2007 Australian Rules Football Season Announced
Question: What’s more ridiculous than grown men and women paying good money to travel all over Europe bleating their hearts and beating their bosoms to 22 adolescent boys chasing an inflated cow skin around a park (e.g., British football and American soccer)?
Answer: Traveling to Australia to watch 36 grown men chase an oblong pigskin around a grassy pitch. Yet no true sporting fan can claim to be a complete person without the experience of AUSSIE RULES!
This is the time of year when “footy” (Australian slang for Australian Rules football) dominates the lives of most Melburnians. Take a look at the official Australian Football Leage (AFL) website and you’ll soon understand the passion that drives this sport.
I’m excited. The 2007 season is now official in Melbourne. If you’re visiting between March 30 and September 2, 2007, we highly recommend catching an AFL footy game in Melbourne with a local host. Attend a live match with your own professional Aussie Rules sporting fanatic (many are ex-coaches, umpires and players), who will be there to answer all your questions. Test your mettle as a sporting lunatic against the world’s greatest sporting lunatics! For the men, learn the intricacies of climbing into the air with your studs in your opponents neck. For the women, there’s muscle shirts, biceps, and very, very short shorts. No, I mean like really short.
And the seats are sensational. At Telstra Dome you are on the fence next to the interchange bench so you can almost touch (and smell!) the players. At the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) you sit on the 2nd level in the Premium Reserved Undercover Members area with the most amazing view of this extraordinary arena (a temple for the locals).
You also get to sample some Australian fare like the great Aussie meat pie. Drop a generous dollop of tomato sauce (ketchup) and you’ve just had the true Aussie culinary experience, mate.
If you still don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the history of the Australian Football League. It’s a great insight into the origins of the sport.
Trust me - it won’t take long to get caught up in the EXCITEMENT and PASSION of the sporting sensation that Melburnians are obsessed with.
Book tickets for an Aussie Rules footy game accompanied with a Footy expert, and browse the complete schedule below for games that fit into your Melbourne travel plans.
Game #1 Round #1
Date: Friday, March 30
Game: Melbourne vs. St Kilda
Venue: MCG
Meeting Time: 6:15pm
Game #2 Round #1
Date: Saturday, March 31
Game: Kangaroos vs. Collingwood
Venue: MCG
Meeting Time: 12:45pm
Game #3 Round #1
Date: Sunday, April 01
Game: Western Bull Dogs vs. Geelong
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 1:00pm
Game #4 Round #2
Date: Saturday, April 07
Game: Geelong vs. Carlton
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 6:00pm
Game #5 Round #2
Date: Sunday, April 08
Game: Essendon vs. Fremantle
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 1:00pm
Game #6 Round #2
Date: Monday, April 09
Game: Hawthorn vs. Melbourne
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 1:00pm
Game #7 Round #3
Date: Friday, April 13
Game: Collingwood vs. Richmond
Venue: MCG
Meeting Time: 6:15pm
Game #8 Round #3
Date: Saturday, April 13
Game: St Kilda vs. Western Bulldogs
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 6:00pm
Game #9 Round #3
Date: Sunday, April 15
Game: Kangaroos vs. Hawthorn
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 4:00pm
Game #10 Round #4
Date: Friday, April 20
Game: Richmond vs. Western Bulldogs
Venue: MCG
Meeting Time: 6:15pm
Game #11 Round #4
Date: Saturday, April 21
Game: St Kilda vs. Essendon
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 1:00pm
Game #12 Round #4
Date: Sunday, April 22
Game: Melbourne vs. Fremantle
Venue: MCG
Meeting Time: 12:45pm
Game #13 Round #5
Date: Saturday, April 28
Game: Carlton vs. Brisbane Lions
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 6:00pm
Game #14 Round #5
Date: Sunday, April 29
Game: Hawthorn vs.Western Bull Dogs
Venue: MCG
Meeting Time: 11:45am
Game #15 Round #6
Date: Friday, May 04
Game: St Kilda vs. Carlton
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 6:30pm
Game #16 Round #6
Date: Saturday, May 05
Game: Kangaroos vs. Sydney
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 6:00pm
Game #17 Round #6
Date: Sunday, May 06
Game: Richmond vs. Geelong
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 4:00pm
Game #18 Round #7
Date: Friday, May 11
Game: Kangaroos vs. Essedon
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 6:30pm
Game #19 Round #7
Date: Saturday, May 12
Game: St Kilda vs. Sydney
Venue: Telstra
Meeting Time: 6:30pm
Game #20 Round #8
Date: Sunday, May 13
Game: Western Bull Dogs vs. Melbourne
Venue: Telstra Dome
Meeting Time: 1:00pm
–Dominique E
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June 27th, 2007 at 10:54 am
Happened to just read that the Melbourne coach, Daniher resigned. As a native of Melbourne, maybe you can tell me if that’s a good or bad thing. Mostly, though, I came by your site looking for rules to the game. You almost convinced me it’s exciting enough for even an American like me to watch (though I’m not sure about your contention that it measures up to English football), but I can’t seem to track down any other information about it. I was quite curious about the game’s history, but that link was disabled, and though I went to the AFL website (which is where I learned about Daniher), I wasn’t able to find anything there that gave a rundown of rules and history. I suppose they expect anyone who shows up there to already be a rabid fan. I doubt there’s anything on the history of American football to be found on our NFL sites.
June 27th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Hey Sports Equipment. Have a look at these links in Wikipedia. They do a great job on the history and rules of the game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football
including rules:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football#Rules_of_the_game
and history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football#Traditions_of_the_game
I’m an Essendon fan myself (sorry, it’s true), so can’t comment on the Melbourne question. Maybe somebody else can jump in.
June 27th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Scott’s Wikipedia links above are probably the only informative sites in regards to AFL rules, although the AFL seem to slightly modify the rules every year to help make the game more interesting, faster and obviously increase takings.
As far as Daniher goes, he was a brilliant player back in his younger years but I think that if you consider Melbourne’s recent performance (they’re currently 2nd last on the ladder) and the fact that he’s been there almost 10 years without consistent success (best was 2nd in 2000), I dont think there would be too many complaints about him leaving.
Hey, just realised that there is a US Aussie Rules footy league: http://www.usfooty.com/usfooty/
June 27th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
This is from the wonderful Melbournians who run the Aussie Rules Football Tour:
The good news is - this week the Melbourne ‘boys’ should lift to support their coach. The bad news is - after this weeks adrenalin rush they may feel that they have lost their leader and continue playing badly until a new coach is hired. When they find out who that coach is… well the jury is out until we find out who the coach is.
A Brief History
In 1857, Tom Wills, one of the founders of Australian Football, returned to Australia after schooling in England where he was football captain of Rugby School and a brilliant cricketer. Initially, he advocated the winter game of football as a way of keeping cricketers fit during off-season.
The new game was devised by Wills, his cousin H.C.A. Harrison, W.J. Hammersley and J.B. Thompson. The Melbourne Football Club was formed on August 7, 1858 – the year of the code’s first recorded match between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School.
The game quickly blossomed. The Geelong Football Club was formed in 1859 and in 1866 an updated set of rules was put in place and competition started.
The Victorian Football League was established in 1896 and the following year the League’s first games were played among the foundation clubs – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne.
In 1908, Richmond and University joined the competition. But after the 1914 season, University left the League. In 1925, Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs), Hawthorn and North Melbourne (now the Kangaroos) joined the VFL.
This line-up of 12 clubs would remain unchanged until 1987 when the competition expanded to include the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Bears. BY 1997, the competition comprised 16 clubs after Adelaide (in 1991), Fremantle (in 1995), and Port Adelaide (in 1997) joined the now Australian Football League and foundation club Fitzroy merged with the Brisbane Bears to form the Brisbane Lions (after the 1996 season).
August 9th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
I’m not from Australia but I’m a football addict. I’ve heard a lot about the recent victory of Aussies in football and out of curiosity I also want to see, feel and smell Aussie football players. I love the list but any suggestion on how can a foreigner like me find my way to each of this venues?