1.
Brisbane Lions
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The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, the club was formed in 1996 from the merger of the Fitzroy Lions and the Brisbane Bears. The Lions are one of the most successful AFL clubs of the 21st century, having appeared in four consecutive AFL Grand Finals from 2001 to 2004, the club is based at The Gabba. The team is captained by Dayne Beams and coached by Chris Fagan, the Brisbane Lions were officially launched on 1 November 1996, joining the national competition in 1997. In their first year as a club the Lions made the finals. The following year, however, they finished in last position, as the Brisbane Lions, the club won its first AFL premiership in the 2001 AFL Grand Final, defeating Essendon 15.18 to 12.10. Lions utility player Shaun Hart won the Norm Smith Medal as best on ground in the Grand Final. In 2002, the Lions won back-to-back premierships when they again defeated Collingwood 9.12 to 10.15 in the 2002 AFL Grand Final in cold and wet conditions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Early in the contest the Lions lost both ruckman Beau McDonald and utility player Martin Pike to injury and had to complete the match with a limited bench, however, they sealed their place in history as an AFL dynasty by thrashing the Magpies in cool but sunny conditions. At one stage in the quarter the Lions led by almost 80 points before relaxing when the match was well and truly won. The final score of 20.14 to 12.12 saw the club only the fourth in VFL/AFL history to win three consecutive premierships and the first since the creation of the AFL. Simon Black claimed the Norm Smith Medal with a dominant 39 possession match, the 2004 season saw Brisbane remain in the top portion of the ladder for most of the season. Port Adelaide had finished on top of the ladder and hosted the preliminary final in Adelaide. Despite this setback, Brisbane beat Geelong and reached the AFL Grand Final for the fourth consecutive year and their opponents, Port Adelaide, playing in their first ever grand final, were too good on the day and recorded a 40-point win. The Lions began the 2006 season optimistically, but injuries plagued the club. The Brisbane Lions finished runner up in the 2007 NAB Cup and that year, the Lions failed to make the finals for a third successive year in 2007. The Lions began the 2008 NAB Cup shakily, losing to Essendon by 27 points, the team struggled for the season and missed out on the finals with a 10–12 record, losing 3 games despite having at least 5 more scoring shots in each of those games. Coach Leigh Matthews resigned at the end of the season after 10 seasons and 3 premierships with the club, the Lions made a good start in the 2009 NAB Cup under new senior coach Michael Voss by registering a 9-point win over St Kilda
2.
Australian Football League
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The Australian Football League is the pre-eminent professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the governing body. The league was founded as the Victorian Football League as a breakaway from the previous Victorian Football Association, the league currently consists of 18 teams spread over five of Australias six states. Matches have been played in all states and territories of Australia. The AFL season currently consists of a competition, followed by a 23-round regular season. The top eight teams play off in a four-round finals series, culminating in the AFL Grand Final. The winning team in the Grand Final is termed the premiers, the current premiers are the Western Bulldogs. The six clubs invited two more VFA clubs – Carlton and St Kilda – to join the league for its season in 1897. In 1908, the league expanded to ten teams, with Richmond crossing from the VFA, Port Adelaide was the most successful club of the competition winning three titles during the period along with an earlier victory. In 1925, the VFL expanded from nine teams to twelve, with Footscray, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Hawthorn remained very weak in the VFL for a very long period. Between the years of 1927 and 1930, Collingwood became the first, in 1952, the VFL hosted National Day, when all six matches were played outside of Melbourne. Matches were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Brisbane Exhibition Ground, North Hobart Oval, Albury Sports Ground and Victorian country towns Yallourn, Footscray became the first of the 1925 expansion teams to win the premiership in 1954. Melbourne became a powerhouse during the 1950s and early 1960s under coach Norm Smith, the club contested seven consecutive grand finals from 1954 to 1960, winning five premierships, including three in a row from 1955 to 1957. Television coverage began in 1957, with telecasts of the final quarter permitted. At first, several channels competed through broadcasting different games, however, when the VFL found that television was reducing crowds, it decided that no coverage was to be allowed for 1960. In 1961, replays were introduced although direct telecasts were rarely permitted in Melbourne, in 1959, the VFL planned the first purpose built mega-stadium, VFL Park, to give it some independence from the Melbourne Cricket Club, which managed the Melbourne Cricket Ground. VFL Park was planned to hold 155,000 spectators, which would have made it one of the largest stadiums in the world – although it would ultimately be built with a capacity of 78,000. Land for the stadium was purchased at Mulgrave, then farmland, the VFL Premiership Trophy was first awarded in addition to a pennant flag in 1959, essentially the same trophy design has been in use since
3.
Australian rules football
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The main way to score points is by kicking the oval-shaped ball between the two tall goal posts. The team with the score by the end of the match wins unless a draw is declared. During general play, players may position themselves anywhere on the field, the primary methods are kicking, handballing and running with the ball. There are rules on how the ball can be handled, for example, throwing the ball is not allowed and players must not get caught holding the ball. A distinctive feature of the game is the mark, where players anywhere on the field who catch a ball from a kick are awarded possession, possession of the ball is in dispute at all times except when a free kick or mark is paid. Players can tackle using their hands or use their body to obstruct opponents. The game features frequent physical contests, spectacular marking, fast movement of players and the ball and high scoring. The sports origins can be traced to matches played in Melbourne, Victoria in 1858. Its annual Grand Final is the highest attended club championship event in the world, the sport is also played at amateur level in many countries and in several variations. The games rules are governed by the AFL Commission with the advice of the AFLs Laws of the Game Committee, there is evidence of football being played sporadically in the Australian colonies in the first half of the 19th century. The earliest such match, held in St Kilda on 15 June, was between Melbourne Grammar and St Kilda Grammar. Born in Australia, Wills played a nascent form of rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School in England and his letter is regarded by many historians as giving impetus for the development of a new code of football today known as Australian football. Two weeks later, Wills friend, cricketer Jerry Bryant, posted an advertisement for a match at the Richmond Paddock adjoining the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This was the first of several kickabouts held that year involving members of the Melbourne Cricket Club, including Wills, Bryant, W. J. Hammersley, trees were used as goalposts and play typically lasted an entire afternoon. Without an agreed code of laws, some players were guided by rules they had learned in the British Isles. Another significant milestone in 1858 was a match played under experimental rules between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College, held at the Richmond Paddock. This 40-a-side contest, umpired by Wills and Scotch College teacher John Macadam, began on 7 August and it is commemorated with a statue outside the MCG, and the two schools have competed annually ever since in the Cordner-Eggleston Cup, the worlds oldest continuous football competition. Since the early 20th century, it has suggested that Australian football was derived from the Irish sport of Gaelic football
4.
Tasmania
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Tasmania is an island state of the Commonwealth of Australia. It is located 240 km to the south of the Australian mainland, the state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, and the surrounding 334 islands. The state has a population of around 519,100, just over forty percent of which resides in the Greater Hobart precinct, Tasmanias area is 68,401 km2, of which the main island covers 64,519 km2. Though an island state, due to an error the state shares a land border with Victoria at its northernmost terrestrial point, Boundary Islet. The Bishop and Clerk Islets, about 37 km south of Macquarie Island, are the southernmost terrestrial point of the state of Tasmania, the island is believed to have been occupied by Aboriginals for 40,000 years before British colonisation. It is thought Tasmanian Aboriginals were separated from the mainland Aboriginal groups about 10,000 years ago when the sea rose to form Bass Strait. The conflict, which peaked between 1825 and 1831 and led to more than three years of law, cost the lives of almost 1100 Aboriginals and settlers. The near-destruction of Tasmanias Aboriginal population has been described by historians as an act of genocide by the British. The island was part of the Colony of New South Wales. In 1854 the present Constitution of Tasmania was passed and the year the state received permission to change its name to Tasmania. In 1901 it became a state through the process of the Federation of Australia, the state is named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who made the first reported European sighting of the island on 24 November 1642. Tasman named the island Anthony van Diemens Land after his sponsor Anthony van Diemen, the name was later shortened to Van Diemens Land by the British. It was officially renamed Tasmania in honour of its first European discoverer on 1 January 1856, Tasmania was sometimes referred to as Dervon, as mentioned in the Jerilderie Letter written by the notorious Australian bushranger Ned Kelly in 1879. The colloquial expression for the state is Tassie, Tasmania is also colloquially shortened to Tas, especially when used in business names and website addresses. TAS is also the Australia Post abbreviation for the state, the reconstructed Palawa kani language name for Tasmania is Lutriwita. The island was adjoined to the mainland of Australia until the end of the last glacial period about 10,000 years ago, much of the island is composed of Jurassic dolerite intrusions through other rock types, sometimes forming large columnar joints. Tasmania has the worlds largest areas of dolerite, with many distinctive mountains, the central plateau and the southeast portions of the island are mostly dolerite. Mount Wellington above Hobart is an example, showing distinct columns known as the Organ Pipes
5.
Gold Coast, Queensland
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Gold Coast is a coastal city in the Australian state of Queensland, approximately 66 kilometres south-southeast of the state capital Brisbane and immediately north of the border with New South Wales. With a census-estimated 2016 population of 638,090, The Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, making it the largest non-capital city, the first settlement in what is now South East Queensland was as a penal colony at Redcliffe. The Gold Coast region remained uninhabited by Europeans until 1823 when explorer John Oxley landed at Mermaid Beach. The hinterlands red cedar supply attracted people to the area in the mid-19th century, later in 1875, Southport was surveyed and established and grew a reputation as a secluded holiday destination for wealthy Brisbane residents. The Gold Coast region grew significantly after the establishment of the Surfers Paradise hotel in the late 1920s and it is also the major film production hub for Queensland. Gold Coast will host the 2018 Commonwealth Games, lieutenant James Cook became the first European to note the region when he sailed along the coast on 16 May 1770 in the HM Bark Endeavour. Captain Matthew Flinders, an explorer charting the continent north from the colony of New South Wales, escaped convicts from the Moreton Bay penal settlement hid in the region. The region remained uninhabited by Europeans until 1823 when explorer John Oxley landed at Mermaid Beach. The hinterlands red cedar supply attracted people to the area in the mid-19th century, a number of small townships developed along coast and in the hinterland. The western suburb of Nerang was surveyed and established as a base for the industry, by 1873, the town reserve of Burleigh Heads had also been surveyed and successful land sales had taken place. Southport quickly grew a reputation as a holiday destination for wealthy Brisbane residents. Gold Coast was originally known as the South Coast, however, inflated prices for real estate and other goods and services led to the nickname of Gold Coast from 1950. South Coast locals initially considered the name Gold Coast derogatory, however, soon the Gold Coast simply became a convenient way to refer to the holiday strip from Southport to Coolangatta. As the tourism grew into the 1950s, local businesses began to adopt the term in their names. The area was proclaimed a city less than one year later, in 2007, Gold Coast overtook the population of Newcastle, New South Wales to become the sixth largest city in Australia and the largest non-capital city. The Gold Coast is approximately covered by forests of various types. This includes small patches of near-pristine ancient rainforest, mangrove-covered islands, of the plantation pine forests that were planted in the 1950s and 1960s, when commercial forest planting for tax minimisation was encouraged by the Commonwealth government, tiny remnants remain. Gold Coast City lies in the southeast corner of Queensland, to the south of Brisbane, the Albert River separates Gold Coast from Logan City, a suburban area of Brisbane
6.
Ice bath
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It is done by standing or sitting in a bucket or bath of icy water. One writer advised, dont overdo it, wearing rubberized dive booties on the feet as well as rubber briefs to warm the midsection have been recommended. They kept adding ice to keep the temperature at around 55 degrees, the hardest part was the first two minutes. Others who do it often told me to just hang in for two minutes and then it would be easier, after two minutes I was numb. Afterwards I was shivering for two hours in the hot California sun with a warm up jacket on, one report suggested that if ice water is circulating, its even colder such that the water will be colder than measured by a thermometer, and that athletes should avoid overexposure. Physical therapist Nikki Kimball explained a way to make the bath more endurable, Over those years, first, I fill my tub with two to three bags of crushed ice. Then I add cold water to a height that will cover me nearly to my waist when I sit in the tub. Before getting in, I put on a jacket and a hat and neoprene booties, make myself a cup of hot tea. Some athletes use a known as contrast water therapy or contrast bath therapy. One method of doing this was to have two tubs––one cold and another hot ––and to do one minute in the cold tub followed by two minutes in a hot tub, and to repeat this three times. The temperature can vary, but is usually in the range of 50–59 degrees Fahrenheit or between 12 and 15 degrees Celsius, some athletes wear booties to keep their toes warm or rubberized coverings around their midsection while immersed. Some drink a beverage such as tea. One report suggested that ten minutes immersed in 15 degree Celsius water was sufficient, accounts vary about how long to be immersed and how often to do them. One adviser suggested that an athlete should take ten two-minute ice bath treatments over a two-week period, one account suggested immersion times should be between ten and twenty minutes. Another suggested that immersion run from five to ten minutes, there were no sources advocating being immersed for longer than twenty minutes. Several sources suggest that cold baths were preferable to ice baths, physiotherapist Tony Wilson of the University of Southampton said that extremely cold temperatures were unnecessary and a cold bath would be just as effective as an ice bath. Another agreed that a cold bath is preferable to ice baths which are unnecessary. A third report suggested that water was just as good as cold water and that eight to ten minutes should be sufficient time
7.
Collingwood Football Club
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The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or less formally the Pies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. This spike in membership registration can mainly be attributed to the winning of the 2010 AFL Premiership and this record was again broken in 2013, with club reaching a new high of 80,000 members. Collingwood is regarded as one of Australias most popular clubs, being the highest attended, Collingwoods home guernsey consists of black and white stripes, matching the colours of an Australian magpie. Throughout its history, the club has developed rivalries with cross-town Melbourne based clubs Carlton, Richmond, Essendon, historically one of the most successful clubs in the league, Collingwood has won 15 VFL/AFL premierships, the third-most of any team. Collingwood has played in a record 43 grand finals, winning 15, the club fields a seconds team in the Victorian Football League and a womens team in the AFL Womens competition. It also owns and operates a team in the National Netball League. The Collingwood Football Club was established on 12 February 1892, Collingwood played its first game in the Victorian Football Association against Carlton on 7 May 1892. The club won the VFA Premiership in 1896, in 1897, Collingwood, along with fellow VFA clubs Fitzroy, Melbourne, St Kilda, Carlton, Essendon, South Melbourne and Geelong split from the VFA and formed the Victorian Football League. Collingwood won its first premiership in 1902, defeating Essendon by 33 points, Collingwood was the most successful club of the 1920s and 1930s, appearing in 13 out of a possible 20 Grand Finals during the period. Collingwood were premiers six times during this time, including four consecutive premierships between 1927 and 1930, a VFL/AFL record, and two premierships in 1935 and 1936. The clubs coach during this period was Jock McHale, who served as coach from 1912 to 1949, Collingwood lost two Grand Finals to Melbourne in this decade, but bounced back to win premierships in 1953 and 1958. Collingwoods 1958 premiership is much cherished by the club as it prevented Melbourne from equalling Collingwoods record four premierships in a row, the 1958 premiership was however to be Collingwoods last for 32 years, as the club was to suffer a string of Grand Final defeats in coming decades. A string of eight Grand Final losses, often by narrow margins, between 1960 and 1981 gave rise to a perception that the club was prone to choking, a phenomenon wittily dubbed Colliwobbles. Whether this perception is accurate remains a subject of debate, however, Lou Richards ceremoniously buried the Colliwobbles at Victoria Park after the clubs 1990 premiership. Collingwood made a return to the finals in 2006, but were defeated by the Western Bulldogs by 41 points, having earned a preliminary final against Geelong, the Pies challenged the eventual premiers, only to fall short by five points. Nathan Buckley would announce his retirement at seasons end after playing just five games in 2007 due to injury, Collingwood finished eighth in 2008 and were assigned an away final against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. After at one point trailing in the match, the Pies went on to end Adelaides season, having defeated the Saints in both their regular season meetings, the Pies lost convincingly, ending their 2008 season. The 2009 season saw Collingwood finish inside the top-four for the first time since 2003, but the season ended abruptly for the Magpies, with an 73-point loss to the Cats
8.
Laws of Australian rules football
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The laws of Australian rules football describe the rules of the game of Australian rules football as they have evolved and adapted, with the same underlying core rules, since 1859. The rules were first formed by the Melbourne Football Club, chaired by Tom Wills in 1859, the laws significantly predate the advent of a governing body for the sport. The first national and international body, the Australasian Football Council, was formed in 1905 to govern Australian Football, since 1994, the rules for the game known as Australian football have been governed by the AFL and the organisations Laws of the Game committee. 18 players are permitted to take the field for each team, the equipment needed to play the game is minimal. Some players, predominantly ruckmen, wear shin guards, all protective equipment must be approved by the umpires to ensure that it can not injure other players. The game is played with a ball, on a grassed oval. A red ball is used for day matches and a ball is used for night matches. A full size ball is a size 5, four posts, aligned in a straight line,6.4 metres apart from each other, are erected at either end of the oval. The size of the ground is not fixed, but is generally between 135-185m long and 110-155m wide, the game is a fast-paced combination of speed, athleticism, skill and physical toughness. Players are allowed to tackle the player with the ball and impede opposition players from tackling their teammates, but not to deliberately strike an opponent. Because taking a mark entitles the player to a free kick and this particular skill is highly regarded as a spectacle, and an annual Mark of the Year is awarded at the end of a season. There are no set positions in the rules of the game, the forward and back lines consisted of six players, arranged into two lines of three players each. The midfield generally consists of the designated ruckman and players who stay in the centre area of the ground or follow the ball and are not confined to a particular area. The modern game, however, has largely discarded positional play in favour of a free flowing running game, in the late 1990s a tactic known as flooding was devised and also shifted focus away from set positions. Most football sides are named in the traditional set positions, and they may return when the flow of blood has stopped and has been treated by the team medic. One of the things that cause the most confusion for people that are not familiar with the game are the Holding the Ball, Dropping the Ball, and Throwing rules. Confusion arises because a player being tackled is not allowed to hold onto the ball and these rules are easily summarised, Players must always dispose of the ball by either a kick or a hand-pass. A hand-pass, also called a handball, is performed by punching the ball from one hand with the other fist
9.
Mark (Australian rules football)
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A mark is a skill in Australian rules football where a player cleanly catches a kicked ball that has travelled more than 15 metres without anyone else touching it or the ball hitting the ground. It is a part of the game. Although catching the ball is found in other codes of football, along with kicking the ball. The top markers in the Australian Football League, like Jason Dunstall, an AFL match between St Kilda and Port Adelaide in 2006 set a record of 303 marks in a single game. Upon taking a mark, the umpire will blow the whistle to signify the mark, the nearest opposition player stands on the spot where the player marked the ball, which is also known as the mark, and becomes the man on the mark. When taking the set kick, the player must either play on or kick the ball over the mark, the criterion for a mark is that it be caught cleanly, i. e. the player have complete control of the ball, for any length of time. As such, if the ball is caught in one grab, similarly, if a ball is controlled, and then dislodged by another player or the ground, the mark will still be paid. The mark has been included in the rules used in the International Rules Football series between teams from Australia and Ireland since 1984. Various forms of football descended from English public school football games of the 19th century have featured a fair catch or mark and it was abolished early in the development of soccer but still exists in rugby union and American football. The mark has been one of the most distinctive features of Australian football since rules were drawn up in 1859. Others claim that the origin of the mark comes from the traditional Aboriginal game of Marn Grook and it is claimed that in Marn Grook, jumping to catch the ball, called mumarki, an Aboriginal word meaning to catch results in a free kick. Some counterclaim this theory as false etymology, in Australian football, marks are often described in combination of the following ways. Pack Mark - catching the ball against one or more opponents and/or teammates all close to the fall of the ball, high Mark - catching the ball whilst jumping up in the air. Stewart Buckets Loewe, Matthew Richardson and Simon Madden are notable exponents of the high mark, spectacular mark - sometimes nicknamed specky, screamer or hanger, this term is most often used when a mark taken whilst jumping in the air. Additional elevation is achieved by using the legs to spring off the back or shoulders of one or more opponents and/or teammates. The movement of other players beneath the player marking can cause them to balance in mid air and land or fall awkwardly. The name reflects its popularity among spectators, chest Mark - catching the ball and drawing it in to the chest. This is considered the easiest mark to take, and is used in wet weather
