BJMajorEvents

AFL - Some Major Events By Jonah Stephenson

The Australian Football League, or AFL for short, is definitely the national sport of our country. It was thought of here, invented here, and played here. It is played throughout all of Australia, in the city and the country. It is most popular in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, though it is played in the other states as well. It started off as the Cordner Eggleston game, which is the first recorded game of AFL. It was played between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College on 7 August 1858 at Yarra Park in Melbourne. This paved the way for future AFL competition. Nowadays, we have country leagues, state leagues, junior leagues, and the national league, the AFL. This competition has many major events, like the Grand Final and the Brownlow Medal count. Now, I will take you through these events.

The Brownlow Medal count is the best-and-fairest award for the AFL. At the end of each match, the umpires award votes in order of 3,2,1 (three being the best player, two being the second best, and one being the third). The player with the most votes at the end of the season wins the Brownlow Medal. However, if a player is suspended during the course of the season, the player will be ineligible for this award.Many blue-chip players, such as Chris Judd and the retires Leigh Matthews, are calling for the fairest component of the medal being removed entirely. They say that even if a player polls the most amount of votes, they should not be considered ineligible because of prior suspension. A player will not be ineligible if they are reported or suspended during the finals or the pre-season.

The Brownlow Medal count is held at Crown Casino in Melbourne. This always takes place on the last Monday before the AFL Grand Final. It is hosted by someone famous in the football world, often a legend or a commentator. In the last few years this has been Bruce Mcaveny. The votes remain anoymous until the very beginning of the count, held in an ARMAGUARD van. Once the event begins, they are removed from the van and handed to the CEO of the AFL, Andrew Demetriou who reads them out in precedence from round 1 to 24. Dane Swan was awarded the Medal this year, after polling the most votes ever recorded. Traditionally, the winner from the previous year will come onto the stage and place the medal around the current winner.

The fashion at this event is also taken in full seriousness. The wives and girlfriends of the players will spend weeks or even months planning their outfits. The players, however, always make do with a plain old suit, as the event is black tie. It is a heavily publicised event, and the media puts a lot of emphasis on this aspect of the Brownlow. There are newspaper articles, TV segments, and radio telecasts. This year Channel 7 broadcasted the event. They were heavily criticised for having a rotating circle, on which the WAGs would stand on to show off their attire. This was compared to a rotisserie, and many people thought that the WAGs were paraded around like personal items for the players due to this. Nevertheless, the Brownlow is one of the biggest events on the AFL calendar and it is a great event to watch.

The big one, the bigger one, the biggest one. The AFL Grand Final is THE biggest event on the AFL calendar, if not the Australian sports calendar. It is broadcasted on radio, it is televised on TV, it is wrote about in papers and magazines, it is blogged about on websites, and it is talked about by the fans. It is famously played at the end of September, and always on a Saturday. It is played between the two best teams of the year, and is the last game in the year.

The regular season has 24 games in it, and the top 8 teams at the top of the ladder at the end of the season will play off in the finals series. I will not go into detail because that will take too long, but the top 4 teams get a second chance if they lose. Otherwise, the finals are sudden death up to the Grand Final. The prize is the Premiership Cup, and a medal for each player of the winning team.