Aussie Rules football arrives in Huddersfield for the first time

Jul 2 2009 by Dougie Thomson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Morrison will also be coach of the Central Division Warriors, where the team will be made up of players from the League and compete for the British Cup in Reading. A number of the Rams players will be involved and will also be pushing for international honours, which demonstrates how far the team has come.

Rob Wakefield, one of Karl Haigh’s friends and ‘official’ No1 fan of the Rams, has been involved from the start.

“When Karl said he was starting the team I said that I would help out and support him,” said Wakefield.

“I’m not a sports fan but I have just been drawn into it. It’s different. It’s called Aussie Rules and it’s like there are no rules.

“Everyone is still learning the game and the scoring system as there are a lot of different signals with the flags to indicate how many points have been scored.

“Neil might say that Karl has been the driving force behind the team, but Neil has been a great help as well, teaching everyone about the game.”

Aussie rules is one of the fastest-developing sports in the country and Clark is hoping to expand the league and make it self sufficient with games and teams being run by mainly English people.

“We want the game and the leagues to be officiated by English people. Charlie Haigh (father of Karl) helped me in the game and I thought he did a sensational job,” added Clark.

“Being in charge of the game is a very difficult job and there are a lot of grey areas in the game. In Australia, the players tend to have a difference of opinion from us, so sometimes they like to give us feedback on how we are doing.

“In England, we are trying use the model used in rugby union where players respect the umpire and he is in charge. People will not want to get involved if they receive a lot criticism, so we are trying to change that here so that more people will want to take up the sport.”

So what next for The Rams?

“Our next goal is to find more sponsors for the team,” said Morrison.

“We have already had some help regarding the team strip and equipment, but we need more if we want to go to that next level.

“The staff and facilities at Huddersfield Rugby Union club are superb. They offer their support wherever they can.

“The main thing here is that we get people to come down and enjoy themselves. We get the barbecue going and have a laugh after the game because that is the main reason for taking part in a sport and being in a team.”

The next round of Central Division fixtures will be at Huddersfield Rugby Union club on Saturday July 18. Details at: www.huddersfieldramsaussierules.com

In 1858 Aussie Rules (or Australian football as it is known) was introduced to Victoria, Australia, by Tom Ellis as a way of keeping cricketers fit during the off season.

The Melbourne Football Club was formed on August 7, 1858 and the code’s first game was recorded between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School.

After an updated set of rules were put in place in 1866, the first League was established in 1896 where the founding clubs Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne, competed a year later in the Victorian League.

Interstate football between Victoria and South Australia started in 1899. In 1914 Victoria were playing in matches against Western Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland. New Zealand also fielded a team at the 1908 Jubilee Carnival in Melbourne.

The name of the league was changed in 1990 to the Australian Football League in recognition of its national status and celebrated their centenary year in 1996.