“The NRL game is becoming even more powerful so the body type needed will move further away from an AFL athlete. The incident resulted in the eventual departure of both players from the Raiders along with heavy scrutiny from some big NRL personalities, “At least have a beer”, said Big Willie Mason. The NRL are holding its ground and holding its viewers better than other codes, particularly the AFL. “The NRL game is becoming even more powerful so the body type needed will move further away from an AFL athlete. Givney confessed to not being an AFL expert but said common sense dictated the body types that suited different codes. Doug Flutie, who authored a comeback win for Boston College considered an iconic moment in the history of American college football, played a long CFL career that led to him being the first non-Canadian honored with induction to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame before a brief NFL comeback. Gaelic football is especially vulnerable to code-switching, for reasons outlined by rugby union journalist Hugh Farrelly in 2009: The parochialism that is the GAA's greatest strength (every village in Ireland has a local team) is also its Achilles heel for, with no viable international outlet, the Association is vulnerable to other sports. NRL clubs want AFL-bound players’ chief out now 02/16/2020 Rugby League NRL club chief executives believe Rugby League Players Association CEO Ian Prendergast should step down from the post immediately because of his decision to switch to a rival code and … Therefore, he said, there would be few AFL talent scouts sniffing around NRL players. The Ireland squad featured at least six other former ladies' inter-county footballers – Niamh Briggs, Claire Molloy, Cliodhna Moloney, Katie Fitzhenry, Nora Stapleton and Hannah Tyrrell. ARTICLE BY: MARGIE MCDONALD AND DAN KOCHÂ Without doubt though, an AFL player would have to be fitter in an aerobic sense. The CFL and NFL competed for the same player pool in their earlier years before the CFL settled into a de facto (and from time to time formal) developmental role to its American counterpart. The NRL plans to introduce a watered-down 18th-man policy, allowing for a injury replacement player only when a team has lost three men to concussion.After a … V'Landys claims the AFL has had to make several changes to its code, including cutting players from rosters while the NRL has virtually kept things the same from before the pandemic. Furthermore, a strict adherence to its amateur code means talented youngsters can be lured away from the game they grew up with... by the prospect of pay for play....[21], Several ladies Gaelic footballers, including All-Ireland finalists, Niamh Fahey and Sarah Rowe, have gone on to represent the Republic of Ireland women's national association football team. Eventually, kickers who changed codes in adulthood were largely, though not completely, displaced by players who were either born and raised in the U.S. or immigrated to the U.S. at a relatively early age, thus receiving more exposure to American football than most of the first soccer-style placekickers. Note: first player to play for both national teams post RU professional era, East Germany national under-21 football team, New Zealand national Australian rules football team, South Australian National Football League, Queensland Australian National Football League, Category:Gaelic footballers who switched code, Republic of Ireland national football team, Republic of Ireland women's national association football team, Republic of Ireland women's national football team, Relationship between Gaelic football and Australian rules football, Ireland national Australian rules football team, Australian Rules Football League of Ireland, Comparison of Gaelic football and rugby union, Comparison of American football and rugby union, Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, Comparison of American football and Canadian football, Comparison of American football and rugby league, Comparison of Canadian football and rugby union, Comparison of Australian rules football and Gaelic football, Comparison of rugby union and rugby league, List of Australian rules footballers and cricketers, "Dally Messenger reinstated to NSWRU record books", "Saintsandheathens.Com | Australian Rugby History | Sean Fagan", "Hadden can follow in my footsteps, says Dwyer", "Australian punter turns heads for Hamilton Tiger-Cats | CTV News", Barry Spring didn't do a Sonny Bill on Mayne, "Official Website of the Australian Rugby Union", "Official Website of Queensland Reds Rugby – redsrugby.com.au", "French almost pull off an upset against the Reading Roos", "N&Cfnc Detailed History – Newtown & Chilwell – Fox Sports Pulse", "20 Dec 1922 – SCHOOL SPEECH DAYS. Player Club/Clubs Career Span 1 430 24 2015 Cameron Smith: Melbourne Storm: 2002–2020 … As discussed above, Canadian and American football are highly similar gridiron codes. yeah, but as someone has said, RL player's are always moving; no time to rest. Maybe then we can look at ways NRL could become a true competitor of the AFL. That trend has since reversed, as rugby union is now richer than rugby league. In recent years, several schoolboy rugby union players have made a transition to Australian Rules, including Ray Smith (Queensland Under 19), Jim Stynes, Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Aaron Edwards, Adam Campbell (New Zealand Under 15), Daniel Merrett, Brad Moran (West Midlands (England) Under 16) and Tom Williams (Queensland Under 16). A large number of the first "soccer-style" placekickers of the 1960s, and early 1970s were Europeans and Latin Americans who changed codes in adulthood. Some players involved in the Irish Experiment to play professional Australian rules football returned to Ireland and went on to be notable in senior level Gaelic football. Neither AFL nor football can compete with NRL in the field of strength. The Greater Western Sydney team will start in 2011. [24], These two codes share many similarities, making switching between them relatively easy. “He’s an exceptional athlete so it wouldn’t suprise me at all if he had the same repeat sprint power as Adam Goodes,” Gibbs said. Jason Akermanis was the first professional Australian football player to suggest a switch to rugby union. AFL’s players stated they’d be happy to take a 50 per cent pay reduction last week, but the NRL is looking at enforcing a much bigger pay cut. Which football code has the hottest players NRL or AFL? [24][32], Lindsay Peat played for Dublin in the 2009, 2010 and 2014 All-Ireland finals before playing for Ireland in the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. Givney, who is the NSW Origin team doctor as well as Cronulla’s chief medical officer, said the two codes called for vastly different body types. But it will not yet match the AFL’s new mandatory 12-day stand-down period . Two quarterbacks in particular became well known in both codes. “They’ve put the fright through a few NRL people.” The AFL’s cumulative live audience through the first nine rounds is 36.9m viewers, compared to 42.9m last year, while the NRL’s cumulative live audience has been … Former Australian captain Brad Fittler said the AFL's situation seemed more complicated than the NRL's predicament because the 18-player code … The Ireland squad featured at least six other former ladies' inter-county footballers – Niamh Briggs, Claire Molloy, Cliodhna Moloney, Katie Fitzhenry, Nora Stapleton and Hannah Tyrrell. Australian Football celebrates its 140 th anniversary in NSW this year after the founding of the NSW Football Association in Sydney in 1880.. Neil Cordy profiles the nomination of Kieren Jack to the AFL NSW Hall of Fame. Up until the mid-1990s, both codes were officially amateur. [24][32], On 3 March 2015 Jarryd Hayne became the first rugby league player (that hadn't already played in the NFL) to sign a contract with a National Football League team. Hayne being linked to the western Sydney team was merely sports marketing, he said. “To compare them with athletics, AFL would be the middle distance runners over 1500m or 3000m. [33], In recent years, several junior and schoolboy rugby league players have made a transition to Australian rules, including Wayne Carey,[34] Paul Kelly,[35] Kieren Jack,[36] Michael McLean,[37] Andrew McLeod,[37] Jared Brennan,[37] Matthew Whelan,[37] and Sam Gilbert.[38]. NRL, AFL grand final guide 2020: How to watch, start times, players. Fans demanding NRL and AFL players get back to work despite coronavirus epidemic are the ones being selfish By Offsiders columnist Richard Hinds Posted 7 m minutes ago The dance between the National Rugby League (NRL), Australian Football League (AFL) ... and that there was little animosity between players, administrators and fans. The NRL aims to forge on with the 2020 premiership, even planning the contingency of moving every player and essential staff member to Queensland, after major rival AFL called a halt in the face of increasing coronavirus pandemic restrictions. There are many footballers who have converted from one football code to another at a professional or representative level. Several players, including Iestyn Harris and Mat Rogers, have converted between the two codes on more than one occasion. He played for, This page was last edited on 18 March 2021, at 00:34. In recent years, several schoolboy rugby union players have made a transition to Australian Rules, including Ray Smith (Queensland Under 19), Jim Stynes, Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Aaron Edwards, Adam Campbell (New Zealand Under 15), Daniel Merrett, Brad Moran (West Midlands (England) Under 16) and Tom Williams (Queensland Under 16). But most of the shorter, more muscular NRL players wouldn’t make it. Lionel Frost (2004). Also at amateur level, conversion is quite common, as in the case of many start-up Australian rules clubs in countries such as France[18] and countries such as New Zealand and Samoa where there are dual-internationals at junior level. Sydney Swans team doctor Nathan Gibbs, a former first grade rugby league player who captained South Sydney, believes Melbourne’s Greg Inglis could make the transition. League greats Darren Lockyer,[10] Glenn Lazarus,[11] Greg Brentnall,[12] Peter Sterling[citation needed], Marcus Bai[citation needed] and Kevin Proctor[13] played Aussie Rules at a junior level. Such players have included: Early in the history of the two codes in Australia, players would interchange the codes and even had discussions of merging them into a single game. “Everyone in rugby league now knows there’s going to be an AFL team in western Sydney. Gibbs said heavier AFL players, such as retired great Tony Lockett, were nearly extinct. THE AFL will not force its players to have flu shots to be eligible to play when games resume. Notably, the specialist role of punter in American football requires similar skills to those found in Australian football players. The NRL said after the release that the fact an AFL player in Melbourne tested positive to COVID-19 yesterday would not affect their plans. “To compare them with athletics, AFL would be the middle distance runners over 1500m or 3000m. Warren Moon, a California native who starred at the University of Washington, began his professional career with the Edmonton Eskimos before crossing the border back south to the Houston Oilers and later Minnesota Vikings, earning Hall of Fame recognition in both professional leagues. Lady Forste", "Euro 2016: Niall McGinn still on 'cloud nine' after NI win over Ukraine", "These 10 top Irish female athletes have experienced the wrath of Cork", "It's Mayo v Cavan Down Under as Cora Staunton set for first AFLW start", "All-Ireland winning Dublin duo sign for AFLW side Melbourne - making it 18 Irish for 2020", "Mayo star Rowe to follow in Staunton's footsteps by joining AFLW side Collingwood", "Former Ladies Footballers Fuel Irish Rugby's Bid for World Rugby Glory", "Jarryd Hayne joins NFL's San Francisco 49ers on a futures contract", "Lets Chase Johnathan Thurston for AFL Paul Kelly", "Poaching league players worth it: Jack – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)", "Sam Gilbert Helps Lead St Kilda Charge Towards AFL Premiership", "No. Nic Savage nic_savage1 news.com.au March 26, … He’s one of the best league players around, can play 80 minutes but his body shape would make him the least ideal.”. “The games are very different now and becoming more so.”. NRL heavyweights Melbourne have gone with a left-field choice for their new chief executive, naming long-time AFL administrator Justin Rodski to replace Dave Donaghy. The Gaelic Athletic Association prohibits professionalism, meaning that there is a financial lure for players to compete in the professional elite Aussie Rules competitions in Australia. [9] Rugby league has since evolved to specialise in physicality and body type making it more difficult for successful conversion between the two, although it does sometimes happen at junior level, particularly in areas where both codes are played (such as the Riverina region). In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, United States, Ireland and Australia, where multiple codes are popular, and the practice of switching codes is relatively common, such players are known as code converts[1] or code hoppers. While the traffic used to be almost entirely from rugby union to rugby league, the tide has now turned the other way, and numerous rugby league players have gone over to union, since the game was professionalised. Some, including All-Ireland finalists Niamh Fahey and Sarah Rowe, have gone on to play for the Republic of Ireland women's national football team. Ricky Williams played 12 seasons in the National Football League, one season in the Canadian Football League (CFL), and four years of minor league baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies.[4]. [27][28][29]. [16] Nevertheless, there are still some positions and roles that have commonalities. “Gary Ablett Jr, Chris Judd and Jonathan Brown,” Benton said. Hunt is off to the AFL’s new Gold Coast club next year and will have a season in the second-tier VFL to prepare for the Gold Coast’s entry into the AFL in 2012. For instance, Dally Messenger's defection from rugby union to rugby league was considered a pivotal moment in the establishment of the latter over other codes in Australia.[2][3]. Numerous American football placekickers grew up playing association football (soccer); however, very few have competed at a very high level in their original code. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_players_who_have_converted_from_one_football_code_to_another&oldid=1012730791, Lists of players of Australian rules football, Articles with dead external links from August 2020, Articles with dead external links from April 2013, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2007, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, First female to score a field goal in professional football, England (RL), Great Brittan (RL), NRL All-Stars (RL), England (RU), Australian Schoolboys (RU), City v. Country (RL), Great Britain (RL), England (RU), British & Irish Lions (RU), Scotland (RL/RU), Great Britain (RL), British & Irish Lions (RU), Great Britain (RL), England (RL), England (RU), Brettonwood High School, Durban, South Africa, Australian Schoolboys (RU) City v. Country (RL), Scotland (RU), Great Britain, Empire XIII (RL), Scotland (RU) Great Britain, Other Nationalities (RL), Scotland, B&I Lions (RU) Great Britain, Other Nationalities (RL), Tardits switched codes twice: to American football as a young adult, and back to rugby union after a brief NFL career. We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. “An NRL player would be more the powerfully-built 400m runner. Rugby union and American football share the same origins, but have evolved into very different games. This may seem fanciful but some AFL players could thrive and with the threat of expansion of the NRL competition into the AFL backyards of Adelaide and Perth it may be a great idea. 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