It has been widely reported that representatives from a group of Australian sporting codes – including athletics, cricket, rugby league and Australian Rules Football – met with the director-general of…
The Federal Court decision means Optus will not be able to broadcast AFL and NRL on its TV Now service.
AAP/Dan Peled
The significance of last Friday’s Federal Court decision to prevent Optus' “TV Now” service from broadcasting was made clear to me while waiting for a bus in Melbourne’s suburbs.
Earlier that day, I had…
Greater Western Sydney may be a new team, but Sydney and AFL have firm historical ties.
AAP Image/Paul Miller
The AFL season kicks off today and there’s a new team in town – Greater Western Sydney. Some don’t like it – the cynics claim Aussie Rules has no historical foothold in western Sydney.
I disagree.
While…
Melbourne footballer Liam Jurrah returns to Melbourne after being charged with attacking a man in Alice Springs.
AAP/David Crosling
Imagine if the indigenous people of this country didn’t play Australian football, the only truly unique sport this continent country has ever created.
As a percentage of the population, indigenous people…
One does not simply jump from a building … extensive preparation is essential.
Channel 7/Colby Swandale
By Eric Brymer, Queensland University of Technology
Late last week four men entered a restaurant on the 55th floor of the Rialto tower in Melbourne, had a couple of quiet drinks then leapt from the balcony.
Much of the commentary of this event described…
Tweet success and sweet success increasingly go hand in hand.
Scolirk
In the brave new world of contemporary sport-watching, the goalposts have moved. Watching the big game (once a simple matter of grabbing a beer and some chips and settling down in front of the television…
Workers building a stadium in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup. Questions linger about the process that saw Qatar granted the 2018 event.
AAP/Fernando Bizerra Jr
Rangers Football Club, the historically Protestant half of Glasgow’s “Old Firm” (the other half being the Catholic Celtic) has entered financial administration to prevent UK tax authorities installing…
Where should the NRL focus its attention this year?
AAP Image/Action Photographics, Charles Knight
Being a leap year, 2012 will see the staging of the Olympic Games, this time in London. For Australia’s domestic sporting competitions, this means vying for media coverage with other sports.
But the National…
The AFL is throwing everything is has at Greater Western Sydney.
AAP/Paul Millar
The 2012 AFL debut of the GWS Giants is the culmination of efforts by the powerful, cashed up body that administers Aussie Rules to make inroads into the rugby league-obsessed, poor and predominantly refugee…
Many sports fans appear to have more fun outside the stadium than in.
EPA/John G Mablango
The math involved is quite simple. Be it an Australian Open final, Melbourne’s race that stops a nation or the Superbowl, more people want to attend than can fit in the venue. Less simple, however, are…
Heavy hands might not always make light work in finals.
Vivek Prakash/ Reuters Pool
With the Australian Open into its final few days, we’re starting to see the best tennis players in the world come to the fore. And to be the best in the world, you need a well-rounded game, including…
Last year's Australian Open women's runner-up Li Na in action at the Sydney International this week.
Australia’s summer of tennis is a great opportunity to see the world’s best players up close, hitting hard and serving big. Many elite players hit first serves at over 200km/h with great precision and…
It takes more than a batting average to find the world's best batsman.
Composite image: public domain/AAP Image/Tony McDonough
Who is the greatest test batsman of all time? In a follow up to a recent paper I created a media furore by suggesting that India’s Sachin Tendulkar had eclipsed Australian great Sir Donald Bradman in terms…
New Zealand is celebrating the All Blacks' victory over France in the Rugby World Cup.
Over the course of the tournament The Conversation has brought you stories about all aspects of the game.
And with…
The All Blacks' haka is culturally important for everyone in New Zealand.
AAP/AFP pool/Phil Water
RUGBY WORLD CUP – When New Zealand’s All Blacks take on France in the final tonight, they will be proud to perform a haka. They’ve taken some criticism for it in the past, but, as André Brett of the University…
Bryce Lawrence is one of the Rugby World Cup referees who has won few friends in the tournament.
AFP/Marty Melville
RUGBY WORLD CUP – The Wallabies may have the consolation of winning third place in tournament, but their progress has been far from controversial. The Rugby World Cup has been plagued by accusations of…
Wallabies player Drew Mitchell is taken from the field after an injury during Rugby World Cup match between Australia and Russia.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
RUGBY WORLD CUP – The Cup has already taken its toll on many players – finalists New Zealand have lost star player, Dan Carter and Australia goes into its battle for third place against Wales four men…
Marketing in the 2011 New Zealand Rugby World Cup will be different to previous years
Flickr/Sandy Austin
RUGBY WORLD CUP – As the All Blacks and the Wallabies prepare for Sunday’s semi-final showdown, Deakin University’s Adam Karg discusses how to make money from the competition.
The Rugby World Cup has…
Will rugby union remain one of the big four football codes in Australia?
AAP/Paul Miller
RUGBY WORLD CUP – As New Zealand gets World Cup fever, James Cook University’s Chris Davies discusses where rugby union’s place in the Australian sporting landscape.
It’s on again – we’re now four weeks…
All Black Richie McCaw has been accused of routinely cheating in his approach to the game.
AAP
RUGBY WORLD CUP – The athleticism of the players has impressed in this tournament, but is there a whiff of unsportsmanlike behaviour in the air? Brian Stoddart of La Trobe University investigates.
A few…
Some AFL teams spend the off season at high altitude.
kangaroos.com.au
You might have heard about athletes and other sportspeople absconding to high-altitude locations for training.
Indeed altitude training has become the training-method-du-jour for sporting codes around…
New Zealand’s 28th Maori Battalion performing a Haka in Egypt in 1941.
AAP Image/Alexander Turnbull Library
RUGBY WORLD CUP – In the first of The Conversation’s series on the Rugby World Cup, Massey University’s Malcolm Mulholland argues for the continuation of a Maori only rugby team.
Around half of the All…
Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton (front row far right) in the 1994 NSW under 15 soccer team that won the Australian championships
Roy Hay
By Ian Syson, Victoria University and Roy Hay, Deakin University
Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton’s recent signings for Australian clubs have, in the blink of an eye, skyrocketed interest levels in the coming A-League season.
Their return represents the closing of a…
The time trial is critical to Evans' chances in the 2011 Tour de France.
AFP/Pascal Pavani
Following the 18th stage of the 2011 Tour de France last night, the top six riders are within less than four minutes of one another: Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck, Frank Schleck, Ivan Basso, Damian Cunego…
Despite the success of the State of Origin, rugby league still lags behind the AFL in terms of popularity.
AAP
The move to establish an independent commission to run rugby league is a long overdue acknowledgement that strong corporate governance is essential in the small but intensely competitive Australian market…
Maria Sharapova has managed to move her appeal beyond sexiness.
AAP
BUSINESS OF SPORT: The marketing of women in sport in Australia in 2011 is simple: sex sells.
Don’t take my word for it though. Google the name of any female athlete and chances are the top search results…
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou announces the league's record TV rights deal
AAP
The lucrative broadcast rights deal signed earlier this year by the AFL demonstrates the pulling power of “live” sport in a TV market which is increasingly becoming fragmented by more choice on more platforms…
Some sporting organisations have called for veto powers on "exotic" betting.
Joe Castro/AAPimage
GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIA – Australians spend about $20 billion every year gambling. This level of expenditure is, according to The Economist, the highest in the world on a per capita basis.
Some would argue…
A combination of revenue sharing and fixed salaries offers a good compromise for players and the AFL.
Flickr/lensfodder
To share or not to share – that is the question of moment in the AFL.
The AFL Players’ Association (AFLPA) appears determined that player payments should be a percentage of league revenue.
The AFL administration…
Olympic athletes – among others – will benefit from the new technology.
Tracey Nearmy/AAP Image
For Olympic swimmers, the blink of an eye can be the difference between first and forgotten. Everyone wants an edge, which is why elite athletes train relentlessly and why coaches push them hard. Alongside…
Major sporting bodies seem prone to allegations of corruption.
In recent days, newly re-elected FIFA president Sepp Blatter has attempted to counter persistent corruption allegations by attempting to assemble a “council of wisdom” to clean up the international sporting…
Majak Daw has been praised for his measured reaction to racist abuse.
www.kangaroos.com.au
This week the media in AFL states have been discussing racist comments made by members of crowds at Australian Rules games.
Sudanese-born North Melbourne rookie Majak Daw was racially abused while playing…
I was at a high-performance coaching conference in The Netherlands when FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced the soccer World Cup hosts of 2018 and 2022. I skipped a few keynote speeches to watch the…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is a keen football fan but women lack representation on the governing bodies of most Australian sports.
AAP
Despite stunning progress on the sport field in the past 100 years, women’s representation off the field remains a serious challenge.
While there was not a singe female athlete at the first modern Olympic…
On the opening day of the Warrnambool jumps carnival in western Victoria this year, five-year-old horse Casa Boy died when he fell at his first hurdle.
Just one month later, Shine the Armour also died…
The AFL set-shot is as much about consistency as it is about the right technique.
AAP/Martin Philbey
When the AFL has a weekend of inaccurate goal-kicking, media attention invariably turns to why set-shot goal-kicking hasn’t improved while other areas of footy have.
As a footy fan, I have an interest…
Competition enables twins like Brad and Chris Scott to forge separate identities.
kangaroos.com.au
Competition between twins hit the headlines this week as, for the first time in AFL history, identical twins Brad and Chris Scott will coach different teams against each other on Saturday.
Both twins…
Calling indigenous footballers "magic" denies their hard work.
Flickr/witness1
Let me begin by asking a question. Why is it when we think of Indigenous footballers we do so in a way that sets them apart? To put it simply, why do many of us think that there is an inherent genetic…
Brisbane Lions' Jonathan Brown sustains a head injury against Fremantle.
AAP
The intense public interest in protective headgear following recent cases of high-profile AFL players sustaining concussion and other head or face injuries, is understandable.
Unfortunately we have limited…
Former AFL player Daniel Bell is seeking compensation for brain damage linked to multiple concussions.
AAP
What happens to the brain in a collision?
A blow to the head can cause any form of damage to the brain. On the serious side, it can cause a large haemorrhage and damage to a large amount of brain tissue…
