5 reasons why AFL is better than Soccer.

[Ghost Dog]

Ok. Am OVER the world cup.

AFL is better because

1. Lower ponytail count. ( no offense to all you hipsters )
2. No plastic brass sections.
3. The act of rolling around on the grass, clutching your shin does not gain one an advantage. As a result, fans do not have to suffer this.
4. Lower hissy fit count, especially since M. Lloyd retired.
5. I keep falling asleep waiting for a goal zzzzzzzzzzzz.

So do tell. Why do you love our native game better than foosball ?
Oh and I just watched the Hawks V Ess game tonight. Absolute corker. Deepened my conviction still!

OR! Maybe you like soccer better than our native game? Enjoying the world cup? Will foosball rise to gobble up our native species?
Will Gary Ablett one day be lured to switch codes and play for Melbourne Victory on a multimillion dollar contract?

Blog away!

[Desipura]

Ok. Am OVER the world cup.

AFL is better because

1. Lower ponytail count. ( no offense to all you hipsters )
2. No plastic brass sections.
3. The act of rolling around on the grass, clutching your shin does not gain one an advantage. As a result, fans do not have to suffer this.
4. Lower hissy fit count, especially since M. Lloyd retired.
5. I keep falling asleep waiting for a goal zzzzzzzzzzzz.

So do tell. Why do you love our native game better than foosball ?
Oh and I just watched the Hawks V Ess game tonight. Absolute corker. Deepened my conviction still!

OR! Maybe you like soccer better than our native game? Enjoying the world cup? Will foosball rise to gobble up our native species?
Will Gary Ablett one day be lured to switch codes and play for Melbourne Victory on a multimillion dollar contract?

Blog away!
Very ignorant post. You obviously dont understand the round ball game or appreciate the amount of skill they have.

[Go_Dogs]

Very ignorant post. You obviously dont understand the round ball game or appreciate the amount of skill they have.

Whilst I watched the Hawks v Essendon game last night (which was a pretty exciting contest, with great marks, some great goals, speed...it had it all) and in the room next door my housemates were watching Germany v Serbia. I heard them get excited 3 or maybe 4 times during the entire game.



I'm with you, I don't mind soccer and realise the skill level involved, but AFL is, IMO, the most exciting, and elite sport in the world. It combines so many skill sets, and guys who are very strong, great endurance and quick too. There aren't many sports like it.

[bornadog]

There is only one reason why AFL is better than Soccer, Soccer is boring.;)

[Hotdog60]

I used to love soccer, I would stay up late and watch the English league games back in the 70's but since the 2000 Summer Olympics I can't be bothered getting the slightest bit interested. The amount of diving and playing for frees in that event just totally put me off.

I love our great game and it is just my opinion but is the best ball sport out there.

[AndrewP6]

Ok. Am OVER the world cup.

AFL is better because

1. Lower ponytail count. ( no offense to all you hipsters )
2. No plastic brass sections.
3. The act of rolling around on the grass, clutching your shin does not gain one an advantage. As a result, fans do not have to suffer this.
4. Lower hissy fit count, especially since M. Lloyd retired.
5. I keep falling asleep waiting for a goal zzzzzzzzzzzz.

So do tell. Why do you love our native game better than foosball ?
Oh and I just watched the Hawks V Ess game tonight. Absolute corker. Deepened my conviction still!

OR! Maybe you like soccer better than our native game? Enjoying the world cup? Will foosball rise to gobble up our native species?
Will Gary Ablett one day be lured to switch codes and play for Melbourne Victory on a multimillion dollar contract?

Blog away!

I agree. Over it - before it even began. Almost two hours of people not scoring/rarely scoring, I don't find exciting or interesting in the slightest. Not going to say too much, I've got into heated debates on this very topic.


Very ignorant post. You obviously dont understand the round ball game or appreciate the amount of skill they have.

Maybe I'm ignorant or lack understanding too then, because I agree with the post 100%

[Mofra]

I have only really enjoyed one game of soccer in my life - and that was almost entirely due to the crowd factor (in Santiago Chile, watching Chile qualify for the world cup for the first time in donkeys years). In fairness, the score was 4-1 (and Columbia scored first!)so there was a bit of excitement. Nil all draws? No thanks.

I can actually watch South American soccer because for mine the style is the pinnacle of flair and daring play, but I don't get too excited otherwise and I have tried.

[The Boy From Brasil]

I guess it comes down to personal taste and/or what you were brought up with.

IMO AFL is a better game. AFL is the best game in the world for me above all other sports. The mixture of skill, speed, physicality,courage, scoring there is no other game like it. And then you have the special flair of the indigenous players(which only AFL has), it is unique.

Having said all that, I really like soccer as well. The soccer played in Brasil is extremely attacking and has its own flair. When you play an attacking style it is extremely watchable. The World Cup is great to watch because there is so much at stake for the countries around the world, and it only comes around once every four years. There wouldn't be the same fever if it was every month or every year.

One factor which no one has mentioned is a huge advantage that AFL has, is the crowds. The crowds for an AFL match are passionate but by and large safe. Which is a great thing. Some of the soccer crowds in countries around the world take it beyond a sport. Football hooliganism in some parts of England is really really ugly. And some of the extremes about the result of a match in Brasil are not very normal either. In the AFL, you can go to a match with an opposition supporter, enjoy the game and leave without fearing for your physical safety(although sometimes at AAMI you may fear for your vehicles safety).

[LostDoggy]

Does this mean you won't be watching tonight then Akers Beard?;)

It's like saying which is better, AC/DC or like, Bob Dylan or something!
Two completely different things that are both awesome depending on the situation,
the mood i'm in, etc etc

[Sockeye Salmon]

One factor which no one has mentioned is a huge advantage that AFL has, is the crowds. The crowds for an AFL match are passionate but by and large safe. Which is a great thing. Some of the soccer crowds in countries around the world take it beyond a sport. Football hooliganism in some parts of England is really really ugly. And some of the extremes about the result of a match in Brasil are not very normal either. In the AFL, you can go to a match with an opposition supporter, enjoy the game and leave without fearing for your physical safety(although sometimes at AAMI you may fear for your vehicles safety).

I am currently in Greece. We were last night discussing AFL and my host here was astonished that I would take my 6yo son to a football game.

[Remi Moses]

For the love of god can the soccer v Aussie rules arguement please go away!!It's just tiresome and just utterings from insecure and paranoid people. I love our game but some people who just continually compare the sports gives me the utter shits. Why don't you just enjoy a sport for it's differences. :rolleyes:

[The Underdog]

I think the one advantage soccer has is that it's a relatively simple game (apart from the 25 minutes I spent explaining the off side rule to my wife at 4.30 the other morning). There's only so much tinkering with the rules you can do.
Unlike AFL where the administration can **** with the rules until it's almost a joke.

I'm not going to take sides. Denigrating one or the other is pointless. Obviously everyone on this forum likes AFL, or one team at least.
A bad game of football, not matter what kind, is a bad game of football.

[chef]

I'm not going to take sides. Denigrating one or the other is pointless. Obviously everyone on this forum likes AFL, or one team at least.
A bad game of football, not matter what kind, is a bad game of football.

Me neither, IMO it depends on who is playing. Both games can be exciting.

[Remi Moses]

Sadly this thread is just so big footy!!I'm not a fan of Motor sport maybe I should compare Aussie Rules to Motor Sport

[LostDoggy]

Ok. Am OVER the world cup.

AFL is better because

1. Lower ponytail count. ( no offense to all you hipsters )
2. No plastic brass sections.
3. The act of rolling around on the grass, clutching your shin does not gain one an advantage. As a result, fans do not have to suffer this.
4. Lower hissy fit count, especially since M. Lloyd retired.
5. I keep falling asleep waiting for a goal zzzzzzzzzzzz.

So do tell. Why do you love our native game better than foosball ?
Oh and I just watched the Hawks V Ess game tonight. Absolute corker. Deepened my conviction still!

OR! Maybe you like soccer better than our native game? Enjoying the world cup? Will foosball rise to gobble up our native species?
Will Gary Ablett one day be lured to switch codes and play for Melbourne Victory on a multimillion dollar contract?

Blog away!

Maybe re think the #3 item?
Since all these rule changes have come into the AFL (bump ruled out etc) the amout of 'dives' happening in the AFL is alarming. I flicked over to watch a bit of StK v Gee the other day and saw 3 dives result in 3 goals in about 5 mins. The league is becoming a joke the way they are putting a leash on everything. I'd give it about three years until diving is a tactic in the AFL.

[AndrewP6]

I'd give it about three years until diving is a tactic in the AFL.

Already is in some camps....

[mighty_west]

I'm not getting into an AFL v Soccer debate, nothing like that.

But a few things that i just do not understand with Soccer, how on earth can a team lose a player, and be down a man for an accidental handball.

Did his actions stop a goal? probably, fine, let the goal be counted, but to lose him when it was clearly accidental and be a man down for the rest of the game, but ALSO lose that player for the next game as well.....hmmm, did he hit a bloke?

The other, we all know umps / refs make mistakes, it's always going to happen, but in such a cut throat enviroment, when scoring is a premium, games seem to be decided on bad calls, rather than purely on merit, and in such a massive tournament, everyone knows how big a scale the World Cup is, bigger than the Olympics etc, yet, there are no steps in place to at least try & make those wrongs, right, with so much on the line, it just doesn't seem right.

[Topdog]

Sadly this thread is just so big footy!!

yeah it isn't good.

[Desipura]

For the love of god can the soccer v Aussie rules arguement please go away!!It's just tiresome and just utterings from insecure and paranoid people. I love our game but some people who just continually compare the sports gives me the utter shits. Why don't you just enjoy a sport for it's differences. :rolleyes:
I totally agree with the above. To say one sport is boring because you are brought up watching a game that scores lots of goals tells me you have only been brought up watching footy.
FWIW, I enjoy watching AFL much more than soccer, however I will not bag it because it is different to AFL.
2 completely different sports, soccer adored by many around the world and AFL just in Australia.

[soupman]

I'm not going to come in and bag soccer because I quite like it as a sport, however I feel there is one key issue that takes a lot of enjoyment out of the game for me.

Bad refereeing around the goals.

I'm sure all of us here would agree that soft free kicks in front of goal in AFL are a blight on the game and have the potential to turn the match, with the Nick Riewoldt incident being the prime example. However in the grand scheme of things these free's account for maybe a 20th of the total score at most, and thus a bad decision in front of goal isn't necessarily the end of the world.

However in soccer that decisions ramifications are massive. One goal in soccer regularly accounts for a third of the score, and can often be the only score in that match. So it thus follows an umpiring decision that unjustly results in a goal has the ability to greatly affect the result of a match. We've seen this with dodgy penalties and in an absolutely terrible call last night, the incorrect call of play on when Lampard scored Englands second to tie the match at 2-2.

This is obviously something which cannot be modified too greatly due to the nature of the respective sports, but it is something that works to the detriment of soccer. There is a certain dissatisfaction gained from seeing a result influenced by a dodgy referee call, but the importance of goals in soccer only amplifies this impact.

The whole yellow card and red card issue obviously follows on from this, but after last night the impact of a false goal, or lack of a true one, has such an enormous impact on a match.

[anfo27]

I played soccer for most of my life and have watched footy for a bit longer so i love and appreciate both. I can understand how people can find soccer boring, hell i find soccer boring at times but I think you need to have played or brought up on soccer to really appreciate the game.

People must have short memories because I remember reading plenty of posts on how boring the Bulldogs Saints game was and I find most of St.Kildas games very boring to watch.

They may be very different games but I find quite a few similarities between them as well.