Hi everyone!

Some people say that one of the most important things you have to do before you move to Melbourne is choose a football team to support. Melbournians love football, and this time of year, many of us are consumed by what we call “finals fever.”

Firstly, a brief description of how AFL works:

规则介绍：

In the Australian Football League, there are currently 18 teams. Each team is only allowed 18 players on the field at any given time, and there are 23 rounds before the finals. The ball is oval-shaped and must be kicked through tall, white posts for the team to score. If the ball goes through the middle posts, this is a goal and the team is awarded 6 points, however, if it goes through the side posts, or hits the post, this is a behind, and the team is only awarded 1 point. AFL is a contact sport.

If you want to get talking about the football, a good place to start is by asking someone what team they support, and why they support that team. For instance:

Person A: “Which football team do you go for?”

Person B: “I go for the Geelong Cats, who do you go for?”

Person A: “I go for the Collingwood Magpies. Why did you start barracking for the Cats?”

Person B: “I come from a family of Cats fans, so I didn’t have much of a choice! How about you?”

Person A: “I researched the clubs before I came to Melbourne, and I liked the Collingwood team colours and theme song.”

Next, you could ask someone who their favourite player is. For instance:

Person A: “Who is your favourite player?”

Person B: “Definitely Patrick Dangerfield. He is Geelong’s vice captain, and he can play in many different positions, including midfield and full forward. He also won the Brownlow medal in 2016.”

I hope you have all learned a little bit about how to begin a conversation about the football. I have included a vocabulary list below. To those of you watching on the weekend, enjoy !