Rugby Time

Last weekend was the National Rugby League Grand Final game here in Sydney.  We got tickets to watch the Manly Sea Eagles (one of our local teams) play the New Zealand Warriors.  The weather was forcast to be rough, 61 with thunderstorms and wind.  I got bundled up for the game since it was only going to get colder.  My very cold-natured self wore 2 pairs of socks, leggings under my jeans, 2 camisoles, one long sleeve t-shirt, a sweater, coat, and scarf.  All of you northerners are now laughing at the amount of clothing I had on, but that's ok, I was comfortable.
After about a 1 hour train ride we arrived at the stadium which was built for the Olympics in 2000.  Prior to the game Kelly Clarkson sang a song from her new album.  Then it was time for 80 minutes of rugby.  I don't really understand the game all that much so this should be a good blog.  For those who understand rugby, I apologize for my terminology in advance.

Field

A Warrior fan in front of us.  He had his face painted and his own song.

 Warrior performing "haka" before the game.

Game time. 

To start the game there is a kickoff just like football. The object of the game is to get the ball to the end zone, but instead of calling it a touchdown it is called a "try" when they get the ball to the end of the field. After they get their "try" they then kick the ball between 2 posts for a goal. For each successful "try" they score 4 points and for each goal they score 2 points. The team with the ball gets a total of 5 attempts to score regardless of where they get the ball. 

An attempt is when they run with full force with the ball until they are tackled by the other team. Once the guy is on the ground they kick the ball behind them for a teammate to pick up for another attempt. It is a very fast paced game and the clock doesn't stop. Much faster than a football game. The players also wear no padding whatsoever. There were a few injuries. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the one guy they showed up on the screen with blood running down his face. They had to force him off the field. These guys are crazy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_rugby_league_terms





Kickoff!

Here is a series of plays:



 The player takes the ball from the previously tackled player.

 The player throws the ball to another player, always throwing behind him.  No forward passes allowed.

 Now the guy runs full speed ahead.

 And bam...he is tackled to the ground.

Although this looks like a huddle and also how I referred to it, it is actually called a scrum.  So I will refer to this as scrumming, if that even is a word. 

At half time they had an army helicopter fly into the field.

 Manly scores!

Celebrating the victory!  Manly wins!

Final score 24 to 10!

81,986 of our closest friends were at the game.

I have to say it was a pretty fun time despite the fact that I don't fully understand the game.  The crowd was entertaining, they really get in to the game.  They also do an insane amount of drinking, most of that occurred before the game even started.