Times of Old
Copyright© 2013 by Ernest Bywater
Foreword
Foreword
Many readers will not be familiar with Australia and some of our sports, so this foreword is to make sense of one small part of this story.
Australia is a relatively new country, and is often incorrectly placed when sorting out where countries stand on the world stage. European colonisation of Australia started in 1788, with more settlements from 1803 to 1859, and has only existed as a country since 1 January 1901. It is the sixth largest country in the world, but its population is twenty-three million, so the population density is in 233rd place. Most of the world sees it as a fully developed country, but it’s still a developing country with much of it empty or populated by large farms with a low number of workers. The great majority of the population lives on the coastal fringe, with a huge rivalry between all the states, which is best demonstrated by the large mix of the sports played. Which is why the most uniquely Australian sport of Australian Rules Football has become nationwide in only the last few decades, despite being first officially played in 1859, and being a demonstration sport in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Australian Rules Football involves a high level of kicking the ball high in the air and over long distances for another team member to catch in the air. This is called ‘taking the mark’ when it travels more than fifteen metres. Once a mark is taken the player gets to have an easy kick, because the opposition is limited in approaching him while he kicks it. When a kicked ball is coming down all the players near the point it will land gather to jostle for the ball (read that as shove and fight). A key aspect here is to jump higher than the opposition so you can get to the ball in the air before they can.