Aussie Rulz!

The Sydney Swans (I think)

Wellington had the opportunity to watch a sport as yet not often played in New Zealand even though it has

been played in Australia for 150 years or more. Aussie Rules, or more officially Australian Rules Football was played at our stadium for the first time. It was the Sydney Swans against the St Kilda Saints, both Australian teams. The Sydney Swans are hoping to make Wellington its second home and to play one or more games a year here to lift the sports profile in New Zealand.
As a result Wellington was filled with Australians over ANZAC Weekend and I spent an interesting evening in the stadium as a bar manager in a voluntary capacity, raising money for my dragon boat team.
Thank goodness the weather was mild as the players run about in sleeveless shirts called guernseys and short shorts. It is a very athletic game rather like rugby and basketball mixed up.

The game in full throttle.

As I minded my bar I tried to fathom out what was going on, alas without a lot of success. The goal posts have extra bits and I think you get more points if you kick the ball over the middle bit. The scoring board had three rows of figures for each side, the last one being the total score. The gentlemen playing the game in their little skimpy outfits were always worth a watch however.
They play four quarters which made my job harder as every half hour there was a break and everyone came out to fill up again. Therefore more alcohol was consumed, and also the game ended up going on for over two hours.
At one point a very intoxicated Australian lady was found in the toilets having fallen over. I deserted my post at the bar and escorted her to the first aid room. She wasn't drunk she told me, but just a bit dizzy and depressed. She had fallen out with her man but had decided to come over to New Zealand anyway for the holiday they had booked. She had obviously tried to drown her sorrows without success. I suggested she forget her Aussie bloke and look around for a Kiwi instead while she was here. This did not go down well and she flung herself on me for a big cry and cuddle and nearly knocked me flat as I was having trouble keeping her on her feet as it was. Fortunately I spied the information booth and we weaved over to the lady in charge there who fortunately had a wheelchair with her. We sat our sad lady down and called for the medics to come to us. I extricated myself from her and headed back to my bar not worse for wear but certainly damper.

Things were going well at the bar and people were generally in good spirits which were not totally of the alcoholic nature. The Australians were very curious about my role  and once I explained, they wanted me to check their IDs, see if they could still walk in a straight line and have me check that they had no more than four bottle of alcohol about their person. They found me and my job most amusing, but frankly I was 'over it' and was glad when we could finally shut down and I could clear off.
I checked in with the medics to check on my lady. They had dropped her off at her camper van. I privately hoped she did not wander out of her van and fall off the wharf during the night, but wandered down  town and found the perfect man instead.
I returned my gear and slipped into the stadium to watch for a bit. There seemed an awful lot of people on the pitch and not all of them players - water boys, coaching types and advisors also seemed to be trotting about as well as medics doing running repairs.

I had had a long day as I had been up at five am. to help organise and serve tea and coffee to officials and people who had attended the Dawn Service. I was on the coffee and rum stand and was most amused when a very high ranking police officer in the queue accepted his cup then as he left grabbed another cup and deftly added the tot of run in that cup into his own.
It was time to call it quits I thought and departed before the game ended to avoid the crowds. Will the game catch on here? I have no idea but it was certainly different, and in New Zealand's cooler climate those young men playing in their wee outfits could suffer purple knee and red nose syndrome, not to mention other pieces of anatomy also getting rather cold!