Hi Irish,

I cannot let the one sided comments about our great Australaian Game go without putting the perspective of a person who lives in the southern Australian States where Aussie rules or the Australian code of football is so strong it is nearly a religion.

In Queensland and New South Wales the dominant codes are rugby, imported from England whears in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, the Rugby codes are minor sports.

The northern states use derisive terms such as aerial ping pong for Aussie rules, whilst we have terms such as bum sniffing and overground wrestling to describe rugby. Actually to watch any of these football codes played at itts highest level is great. Each has it own set of skills.

I am a devotee of autralian football and played at the second highest level in my time, the Victorian Football Association. The AFL is a nation wide competition where the premiership last year was won by a team from Brisbane the capital of Queensland, a northern state. The AFL has growing support in Queensland though rugby will most likely always remain the dominant code.

The game of Aussie rules is fast moving and tough. As running game tripping is outlawed and the idea is not to have the ball trapped but flowing so it is usually a high scoring game. To take a mark (a catch) allows the player to have a kick without being tackled when in posession. Players take the most spectacular marks, leaping in the air often in a pack of players attempting the same thing. The kicking skills required are difficult to the max. perfectly weighted passes that skim over the ground or find the target to a running player and have enough height to clear opposing players and often executed at top speed. It is very difficult.

I played in a grand final of 20 000 people in my career of 200 senior games. I wear the scars still but it was a highlight of my young life. I have scar tissue in my left lung from when I got a ride off the back of a player to take a high mark but landed on my back from about 7 feet high. I was bleeding from the lung and was coughing bright red blood. Another time I bumped a huge ruckman ( I am small only 5'8") I flattened the guy but broke my collarbone in the process. I also suffered a broken ankle toe a hamstring, numerous fat finger where the ball bends your fingers back attempting to mark. We wear no protective clothing, being a running game it would slow you down. It is a mans game, you need to have courage to play it and it an exciting spectator sport.

Aussir rules is great and I hope you get to see more.