Aussies Show Americans How to Play Football. SuperBowl

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Las Vegas bookmakers have Sav Rocca's Philadelphia Eagles red hot favourites to defeat Ben Graham's Arizona Cardinals and book a place in next month's Super Bowl.

The former AFL stars turned gridiron punters go head-to-head in Sunday's (Monday 7am AEDT) sudden death National Football Conference (NFC) title game in Phoenix , Arizona.

The winner will become the first Australian to play in the National Football League's (NFL) Super Bowl.

Graham, a former captain and star centre half-forward for Geelong, says his Cardinals team is used to being written off despite upset victories in playoff games the past two weeks.

"We can't control the oddsmakers," Graham told AAP.

Bookmakers along the Vegas strip have the Eagles at around 1/2 to win, with the Cardinals at 13/8.

Last week the Cardinals knocked out the heavily-backed Carolina Panthers 33-13.

"Obviously last week going to the east coast and beating a team that hasn't been beaten at home in a playoff game was a great win for the team and now to have the NFC championship game here at home with our home crowd at their very loudest, it's fantastic," Graham said.

"But we still have a lot of work to be done."

Rocca, one of the great goalkickers in AFL history after a 14 year career with Collingwood and North Melbourne, has also had to overcome plenty of knockers on the way to the NFC game.

Rocca's Eagles limped into the playoffs, but with quarterback Donovan McNabb back in form defeated Super Bowl favourites New York Giants last week 23-11.

Eagles team officials said Rocca, inundated with Australian media interview requests the past week, imposed a media ban ahead of the Cardinals' game.

However, Rocca's special teams coach has been full of praise for the punting power of opponent, Graham.

"He's a very effective punter," Eagles special-teams coordinator Rory Segrest, speaking about Graham, told the Philadelphia Daily News.

"He can punt the ball way down the field.

"He has great leg strength and can get the ball hung up there very well."

Graham, who has been open to the media, said he hopes the Australian match-up increases the profile of the game in his homeland.

"I hope it means more people in Australia follow the NFL, not just when the Super Bowl is on," Graham said.

"I hope they follow a team, get to know the players and understand the game."

The Pittsburgh Steelers host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday (Monday AEDT) to decide the other team contesting the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl will take place February 1 in Tampa Bay, Florida.

I don't understand Gridiron, but it is great too see Aussies doing well, in Gridiron.

[Rodp]

Doing well in Gridiron? They're Punters. Their sole responsibility is to kick the ball about 6 times a match - well, ok they have to catch the ball first. So they now have two roles. Walk onto the field, catch the ball, kick the ball, walk off the field - make that 4 roles.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Rodp

Doing well in Gridiron? They're Punters. Their sole responsibility is to kick the ball about 6 times a match - well, ok they have to catch the ball first. So they now have two roles. Walk onto the field, catch the ball, kick the ball, walk off the field - make that 4 roles.

Yep, punters aren't the most highly respected grid iron players that for sure.

[MITCHAY]

Pffft NFL is a joke :

The only thing NFL offers better than the codes here, is the pay :

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

Pffft NFL is a joke :

The only thing NFL offers better than the codes here, is the pay :

I'm not so sure about that.

I used to look down at the sport until I took the time to understand it. Quite honestly, I find the game much more interesting than the football codes in Australia. IMO, it's a more skillful game than AFL and a more brutal than League and Union.

Had several of the AFL guys been recruited to play in the offensive line, I'd be impressed. Punters, yawn - though, they're probably paid more to spend less than 60 seconds on the field than the best payed AFL player in the league.

[burnz]

the NFL player's are very protected with all that wuss gear they wear.
the ozzy team should be afl for the kicker's 1/4 back's and nrl for the block/defense.

i think the nfl would do better in their off season learning afl/nrl without the wuss gear they wear.....harden up

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by burnz

the NFL player's are very protected with all that wuss gear they wear.
the ozzy team should be afl for the kicker's 1/4 back's and nrl for the block/defense.

i think the nfl would do better in their off season learning afl/nrl without the wuss gear they wear.....harden up

It's been awhile since I watched a show called Sport Science where they measured the tackle power of an NFL player versus IIRC a Union player. The force of the NFL tackle was roughly 3 times that of the Union player.

There is no requirement to wrap up the ball carrier to nullify the play, they just need to make a knee touch the ground. The preferred method to do this is brute force. If the pads were removed, the nature of the game would change considerably.

Sticking NRL players in an NFL defensive line, I doubt many would be large enough or strong enough for the job. The reverse would be much the same.

[aye you]

while NFL may look more brutal, and it has been proven by sport scientists, there is a certian mental edge to their ability to pull off the big hits due to their padding. Mentally they know they won't be hurt as much as they would if they tried the same things without pads. NRL and ARU players still have a more brutal impact but because they don't have the padding, it happens on a less frequent scale.

That been said but someone like Sonny Bill, Loti Tequri or Karmichael Hunt into them pads and watch them destroy the defensive line

[scoupedy]

Originally Posted by Rodp

It's been awhile since I watched a show called Sport Science where they measured the tackle power of an NFL player versus IIRC a Union player. The force of the NFL tackle was roughly 3 times that of the Union player.

There is no requirement to wrap up the ball carrier to nullify the play, they just need to make a knee touch the ground. The preferred method to do this is brute force. If the pads were removed, the nature of the game would change considerably.

Sticking NRL players in an NFL defensive line, I doubt many would be large enough or strong enough for the job. The reverse would be much the same.

Sounds like some one that knows what they are talking about.....
Many running backs and line backers are very big units (110kg+) and run the 40 yard dash in around 4 seconds. this is like a jonah lomo (sp) type that can run a 10.5-11 sec 100m

The tackling laws are very liberal the only rules that i know of is: no head down spear tackles and you cant grab the helmet mesh. other than that everything else is legal including the girly rugby rules of can't tackle when player is in the air.

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by scoupedy

Sounds like some one that knows what they are talking about.....
Many running backs and line backers are very big units (110kg+) and run the 40 yard dash in around 4 seconds. this is like a jonah lomo (sp) type that can run a 10.5-11 sec 100m

The tackling laws are very liberal the only rules that i know of is: no head down spear tackles and you cant grab the helmet mesh. other than that everything else is legal including the girly rugby rules of can't tackle when player is in the air.

Indeed. Lomu would have probably been an average sized running back.

Those that want to compare AFL and NRL to NFL and then call them girls because they wear pads don't really have an appreciation of the game. I don't blame them really, initially it can be a hard game to get into seeing as we're an all action football loving society but it does pay rewards as it is an exceptional game. I once called them nancies for wearing pads.

The nature and disciplines of each game would largely proclude them from switching codes all that easily. There's certainly a lot more dollars in the NFL and if there were viable candidates in the NRL, they'd be scouted in an instant. Due to intensity, injury and skill of the game, the average NFL career is 3.5 seasons long. Compare that to the NRL.

[Wally]

I think AFL is highly underestimated in terms of personal injury:

AFL injury

ARL Injury

[AusM]

Graham is 50/50 to play due to 'niggling groin injury'... the same one he's had for 10 year no doubt!

[csv8]

I could post the womens gridiron site but mods would delete it.
Women play gridiron in bikinis. just google womens gridiron !!!

NFL is the real deal ...just ask the ones that have gotten seriously hurt