand into Perth WA with a team named Perth bears
Nice insight on the sporting culture in Aussie, would this divide be similar to the Rugby Union vs Rugby league divide we have in NZ? Or the NRL vs ARL is in a completely different ball game compared to this?
Australian Rules has it’s origins far earlier from marn-grook from permanent settlements of first nations peoples in in the Kulin nation, present-day western victoria.
And rugby comes from colonists.
Brother, the next NRL expansion team is going to be Perth based
Since when does half of NSW prefer AFL over RL? That line isn't accurate.
Yeah it’s just the general margin that was agreed upon to demonstrate the Barassi line
as someone from nsw, everyone knows about Aussie Rules Football, its just that we refer to it purely as the AFL. I am unsure why, but if you said AFL instead of Aussie rules Football, the guy from newcastle would probably have known what you were talking about.
Newcastle is a rugby league heartland, back in the 90s we'd have hundreds watching our local u16s and u18s on a Friday night.
AFL fans are a tiny minority here, no one cares about it.
Novacastrian here - I follow and participate in Rugby Union. I've no real interest in Aussie Rules except for betting and adding legs to multis. Similarly with League, I will watch some of it and bet on but thats it. SOO doesn't even really interest me that much. I also follow UK football but not the local A-League.
So happy to hear some union fans still exist! I'm praying for you guys to beat the Lions next year, maybe that will turn things around. Sounds like Union could win from embracing a less commercial audience, similar to how AFL was described in the video?
@@falkkiwiben yeah mate there is plenty of us Union boys and girls out there we’ve just been a little quiet of late.
You better not support merewether Carlton
@@jacobmcnamara7234 no way. Im in the two blue corner :)
I grew up in the N.T in the 80's and 90's, no one played afl except for the Aborginals and a few South Australian blow ins, the main game was Rugby Union followed by league and i'd say close 3rd was Football aka soccer and Hockey, AFL was a poor 5th.
Three things that I would add about AFL (I won't pretend to know about the other). 1) that the current AFL is itself an evolution from the many layered and widely distributed leagues across the country. In Perth that's the WAFL but also note a state the size of WA means that long distance travel has always been part of the culture. It was also a longtime bonding effect when top W.A. players would go to the VFL. Where I grew up, you would have three teams that were "yours" to follow (e.g. SWFL, WAFL, VFL). 2) There's a rapidly evolving women's league, so it would be interesting to map how that corresponds across each side of the Barassi Line. 3) It seems most Australians are quite unaware of the (frankly quite surprising) amount of Australian Rules being played all across the USA. While obviously sparked by ex-pat Australians it now seems to be making its own path (there are numerous videos on UA-cam about this). Similarly, while small there is an ongoing sourcing of players from Gaelic football. So while rugby (both types) are obviously international, it's not the case that Aussie Rules is as isolated as most comments assume.
League fan but since GWS got added into the comp kinda have follow a bit of afl only because of the Giants.
Good job. Keep it up
Sydney swans and Canberra Raiders fan who grew up in Wagga Wagga which is on the middle the barassi line and was a two code city so I was an exception to the rule?