This entire web site is based on two assumptions:
The term 'Australian football' is used throughout these pages in its broadest, most all encompassing sense, not merely as a synonym for the Australian Football League - and most certainly not as a synonym for that recent, ghastly, and wholly spurious concoction 'the AFL game'. Whilst few would deny that the AFL is, at its best, the most exhilarating, glamorous and spectacular manifestation of Australian football currently in existence, it is not - as an increasing number of people, disturbingly, appear to assume - the sole manifestation. To suggest so would be both to undermine and devalue the sport. It would be the equivalent of visiting the Brazilian rain forest with its extraordinary diversity and range of wildlife and only noticing the noisiest or most brightly-coloured species.
In sport, as in nature, things that do not readily present themselves to view -which, whether by design or accident, adopt a kind of camouflage - are sometimes more intriguing and rewarding to examine than those things which immediately present themselves for scrutiny.
Having said this, it would be presumptuous to suggest that this single web site can make any measurable contribution to redressing years of myopia, parochialism and neglect, not to mention the apparently revisionist agenda of many football historians. Neither, realistically, can it be hoped to provide a thorough, exhaustive examination of Australian football "in its broadest, most all encompassing sense" as this would clearly require a much more intimate, first hand knowledge of the game than I possess (not to mention more web space). The lack of such an intimacy can, however, be of some advantage when it comes to the quest for objectivity. Virtually all of the words so far written about Australian football reveal, to the objective, neutral observer, an embarrassing ethnocentricity and parochialism. When you think about it, this is unavoidable: almost everyone who has written about Australian football has been Australian. I am not. I am like the observer standing outside the goldfish bowl: I may not extract my oxygen from water, or be capable of swimming, but I do see things from a different perspective, one which I venture to suggest will not have occurred to any of the inhabitants of the goldfish bowl, simply because they do not extract their oxygen from air and have never learnt to walk. (Perhaps they either do not realise that such activities are possible or else dismiss them as unnecessary - if you are such a 'goldfish' you will not find much within the pages of this web site to interest you.)
Of course, the fact that my perspective is different - I dare not say unique - can in no way be said to validate it. On more than one occasion I will doubtless end up 'kicking the ball out of bounds on the full'. However, hopefully you will at least find something within these pages that is sufficiently worthy of your disagreement or contempt as to cause you to re-examine your own views. All of which is not meant to convey the impression that this is an overtly controversial or opinionated site; for the most part, I am confident that it is neither. The overwhelming majority of the information recorded here is factual and thus, by definition (one ventures to hope), non-contentious.
To sum up then, visitors to this web site will possibly feel encouraged to investigate further if they:
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are intrigued by the history and traditions of Australian football, and acknowledge that there is much to be learned from them; |
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do not regard 'Australian football' and 'AFL' as synonyms; |
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relish the cultural diversity inherent in Australian football as played and watched throughout Australia; |
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want to know more about the clubs and players from all over Australia who have contributed to making Australian football the greatest game of all. |
The site's raison d'être can be readily inferred from the preceding four points. Constructive comments are always most welcome. Please bear in mind that the site is continually being extended and developed; in particular, the Biographies section may require some time to complete, so please accept my apologies if your favourite player is not yet featured.
Where now?
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