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What’s Up With The AFL?
Association football is played all over the world, and nearly every country has a football league of their own that governs the rules of the sport and manages the top professional teams. In Australia, we play a variant of football known as Australian rules football, which differs from standard football in a number of critical ways, such as the lack of a goalkeeper, a larger score per goal, and unlimited height for each of the goals.
The governing body of Australian rules football is the Australian Football League (AFL). The AFL started as the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1877, intended to be the administrative body for the then-budding sport of Australian footy in Victoria. The VFA later evolved into the Victorian Football League (VFL), and in the 1980s, its team membership expanded beyond the borders of the state, becoming a truly national league. The VFL officially became the AFL in 1990 as its cross-country membership came into focus.
Today, the AFL is a huge, fully national league with a bigger turnover and larger geographical reach than the National Rugby League (NRL).
In 2017, the AFL Women’s League was launched to accommodate the growing pool of women’s players and professional teams.
The Hottest AFL Players
9. Daniel Giansiracusa
Height: 182 cm
Weight: 80kg
Relationship status: Married
This former Western Bulldogs player shows that you don’t need to be one of those young, chiselled, shirtless AFL players to be sexy. At 37 years of age, Daniel Giansiracusa, now a coach for his former team, has that hyper attractive salt-and-pepper look which only seems to get hotter with age.
8. Josh Gibson
Height: 189cm
Weight: 93kg
Relationship status: Possibly single
Josh Gibson is the embodiment of ‘tall, dark, and handsome’. A former Roos and Hawks player, he won two Peter Crimmins Medals during his time playing for Hawthorn. We’re still not quite sure whether we prefer his current look or the afro that he was famous for in the 2000s.
7. Simon Black
Height: 185cm
Weight: 81kg
Relationship status: Married
From award-winning Lions player to Lions coach, baby-faced Simon Black had a charmed 15-year career with the Brisbane team. Today, he runs the Simon Black Australian Rules Academy, where he helps students finish their university programs while working on a professional football career.
6. Alan Didak
Height: 184cm
Weight: 85kg
Relationship status: Married
Former Magpies player Alan Didak had a wonderful career from 2001-2013, and even won Collingwood’s Copeland trophy. Couple that with his stunning looks – a product of his Croatian heritage – and you have a recipe for one heck of a dreamboat.
5. Jamie Elliott
Height: 178cm
Weight: 81 kg
Relationship status: Possibly single
The youngest player on our list, Magpies player Jamie Elliott is a rising star in the team, held back by a couple of injuries in 2018 and 2019. He’s got a sort of boyish, charming, Chris Pine look to him – but does that mean he’s got a future as captain?
4. Luke Hodge
Height: 186cm
Weight: 92kg
Relationship status: Married
Luke Hodge started his career with the Hawks, winning the club’s Peter Crimmins Medal and even spending five years as captain. In 2017, he traded to the Lions and has since received praise for his glowing performance in the new team.
3. Kurt Tippett
Height: 202cm
Weight: 105kg
Relationship status: Possibly single
From under-18 basketball to professional football; from the Crows to the Swans, Kurt Tippett has had a pretty dynamic athletics record. Sadly, multiple injuries have hampered his career and his future is uncertain following a retirement announcement and then a Swans draft in 2018.
2. Marc Murphy
Height: 180cm
Weight: 80kg
Blues player Marc Murphy is the son of Hall-of-Famer John Murphy, whose career highlights included captainship of Fitzroy, and winning the Wander Medal during his time with the Robins. Marc’s own career is no less impressive than his father’s, with captainship of the Blues and two John Nicholls Medals.
1. Buddy Franklin
Height: 199cm
Weight: 107kg
Relationship status: Married
Standing a magnificent two meters tall, Lance “Buddy” Franklin doesn’t just seem like a good looking, giant brick of a man – he’s got the stats to back it up as well, and is sometimes considered to be the greatest forward player of the current generation. With 940 goals across his entire career, he’s ranked seventh in the list of goalkickers in the history of the AFL.
Honourable Mentions: The Women Of The AFLW
We’ve just gone through a list of some hot AFL players, but it’s kind of a sausage fest in here. Let’s give some love to the hot footy players over at the AFLW.
3. Nicola Stevens
Height: 174cm
Weight: 68kg
In her first and only year playing for the brand-new Magpies women’s team, Nicola Stevens won their best and fairest award. She then moved to the Carlton team, where she also played for the VFL Women’s team. She’s also a part of the AFL Women’s All-Australian team.
2. Ebony Marinoff
Height: 169cm
Relationship status: Possibly single
Ebony Marinoff has been playing football since she was five. Since then, she’s played for Adelaide, nabbed the AFL Women's Rising Star award, and even played in the All-Australian team.
1. Erin Phillips
Height: 173cm
Weight: 77kg
Relationship status: Married
Erin Phillips has played basketball professionally in the WNBA and WNBL, and even played in the FIBA and the Olympics for the Australian team. Then, when she switched to football and played for the Adelaide Crows in the AFLW, she landed the AFLW Players’ MVP twice. All the while being one of the best looking players in the League. She’s definitely a keeper for fellow Adelaide Lightning teammate Tracy Gahan.
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