Garie Beach

What sports are popular in Australia?

I'm moving to Australia in July, most likely in Melbourne or Brisbane. I just want to know what sports are popular in Australia. All I know is that the Australian culture is all about beaches, beer, sports, and outdoors. In the states we watch a lot of basketball and football and its the only sport I know and understand. I wanna be able to adapt to the Australian culture and learn things. Can someone tell me more about things they do and most popular sports which I should learn about.... Thanks !!

Public Comments

1. Swimming I believe.
2. im pretty sure that volley ball and soccor are very common...
3. Aussie rules, rugby, cricket and football (soccer)
4. Rugby
5. Basketball is popular there, so you shouldn't have any problems finding a team to join. They don't play any american football, however there are similar sports, like rugby union and rugby league which are the main winter sports. another game that you might find interesting is aussie rules – a game they invented to make use of the cricket ovals during the winter.
6. Australian football is pretty big. It's kindof like American football and rugby combined. Rugby is played too, and swimming, surfing and running are also very popular. Also, have you tried vegemite yet? Australians are obsessed with it, it is a spread that goes on bread, and pretty much everything. You should try it now because it is a really hard taste for Americans to get used to. Tea is pretty big. Earl grey is the tea of choice and you put milk in it. Think British. A lot of what's big in Australia comes from Great Britain, suprise suprise. Be careful with the prisoner jokes. Apperently Australians don't think that it's as funny as we do that they were a prisoner island. :-) Good luck with the move! P.S. Ketchup is called tomato sauce
7. Rugby and barfighting.
8. Cricket, football (soccer), rugby, aussie football Snooker (a billiards game) Cooking on the Barby Fish and chips Beer vegemite Tea with milk and biscuits (cookies) water sports
9. CRICKET .. after Australias white wash in the ashes it has to be the most popular. If you move to Brisbane you can catch it at the Gabba .. Or Melbourne the MCG .. The respective state sides are the Bulls (QLD) and the Bushrangers (VIC)
10. Okay well we australians all play/watch/enjoy aussie rules football, cricket, rugby, some watch american sports too. australian food takes getting used to, its a lot blander than it is in the US, but still good (well i think so at least). i recommend sausage rolls they are fabulous. australian humor takes getting used to as well, we make weird jokes that americans dont always think is funny. we dont like kiwis (new zealander) we dont all fry shrimp on the barbie, we are not always on the beach, fosters still sucks down there too, and we are all very laid back and easy going. youll love it there, just relax and you will fit in no problem at all. i recommend bill brysons book, from a sunburned country before u get there to supplement ur knowledge, plus its a good read.
11. Here in australia most sports are popular. Rugy league, AFL, NRL, Tennis, Cricket. These days soccer is gaining in popularity too. There are area's that surfing and wakeboarding are popular- but it depends on where in australia you are moving too. One of your biggest problems will be dialect, we run all our words together, fail to articulate and use alot of slang. Oh course there are exceptions to the run, but generally speaking imagine really relaxed people..... some may even say Lazy- we say aware of priorities. Watch 'the nugget' 'crackerjack' and 'the castle'. that will give you a little insight into aussie humour and culture.