Fozz has em up in ARMS!
Over at THE ROAR the natives are restless with Sir Fozzie for taking Aussies to task on the codes of football which are actually handball codes, and of course people are...well up in arms!
Here's what I Foz is actually saying:
Linking an Australian sport best suited to support the aspirations and growth of Australian economic nation is a question smart Aussies should consider. Why?
Because we should surely invest most money in codes that enable girls and boys to remain healthy for life, codes that best assist our nation's culturaland economic aspirations.
Fozz reckons football best represents Australia economic/cultural and sporting growth of all the codes. You might not like the man but the ideas are worthy of consideration and on many levels it's more economic, has better benefits for boys and girls and the future of the country to promote and encourage/ support football development rather than...
say AFL to China, or Rugby League across the globe or indeed these codes to girls.
Are the boys and girls of Australia really going to benefit from encouraging them to play League or AFL. Is it going to keep them fit for life is just one questions I might pose.
Maybe some people in Australia miss one major point of the book! But then hands up who's read it!
And Fozzies handball point remains and indeed is critical to get Australians to bring to their football, grassroots, supporting of their kids, support of national teams etc...call the games what you like if it keep your blood pressure down...but Foz is pointing out that the other three codes are played with their hands....or haven't you noticed. And there's a fair bit more to it than that point.
He uses the argument debate to further point out the difference between the three other footy codes and football. A crucial difference.
Without Aussies understanding this difference we bring our attitudes from the other codes, and let's face it more Aussies watch AFL and League more often than football so it's natural some attitudes from those codes flow into football. Foz argues they are useless attitudes when applied to football. As a small skilful player, I agree!
Get in to him, tackle him, crunch him, be a man (whatever that means) are great AFL/League attributes and make the game better....and a team succeed but try and apply that to the Brazilian or Dutch football team and this is where the Aussies need to aim to succeed in football.
Those "Aussie" attitudes can never assist Australian footballers succeed on the international stage, can they?
All Aussies can fight on the field, we've all had our weekly fill of AFL and League values flowing through our TV's, school yard and workplaces. These attitudes from the other codes and supporters cannot help Australia EVER succeed in footballl.
To the base of supporters who follow many codes these so-called Aussie attitudes have to be revisited if football is to progress. That I reckon is what Fozzie is really saying in my view.
And you can still call it football if you think it's football!
