German students give AFL 9s a go
By Dalton Woods
Students from Bamberg University in Germany are in Australia to play a series of soccer matches against various universities around the country.
However, Prashanth Shanmugan, Chairman of the Young Members’ Committee at Tattersalls Club and a Sydney Swans ambassador, hoped to build stronger cross-cultural links between Germany and Australia.
He succeeded in doing this through an AFL 9s match, the nine a side, non-contact version of Australian Rules football.
Though an AFL 9s match is usually divided into two 20-minutes halves, this one was broken into four 15-minute quarters.
The players could not have asked for better weather as the two teams hit it out on a sunny Friday afternoon at Robertson Road fields in Moore Park.
The Germans were clearly excited to be playing this new sport, bolting out to an early lead after kicking four of the first five goals.
By half time the Aussies gained some composure and briefly held the lead, but in the end they were not able to match the enthusiasm or fitness of the Bamberg students.
Pulling ahead in the second half, the German delegation won the friendly encounter by 17 points.
After the match, the delegation attended a special cocktail reception in their honour at the Tattersalls Club.
