FOOTY : Australia’s Brand of Football Will Make U.S. Debut Oct. 17 at Coliseum

Australian Rules Football, previously seen in the United Stats only on television, will make its American debut Oct. 17 when two yet-to-be-announced teams meet for the Foster’s Cup at the Coliseum.

“Footy,” as it is called, combines the roughest elements of rugby, soccer and American football in 100-minute games, without the benefit of padding. There are nine men to a team and only two substitutes allowed for each team.

Players can not be ejected because of a rule infraction--even if they deliberately hit another player. Instead, violations are reported to club officials or the League Tribunal of the Victorian Football League.

Play is continuous with only a five-minute break at the end of the first and third quarters and a 20-minute break at halftime. There are no timeouts, injury or otherwise, at least until a stretcher is needed.

“I guess the best way to say it, is that footy is a tough game and there is a lot of hitting,” said David Grunwald, the former United States press representative of the VFL. “It’s also a team game and a lot more subtle than some of the descriptions would have you believe. If you ever see video highlights, all they show are the hits. But you could watch a whole game without seeing anything that bad happening.

“I like to think of it as a sportsman’s dream because it seems to have all the elements of sports--drama and high scoring and constant action and great plays. The game is very spectacular.”

The teams playing in the Saturday afternoon game in the Coliseum will have advanced from previous games in Vancouver, Canada, on Oct. 9 and London on Oct. 11.

Fourteen teams play in the 23-week schedule of the Victorian Football League, with the top five teams qualifying for the playoffs. The championship game is held on the last Saturday in September.