Australian Football BIG Hits

[Dundalis]

Posted this in another thread, thought I'd post it here to see what NFL fans think about them, for those who like the big hits. Some pretty massive hits, no armor, just bone on bone, flesh on flesh. Many of them head high, you can see many knocked out cold, few look like they could have been decapitated.

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[rkell87]

honestly they look like cheap shots to me, there is no reason to lead your knee into someones head. plus half the time they hurt themselves in the process

 

[Kevinicus]

Far too many pasty white legs in that video. Frightening.

Honestly, there are some good hits. Reminds me a lot of a good game of backyard football. Almost all the hits were the same with someone not paying attention, and there are way too many of them that don't seem like they can take a good hit. With the adrenaline going, there should have been a lot more guys popping right back up and going at it after taking a shot.

 

[Dundalis]

Far too many pasty white legs in that video. Frightening.

Honestly, there are some good hits. Reminds me a lot of a good game of backyard football. Almost all the hits were the same with someone not paying attention, and there are way too many of them that don't seem like they can take a good hit. With the adrenaline going, there should have been a lot more guys popping right back up and going at it after taking a shot.

It's hardly backyard football, and taking a full hit with no armor is far different from taking one with. It doesnt take near as much force for an elbow to the head to knock someone out. A lot of them having charged 50+ yards at full pace before flying through the air to hit someone. The hits to the body there is no issue, they mostly get back up, or are slightly winded. Backyard football you would not get anywhere near as many head high hits with that force.

 

[Dundalis]

honestly they look like cheap shots to me, there is no reason to lead your knee into someones head. plus half the time they hurt themselves in the process

A lot of those clips were of Aussie football from the 70's and 80's where, like in the NFL, cheap shots were far more common and allowed.

 

[Dundalis]

Last Updated: October 08. 2010 2:42PM
John U. Bacon

Toughest athletes might be in Australia, not at U-M or MSU

Players on both sides of the Michigan-Michigan State game will tell you it’s the hardest hitting game of the year. No one can doubt the guys who’ll go at it Saturday are some of the nation’s toughest men. But the best athletes I’ve ever seen -- and perhaps the toughest -- I found on the other side of the world, playing Australian Rules Football -- or “footy,” as they call it.
American football is dominated by specialists: huge linemen, speedy receivers and tiny kickers -- all with their own, very specific jobs. But in Aussie Rules Football, all 18 players on a team have to be able to catch the ball, run with it, pass it with either hand and kick it with either foot -- all on the run. And when an opposing player gets it, they have to chase him down to make the tackle. That’s why footy players all look the same: big and strong, lean and mean. Every season these guys play 26 games, which run 90 minutes each, on a pitch three times larger than a U.S. football field, with almost no stops in play or substitutions. They only have four guys on the bench. So, they have to run more than 10 miles each game. One team’s trainer told me, “These guys are probably the best conditioned athletes I’ve ever seen, and I once worked with the Penn State football team. They’re strong, they have great endurance and most can run the 100-meter dash in 11 seconds.”
And they’re tough. With only one official watching 36 players, a lot goes on behind the play -- heck, most of it goes on behind the ref’s back. The Monday papers are filled with colorful examples of opponents getting to know each other in ways Miss Manners never mentioned. Imagine the NFL without equipment, whistles, or penalties, and you’re pretty close. How tough are they? In the first five minutes of the Grand Final one year, the star forward suffered a concussion, and dropped to the grass. When the trainers lifted him to his feet he threw up, but just a few minutes later he came back to make a spectacular catch and kicked a goal that set the tone for the game. In the same quarter his teammate was tackled so hard he broke a rib, which punctured a lung. Both players were sent to the hospital -- but only after they finished the remaining three quarters to help their team hold on for a dramatic victory. It is the stuff of legends -- or just stupidity, take your pick.
See no evil, hear no evil

Small wonder the sport’s most important statistic is not points or goals, but games played. Survival is the measure of success. Only about 5 percent of players get past 50 games -- or about two seasons’ worth.
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League officials do their best to punish dirty play at the weekly tribunals, held in a Melbourne courthouse, but they’re foiled by the players’ absolute determination to lie through their broken teeth -- on behalf of the very guys who broke them. That’s right: the Footy Code requires victims to tell the most outlandish stories about their injuries -- “I hit my head on the cupboard,” “Oh, that? Shaving accident,” and of course, “It’s just a flesh wound” -- often by phone from their hospital beds, even as the videotape at the tribunal shows them taking elbows, fists and knees in the very places you would least like to take them, just to protect their attackers from punishment. Why stay mum? If you squeal, the whole league will pound you. “Whatever happens on the field, stays there,” one told me. “You just wait till you see him next time.”
A player named Kevin Sheedy set the standard for revenge when he played an additional year in the sport’s minor league system for the sole purpose of exacting revenge on an opponent who had duffed his hero, Ian Shelton. When he finally played the offender a year later, Sheedy left the poor bloke in so many pieces he could have been sold for parts. Once the victim regained consciousness, he told the tribunal, “I just took a tumble.”
So, whatever happens Saturday, it probably won’t be quite as violent as an Aussie Rules Football game. And that’s fair dinkum.
No worries, mates.
Copyright 2010 Michigan Radio. Former Detroit News reporter John U. Bacon is an Ann Arbor-based freelance writer. He is the author of several books, including the best-selling "Bo's Lasting Lessons," co-written with Bo Schembechler. He is the host of three programs on WTKA-AM 1050, and provides weekly commentary for Michigan Public Radio (www.michiganradio.org). His Web site is www.johnubacon.com.


From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/2010...in-Australia--not-at-U-M-or-MSU#ixzz11vEtbLab​