The Most Dangerous Sport In The World - AFL

Compilations such as the "Biggest hits in AFL" did a lot more harm than good in the 1980s etc. Various people have tried very hard to promote AFL as fitness through fun and get away from the bash and braun image.

That's true, Harley. However, when you consider the combined audiences from this clip and the work of Pat McAfee in the United States, we are seeing a significant change in how our game is viewed worldwide. With this momentum there is the chance that a wider audience will follow and perhaps even play the game.

Whilst endorsing the gladiatorial warfare of the game, it does leave the game prone to negative elements impacting the game, especially at grassroots level. However, having played the game from a 10 year old to a 56 year old, I can say with absolute truth (not other's opinion) that it IS a brutal game and tackling and big hits are real - they also, like it or not, capture the imagination of audiences. They are part of the fabric of what makes the game so exciting.

In that respect it is part of the sale-ability of the game.

It is interesting when watching. It was well documented at the time that Shane Mumford's tackle was over the line, so shouldn't be endorsed - maybe that's true. Yet, was McDonald-Tipungwuti's tackle textbook/copybook? But both appear on the clip and both, in their way, show two committed players going hard.

The excitement of those tackles and bumps are exactly what capture the imagination of audiences. Like goals and marks, big hits are a part of the game, and a part that has always been a generator of comment and excitement.

To deny them is to deny one of the fundamental attractions of the game. We should be able to be excited. However, we do need to draw the line at what is in the spirit of the game and what isn't.

Some things in that clip - and the game in general - are exactly why men and women battle each other on playing fields. Other things in the clip are examples of being stupid, making poor decisions and acting outside of the rules in a deliberate way.

I'm not convinced that hiding the brutal aspects of the game is the right way to go. I do believe that we should find the line between what is legitimate impact within the laws and spirit of the game and what isn't. If I have a criticism of the clip it is that.

However, 2.4 million people see otherwise, so maybe I am wrong.

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AFL did have some big hits in the past. They are now ILLEGAL. There is something wrong promoting the illegal side of a game. It may result in an increase in an increase in people watching AFL in an expectation of violence but it does not increase people playing Australian Football. if I remember rightly the Pat McAfee concentrated on the physical independence of a player rather than the outright roughness of the game.

I have met players from all over the world and not one of them has remarked that the "big hits" attracted them to the game. Quite the opposite. What attracts people to play Australian Football is the fast, free-flowing nature of the game with many options and little restriction. Coaches have worked hard to instil duty-of-care across the board and it's one of the reasons why women's football is so strong.

The on focus physicality will lose more players than it will gain. American Football is under immense pressure in this regard and Australian Football has the chance to be an alternative there. Both RU and RL are losing participants around the world whilst Australian Football is one of the few sports with increasing participation. Let's not jeopardise this with something that didn't work in the 1980s. and puts AFL in the class of Wrestlemania.