The football codes

This post is a crosspost from Jayeless, and can be read in its original location here.

With the grand final rematch set to take place tomorrow, it feels like a fitting day to write about something of great cultural significance to Australia: football. This is something so significant to people in this country that even people who reject the entire idea of “Australian culture” (like I don’t know… me) still take an interest in football.

The first thing to know about football, though, is that there is a cultural battle of sorts raging over which sport even gets the title of “football”. Our three main contenders for the position are:

• football
• soccer
• rugby

Based on this list, I’m sure you will see that I am not at all biased when I say that the true bearer of the name of “football” is, uh, football. That is, the kind of football they play in the Australian FOOTBALL league.

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