World's Most Complete Athletes

[nillation]

Would I be over zealous in saying that AFL players are the most complete athletes in the world?

Very few sports bring together so many demands on aerobic capacity, strength, skill, speed, reflexes, power, agility and awareness like the AFL. Off the top of my head a few sports that make similar demands are basketball, NFL, soccer and rugby but they all fall short in a few areas and I think the current experiments with Isreal Falou and Carmichael Hunt will go some way to proving this..

A standout feature of the modern game of AFL is the gut running most players display. This feature is shared with soccer, which tends to run out very long games as well. Quarters of footy can often exceed 30 minutes so it’s not unusual for a game to last 2 hours. Players must also push themselves at different paces so a GPS tracker that reports a player travelling 15km in a game doesn’t reflect any effort spent sprinting, jumping, tackling, breaking packs, wrestling for position. It was reported that rugby convert Carmichael Hunt recently blew up in his first training session with the Gold Coast and was struggling to run out half a match of footy, which is to be expected of someone with his frame. Hunt’s current body is built for power but that may not directly translate to speed as it has also been mentioned that he looked slow on the field, possibly due to exhaustion. NFL players are the epitome of speed and power and with rotating teams taking the field and plays lasting no longer than 30 seconds NFL can’t really compete with AFL here. Basketball is really limited by the size of the field and players games are more likely to be full of short sprints. Not only do AFL players run all day but they do so under more physical pressure than soccer or basketball. It will be interesting to see if Hunt and Falou are as quick as AFL players too. The speeds depend on the individual and the player so it is very difficult to measure.

AFL also requires full body coordination. They may not have the poise of gymnasts but they need to have good balance, timing, agility and strength. They also need to have great skills by hand and foot because they are required to catch, punch, pick-up, bounce, kick and handball. They don’t have the specialized round ball skills of basketball or soccer and don’t throw the pill around but they require a greater combination of skills.

AFL, and team sports in general, require plenty of awareness of your surroundings. AFL players need to be able to spot up targets and weaknesses in defense both near and far while maintaining awareness of more immediate threats around them coming from the opposition. A smart footballer who makes good decisions is far more damaging than one who continually turns it over.

I believe our unique game is not just fun to watch but also producing some of the most well rounded and dynamic athletes in the world and I would love to see it on the world stage one day.

[Justin Bieber]

I like the little piece you wrote up. Very interesting read.

Remember reading something like this in a magazine once. Was pitting sports against each other to see which was the most difficult to compete in.

I have to agree. Other sports require bits and pieces of a complete athlete. Not many can have all of them. NFL is kind of out of the question straight away. As you brought up, the plays don't last for long and the game usually requires Power and Speed/Agility. Quarterbacks and Line Backers are really the only ones who have proper awareness of the field and who's coming where.

Basketball is up there though. It requires alot to be a professional and covers almost all of those things you mentioned. Although a disadvantage compared to the AFL is the small court it's played on like you said compared to the AFL.

[Simple Jack]

 +1, arent we lucky. This is just another reason we have the worlds best game. :D

[Jas 13]

The only athletes that come close are ironmen who all need the excel in aerobic capacity, strength, skill, speed, reflexes, power, agility and awareness.

They have to master running, swimming, board paddling and kayaking all in the one race using a combination of sprints and edurance at varying stages of the race....

[Cruiseon]

Synchronised diving is worthy of note, the strength, the coordination, the grace.

[Barlow 21]

Good Writeup. :D

[ossie85]

I tend to agree nillation!

Such physicality and skill required.... you summed it up great