American Reacts To Top 50 AFL Marks of All Time 

aussies love americans watching our sport, theyre gonna keep flooding to you as long as you keep enjoying it, cheers mate

It's not a Catch...it's a Mark.👍 Enjoy 🇦🇺🍻

I remember telling an American that AFL was like athletic basketball and he got so upset telling me that there is no sport as athletic as basketball. I guess he didn't see this clip

One thing, not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but the hardest element for players from other codes getting used to is that you need to have 360 degree sense of awareness. Your opponents can come at you from any angle because as mentioned in What is AFL there is no offside.

As a winter sport, the playing surface has improved beyond belief in the last fifty years. In the past the fields were often mud baths.

Another great reaction video. It all starts in the school ground. When there's a pack of 20 kids trying to get the ball, you have to jump higher than the rest if you want to get a kick. Don't feel bad about missing the game up til now. You've just come across Australia's best kept secret. Cheers, Glenn.

The ball is actually pretty light in terms of weight. It's difficult to describe the feel of it, it's much smoother and rounder than an American football, but probably weighs less and can be pretty bouncy. The only time the ball would hurt to mark or kick is if it had been raining and the ball gets waterlogged, which can make it really heavy as it's made out of leather. It also gets incredibly slippery when wet.

prior to 1993 the players weren't full time professional players. They all had other jobs and went to training after work

This is a great video. One of the only "American reacts to afl" videos that hasn't made me cringe. The way you ask questions about the game to learn more rather than making assumptions that aren't even close to being correct (like what others do) makes it much more enjoyable to watch. You earned yourself a sub dude.

If you're keen, the grand final will be worth live streaming. It'll probably be the 1st Saturday in October depending on covid restrictions

Pat MacAfee got into AFL for a bit and he said the ball is far more slippery than an NFL ball and that he could imagine how hard it’s be to kick and mark in the wet. One some of the hardest hits complications you might see a KO from a ball to the face. To check out the goal scoring skills check out “AFL - Best of the Decade Goals”

The World: "White Boys Can;t Jump" Australia: "Are you sure about that?"

You said it looked like it’s always been big… I saw Alex Jesaulenko’s mark from the 1970 Grand Final. There were just over 121,500 people in attendance that day! It still holds the record crowd for any VFL/AFL game.

13:20 "I'm seeing a lot of this dark blue, yellow and red." All of these are from a few years ago. All of the Adelaide Crows coaches are thinking where did we go wrong. WE'RE LOOKING AT YOU TEX WALKER!!!! RIP Phil Walsh

Love your reactions, mate. Not like other reactions were they just watch and make some comments like they didn't even really think about it. Looks like you actually think about what you are watching and react in intelligent ways.

Nailed it with the remark that these are the most well rounded athletes.. and those jumps where they propel themselves off an opposing player are called a “Hanger”

They jump on 6ft pads in training, to learn how to mark over the top of other players.

A good 95% of the marks you watched in this video are called speckies. A specky (short for spectacular mark) is when a player jumps up on the back of another player and marks (grabs) the ball. Us Aussies refer to speckies as a screamer (because it literally gets the crowd screaming) and or a hanger (because of the hang time the player has gotten on the back of another). 9 games revolving around 18 teams are played each week between Thursday (sometimes) , but always Friday and Sunday. Due to Covid-19 some teams may get a Monday or any other weeknight. The same goes for a special occasion, like Easter or ANZAC Day. You should also react to some of the "Best AFL Fights" videos. Also there have been videogames in the past for AFL. The big names are AFL Live, AFL Live 2, AFL Evolution and currently AFL Evolution 2! They're pretty fun!

I was a basketball fan my entire child/teen life, as I got older I really came across to AFL (Im in Australia). It's a fast, free flowing game with essentially no stoppages. It's a great spectator sport

There’s rounds every weekends so 9 games a weekend from Friday night to Saturday afternoon, 23 rounds a year followed by finals in September which consists of 4 rounds leading to a grand final between the two top teams. The ball is quite hard made from leather so is not sticky at all in fact it is quite slippery so taking marks like there requires a lot of skill.

Bro they seem like they're levitating because it's the land down under. When we jump gravity actually pulls us up 😜

I can’t wait for you to see some big hits. They are brutal ! It takes a lot of courage to do what they do. But you have to think kids/teens/ young adults love the game and the pain of it. If you get hurt you’ll come off get looked at then get back out there !! And mite play the best game because of all the adrenaline and testosterone they have going threw the body’s 💪🏻. Oh also use Aussies are crazy 😅 Coaches use to teach us. Tackle and bump to hurt. But not really aloud to say this anymore lol

You are right about "boxing out". Called shepherding, where a player will fend off/block an opposition player to give his own teammate a clearer run at the ball. No coaches challenges, only video reviews in regards to confirming whether a kick is a goal or not ... eg: they can check whether a defender got a hand to the ball before it was fully over the goal line. Games every Fri, Sat, Sun during season which runs from March to end of Sept. 22 regular season games and a month of finals. Welcome to AFL.

The ball stings like a bastard when it's cold and wet and it's like a piece of soap when it gets wet and muddy. They change the ball after like every goal now so it's not so bad, but in the old days they'd use the same ball the whole game and it'd end up weighing about twice as bloody much and was like trying to kick a slippery brick lol

Love ur reactions man, this sport is our culture and we love to have others enjoy the sport, keep it up!

Games are every week mate! Round 16 is coming up the weekend. Definitely recommend watching a few live. There’s usually a fair few on American TV. If you need a team too, have a look into the Melbourne Demons mate! Loving the content, keep it up!

The funniest thing is your reaction of disbelief to something that is just normal to me… love it! The main difference between today’s game and 20 plus years ago was the in-match full field punch ons. Research some off them.

Man I think I said this on one of your other vids but I just love how open minded and unbiased you are. I have been addicted to your content. Your a legend. My missus is getting sick of me talking about you all the time haha

I would love to see you reacting to netball, it is unique in that is mostly played by women. It is very fast paced and the games between Australia and New Zealand are just insane, so much movement across the court I think you would enjoy it.

Love your reactions mate.....it truly is a great game that we love to share and it's fun to watch people fall in love with it. I just subscribed so keep up the great work. :))

I was actually named after Alex Jesaulenko who you see take some screamers in the video, the commentators remark "jesaulenko you beauty" is also a widely known saying/remark we still say to this day, 90% percent of the people I've met have said that quote when hearing my name.

Amazingly, there are guys who play over 300 games in a career. The most common injuries are to the knee ligaments - the game is rough on your knees. Key skills on such a large playing field are stamina (running up to 8 miles a game) and peripheral vision.

The sport was invented really to give cricket players something to do in the in winter, that’s why the fields are so big. Usually cricket ovals. You might have trouble streaming a game without copyright issues. You can do a live stream but can’t show what your watching.

The (most recent) video game of this is AFL Evolution 2 which came out on console (PS4/5 and Xbox) last year. It’s probably also available on PC. Just keep in mind that the graphics and gameplay aren’t anything special and not as smooth as something like FIFA or Madden as the game is made by a small company based in Melbourne. Still very fun to play.

The ball is smooth leather outer surface and weighs a normal amount. They usually play every Saturday afternoon split up into 4 quarters. 6 points for a goal kicked through the two centre posts and 1 point if the ball is touched by a player’s hand or a post on the way through and if the ball goes through the outer posts which is classed as a “One Behind “

Played every weekend for 22 rounds with 1x Week BYE break mid season, And training 2x Twice Mid week with Recovery sessions the morning after every match, before final start which consist of 8 games to determine the Grand Final Champions

The ball is slick. It is genuine leather not acrylic.

The AFL is played every week from February to September

Love your passion and ability to analyze a country so simple but so complicated without prejudice.. Onya ..!!!!

The AFL ball is an air-filled sphere with a circumference of 68-70 cm (27-28 in), a weight of 410-450 g (14-16 oz), inflated to a pressure of 0.6 to 1.1 atmospheres (60-111 kPa or 8.7-16.1 psi) "at sea level", and covered in leather or "other suitable material".

Highly recommend you react to the "best of the decade" series uploaded by the AFL.

you should make an effort to see the AFL grand final this year, my team the Melbourne Demons might be in there and with their first flag since the 60s, their jumper is the red top and the rest blue, ie the very last mark was a Demon, with marks the umpires word is final, goals can be reveiwed tho

Umpires rule the game - their decisions are final, although players will argue, but they can be penalised by a '50 metre' penalty or paying a free kick to the other team if they start cursing the umpire. There are 3 central umpires and any of them can 'call' a decision - sometimes they will discuss a decision with one another. The boundary umpires adjudicate when the ball has gone over the line and they have to 'throw the ball' back into play. Sometimes the central umpires will overturn a decision made by a boundary umpire but a boundary umpire can't overturn a central umpire decision. The goal umpires adjudicate whether it was a clean goal, whether it was touched by hand or foot before going through and it used to be that their decision was final, although the central umpire can question it and even ask the boundary umpires what they think before the central will call 'all clear' which means the goal umpire decision stands. The umpires can clarify with one another but no player can overturn or insist that the decision be reversed. There is now a challenge to goals when they are disputed - but even the video reviews get it wrong sometimes. It is often said that the home crowd can influence umpire decisions just from the roar and carry-on so the umpires get conned into paying a decision that maybe wasn't there. The umpires have got a lot going on in this game - lots of people will bag the umpires, but there's a lot they have to watch. If you do watch a game, you'll hear the umpires blowing their whistles when they make a decision - marks, incorrect disposal, distance run before disposing of the ball, tackles, holding the ball, deliberate out-of-bounds, pushing a player in the back or unduly rough conduct by one player against another. I have a soft spot for the umpires because it's a fast, tough game they have to adjudicate in a hostile environment - and my son is an umpire and I know what he puts up with.

I’m a Kiwi living in Australia. AFL is next level. Absolutely love it.

Dark Blue, Yellow and Red are the "Adelaide Crows", my team :) - they're one of two teams from "Adelaide", which is the state capital of "South Australia". (the other team is "Port Adelaide", which is black white and teal)

No challenge system mate. Game moves on too quick for that. Recently they have bought in score reviews for any questionable scores that need to be looked at

Thanks mate for the awesome vids. You caught me with your Bathurst vids which I absolutely loved. Especially the old retro vids. I then hit the subscribe button. The Agro and AFL vids are awesome also. Another vid worth watching is ether biggest hits in the NRL or best fights in the state of origin, which is also NRL. Great stuff mate keep n comin coz im in.

Yes, as said below, we love seeing Americans react to AFL. It's such a unique hard core sport and most of all we love to share. Keep uploading and we'll watch you mate xx

Australian top-grade cowhide leather. so when wet it get heavier than normal and a bit slippery when it's raining and the size is just a little bigger than a NFL ball and the tip isn't as pointed. And with these if you can imagine a couch (sofa) as kids we practice this on the back of them pretending to take high marks haha my mum would hate me doing it 😂

You talk about them being fit, the players can run over 10kms per game and some over 15km (6.2 - 9.3 miles), and they run up up to 37kms (23 miles) per hour. Then they jump In the air like a basket baller. It is an absolutely fantastic game to watch!

18 clubs play a game every week from friday - sunday (sometimes thursday as well), The ball is smooth (similar to a soccer ball), but is tough and hard, not too heavy though. There are no reviews of plays, umpires make the call on the spot, however there are score reviews to see whether a goal or point was made.

Thanks for your great take on Aussie football. I was born and bred a Collingwood supporter. Please know that women play and attend just as many footy games as the guys. My mum had a great footy brain and taught me everything I know. Its always wonderful to see an American watch our game. If you're going to follow a team go for the Mighty Magpies, we have a player from Texas called Mason Cox. Can't wait to see more AFL analysis from you. Cheers ✌🇦🇺🙃

i go for hawthorn (the brown and gold) and they had a 3 year record of winning the grand final. however, there not doing so good now, i believe that this year they may get the wooden spoon.

Also check out Jeremy Howe’s best marks 2011-2019. Best high flyer in the AFL

Loving your take on our game , cheers mate

We love Americans learning the Aussie sport

Take a look at a mark just this week from Tim O'Brian....massive!!!

Don't watch the 2017 Grand Final. It's the most heartbreaking game ever.

Loving your reaction videos man you like the 50 top goals they got some good bangers in that video also they have some good one where the teams get into punch ups on the field as well

A saying when a good mark is taken is: HE WAS HIGHER THAN JOE COCKER!!!!, When you can come to Aus in better times, you will be able to see the Grand Final on the last Saturday of September and then go to Bathurst a couple of weeks later Ian. Keep the good work up, glad you appreciate our sports.

Great reaction. Please react to the 2018 afl grand final.

Love watching your reactions to our great sport. Loved your comments too. There is a AFL game, but probably not as good as real life. Hope you keep enjoying our great game.

I think the most accurate description of the flow of play in Aussie Rules is the Title of the 1963 Play by Alan Hopgood about the game "And The Big Men Fly"

There’s a video about one of afl’s best players from the 30’s called Roy Cazaly. Guy was so good he was immortalised into song.

Have a look at the greatest goals, too. Some of the top 10 don't necessarily look spectacular but when you have run to oxygen debt and the plug a 60 yard goal it's a thing of beauty to watch.

I'm an AFL newbie, but take note of the players going up for the grab, they don't take their eyes off the ball while they're going up. They have to make that assessment mighty quick then they go for it! - It's exhilarating 😃❤

And in a number of the Marks, you can see the players underneath still managing to jump after the successful player has landed on their shoulders, thus giving him a bit more altitude :)

AFL is THE game in Australia !! Can't wait for these lockdowns to finish so I can get back to the "G" for a crowd filled game ...

Loving watching your videos!. Many of the the players in this video are 6'8" , just show the athletisism of the game. Cheers Mark (From Melbourne Victoria) .

Mark Number 25, by Geoff Blethyn, is notable. Blethyn was the last player to wear optical eye-glasses whilst playing.

The simple fact is.... If you're a young guy growing up in Victoria, South Australia, West Australia, or a few other regions, every lunchtime you're playing 'kick to kick" where you're in a group, one of 2 approx 30M apart, and you're all competing for the ball kicked from the other group. it might not be as spectacular as the ones seen here, but that's where the training starts.

Play every wknd mate. Season starts around March and runs up to late September, early October. 9 games each week.

With the mark you are supposed to be able to control the ball for an imaginary 3 seconds and bring it to ground, but there is a lot of umpires interpretation involved, some umpires do and some don't, there is no challenge, its the umpires call. The umpires get booed no matter which way they go, depending on which team was paid or not paid the mark.....

As you said were has afl been all your life I say the same about your channel mate 👍 very enjoyable seeing you love our great game 😁

Usually games are played on weekends but they have been having more Thursday night games and on special occasions such as Anzac Day (public holiday for world war 1) as well as the queens birthday game they play mid week games

It's an unbelievably greatest game, like not other. I have played amateur football for over 25 years, and it's got a bit of everything. You need speed, strength, jumping ability, stamina, timing, kicking is something that you can practise to get very skilful at. Bouncing the ball is an skill in itself, and handballing is another skill that practising will teach you. Then you must also learn how to read the flight of the ball, especially in windy conditions, learn how to rwad the play ( knowing where the ball is heading, where opposition is going to go , every position has it's certain way of playing, such as, if you were a defender, you have to stick to your opponent like glue and don't let him get possession of the ball. But at the same time, know when to leave your opponent and go to where the ball will be. It's big gamble, cause if you get it wrong, your opponent might score, but get it right, and you can stop opposition attacks in it's tracks and start your own team's attack! It is a game that you either have the courage or not to go for the ball ,when it's there for the taking, knowing full well that you can be picked off at anytime going for the ball. It is usually not good for a player to back out of a contest, because he is worried 😢he might get cleaned up and get hurt. But it's a part of the game and you either have the courage to go in or you don't. It's a adrenaline rush like no other. I'm not that big but I can take the hits, have taken out bigger opposition then me and have had a few broken ribs, broken collarbone, broken leg, but have always came back to play again. It's something that once you start to enjoy doing it's pushes you harder. It is the greatest game in the world, no other game can you do all the things that make it great. I have played soccer, rugby and numerous other sports, I am an all rounder ,can play any sports, but nothing can beat afl for it's all round skill, ability, agility, stamina, strength,. It's one of a kind!

Great work Iwoker . Greatest game on the planet your NFL can't even compare to these. Athletes or game simply brilliant

Ian, this game is based on a traditional aboriginal game called Marngrook in which up to 100 players would play with a possum skin ball stuffed with charcoal. The players would kick the ball high into the air and leap over each other (marks) to get possession of the ball. Europeans saw the game and borrowed the plays but added teams and goals. That was how AFL was born back in the 1850's. The aboriginal game was all about fun and athleticism, Europeans introduced teams and structure, but essentially the heart and excitement of the sport dates back thousands of years.

Games take place Friday Night through Sunday Night, normally, sometimes you have mid-week ones for special occasions, or this past year because of Covid. Usually one game per week, you're in for trouble if the other team has 7 days rest and you have 3. Sometimes teams get by weeks, 1 per year, but generally its every week from March to September. There are 18 clubs, so usually 9 games every weekend and in a season each club typically will play every other club twice, although sometimes there are by weeks. Used to be a break in the middle for State of Origin, but they gave that up, runs throughout Autumn, Winter and Spring from the Pre-season up to the Grand Final.

The last one by Shaun Smith, is the best of all time, notice a flash going off in the crowd behind him just at the right time.

The games are on weekends and fridays, sometimes Thursdays and mondays. The majority of the teams play each week, because of how long they go for and the byes. The ball is about 300-400 grams if i had to guess. The ball is hard btw

So big and strong but so light on their feet! Wow!!!!!!

Highest attendance of all time is 121,696 for the 1970 Grand Final, Collingwood has been involved in the top 5 greatest attendances of all time and regularly get 1 million plus through the turnstiles each year.

As a Saints member the Nick Riewoldt mark stands out for me ... pure courage!

I like ur Aussie lingo mate......spot on!

Footy is a fantastic sport. I love it.

A great game to watch is Essendon Vs North Melbourne from 2001 Round 16, greatest come from behind victory in the history of the game.

AFL in the 80's/90's: 40 guys jog onto a field. One guy blows a whistle and runs like hell to get out of the way as the brawl starts. Fists and feet fly, grunts of pain, shouts of anger. A solid thump, an eye swells and closes. A tooth gets spit out and the blood runs free. They suddenly remember something about a ball? Where? There! That bastards got it! Get him boys! There's running jumping and a ball gets kicked, screams overhead as it trys to flee the fray. "That's fucken bullshit!" Is rhe cry, 15 blokes converge at mach speed to sort it out. Whack, Thump, Oooff! More blood, more brusies, more curses. The 90,000 strong crowd roars! The ball did something. What? Score? I don't know... The men on the field don't seem to know or care either as in the middle, 5 more tear in to join the battle. The whistle blows. "Break it up boys!" And the whistle blower gets ready to boince the ball and start round 2... It's 2 mins in of 20 in the first quarter. The doctors and physio's will be busy tonight. I might get some shares in Band-Aid I think to myself...**Whistle Blast** It's on again!

The ball is made of leather with a smooth coating on the outside. It is dificult to mark the ball espeasially in wet conditions witch players manage to pull off. A typical week consist's of 9 game's played over friday saturday & sunday. A total of 36 players on the field at any one time with both team's having 4 substitutes on the bench. The game consist's of 4 quarter's each being 30 minutes however this was changed to 20 minutes during the coronavirus lockdowns. There are 4 boundary umpires 2 goal umpires & 3 umpires on the field of play with 3 substitute umpires as a back up. I will send you the official AFL rule book as well as some AFL merch shortly. Once again look forward to one day catching up over a game & a beer or two. Cheers & awesome video Ian👌

I love the grasp you are getting of our culture here mate. You are even able to pronounce words like ‘Melbourne’! I’m not sure if anyone else has commented on this, but AFL players don’t ‘catch’ the ball; it’s a ‘mark’ or a ‘grab’ :) It may even be a ‘speccy’. Aussie Rules Football was invented by cricketers wanting to keep fit in the off season (winter). Keep up the awesome content dude, and I’ll keep giving you the big cheers 👍🏼

hi, lm Angie from Australia,l just found you . l love your love for our country. Good on ya Mate! l am really enjoying your videos. cheers!! The ball can be grippy or slick & yes it can hurt also at times, but worth it. Its a sherrin ball made from cowhide leather its almost same size as NFL. except nfl balls are pointy at the ends. ; )

There are seven umpires on the ground. Two goal umpires, four boundary and three central (or field) umpires. There are no challenges to decisions made by the umpires in this sport except for when a goal umpire asks for a score review.

Gotta check out the best hits/bumps. Great work mate.

During the season we can expect to have 9 matches around every Fri-Sun for 23 weeks before the finals of 4 weeks. Most matches are on Saturday but sometimes they can spend a bit depending on the weekend and only a few times playing on Mon, Wed and Thurs.

I was in Melbourne in the late 80's and some of the top AFL kickers were give some American footballs to kick for distance as a comparison against AFL balls, the players could carry an AFL football consistently 75-80 yards.. the longest carry on the day with the American football was 101 yards, with most kicks 95+ yards, that's 'carry' distance. What was interesting was the 'flight' time of the US football compared to the Aussie football, the US football had so much more speed velocity because of its small size that it carried 100 yards in the same time it took the Aussie rules ball to fly 75/80 yards.. and the shape of the pointed ends of the US football it was just way more flight aerodynamic ... the AFL football is so much bigger and weighs 16-17 0zs .. the American football though much smaller has a thicker material construction .. and although significantly smaller still weighs around 14-16ozs.. it just cuts through the air better because of its pointed ends construction. The AFL players normally do not 'torpedo' flight the AFL ball .. and on that day because of the shape of the US football being made to 'spiral 'torpedo' in flight when it is 'thrown' as a pass.. the AFL kickers kicked the American ball in a Torpedo' flight.. which is why it went so far. Most years there is a general fitness competition between all the football codes in Australia.. Rugby League.. Rugby Union.. Soccer, etc.. and every year an AFL player wins the competition.

As a reference for some of these marks, most AFL players average around 1.8m (6 ft.) in height. So some of the elevation gained is enormous.

These games are weekly, Friday night through to Sunday afternoon, however we have some midweek for traditional matches like the bomber vs magpies on Anzac Day every year. In order for a mark to be allowed, the player must either have full control of the ball initially or hold the ball for 3 seconds.

The ball usually natural leather. Get's really slippery in the rain. No stopping play like in cricket. They get the height by running up some other guy's back. If you're lucky, it's his knees. If you're not, it's his boots. The boots have stops on the soles like soccer boots. Great example at 14:22. My Grandfather played for Carlton back in the 1920's, he said it was their worst season ever, but it's a club down the toilet at the moment. And yes, Carlton Blues, is the same Carlton as Carlton Draught.

Ian, after covid, you might need to come Down Under and spend your winters here so you get summer all year round! You’ll only be allowed to stay for three months max, but if you enjoy it, you can apply for a visa.

A lot of the earlier games(70's) are from the VFL(Victoria); then those into the 80's are from the Extended VFL, the precursor to the formation of the AFL. Originally, Aussie rules football was played in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia; Queensland and New South Wales were predominantly Rugby territory. There were clubs from the different states that had formed as early as the 1890's.