Aussie rules tops ladder for popular sports

AUSTRALIAN rules, rules.

The nation’s homegrown football code has trumped all other sports in a new survey in which Aussies were asked to pick their favourite game.

In the exclusive survey for News Corp, YouGov asked 2297 Australians to pick their number one favourite sport from a list that included four codes of football, netball, tennis, cricket and surfing.

Aussie rules was the runaway winner, with 23 per cent of the national vote.

It was also the dominant sport in most states, selected by 41 per cent of respondents in Victoria and Western Australia, 38 per cent in South Australia and 35 per cent in Tasmania.

In Queensland, Australian rules was second only to rugby league, while in NSW it finished fourth, after league, tennis and cricket.

Rugby league was the nation’s second-most popular sport overall, with 13 per cent of the vote, while tennis received 11 per cent, cricket got 10 per cent and football (soccer) managed 8 per cent.

Sydney University sports expert Dr Steve Georgakis said the dominance of Australian rules football was not surprising, partly because of work the AFL had done behind the scenes over many years.

“The AFL embarked upon a program of becoming the national game in the early ’80s,” he said.

“The way they’ve done that is that they’ve diversified. They’ve got the AFLW, they’ve got diversity programs, they’ve engaged with Indigenous communities, and they’ve cleverly made inroads into the rugby states – and they’ve primarily done that at the grassroots level.”

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said that there was “no doubt” AFL’s success was based on that grassroots activity.

“The support we enjoy is a direct result of the passion and commitment of the thousands of hardworking volunteers at Auskick clinics and community clubs across Australia who continue to inspire kids and ensure our game is accessible, inclusive and fun for all,” he said.

The number of girls and women participating in the game had doubled from 300,000 to 600,000 in the past six years, and the code was also enjoying strong growth in Queensland and NSW, Mr McLachlan said.

Cricket’s position at number four on the list was a surprise, Dr Georgakis said, but soccer’s position further down the list was not a shock. While it is indisputably “the world game,” it has never become the most popular sport in former British colonies, he said.

While the results of the YouGov survey revealed a nation in love with sport, it also showed the feeling wasn’t quite ubiquitous.

Twenty-eight per cent of respondents said they liked none of the listed sports.