After reading all five pages of this topic....i really don't get people thinking that AFL could take off in NZ. It really is STUPID, League got its big chance when the '89 GF was aired, and it flourished, with the games starting to be aired and people watching them.
Yet AFL has been tried, and failed.
You point out that AFL has a growing following at grass roots level. Yet touch footy has a far larger following, with the sport played throughout the country, yet we don't see a thread
"Should NZ become a Touch rugby nation?"
In fact i could list a stupidly large amount of sports that have a bigger following than AFL, hell, even the sport me and my friends made had more interest than AFL.
One of the reasons League is so big in NZ, is that a lot of Maori's and Polynesians play it. They generally LOVE big hits, lots of contact, and a lot of bruises and bumps.
Could you see them flocking to a game full of kicking??
Jonny Wilkinson and England are held in a low regard by most rugby followers in NZ, why? because all they do is KICK, and you can see these peoples flocking to the sport where all they do is kick, and nothing else (yes, RU does have some running)
Most people have no idea how to play AFL, or care. The people who do know how to play, hate it. When i explain how to play AFL to them (some people have been curious) they recoiled in horror and say
"That sounds like a gay sport, no wonder Aussies like it"
A good example of this was when me and my friends decided to have a little game, they were curious and i was happy to show them a little bit. After a few kicks we decided that it was the worst type of procrastinating in the world, and then burnt out AFL for a while.
Nothing anyone can say could convince me that AFL could take off in NZ, there are just WAY too many sports that would take off in NZ far quicker and have far more people than AFL.
