Lexicon CEO David Norcross sat down with Brendan Cunningham for a video filmed at Lexicon Podcast Studios.
Brendan was on hand to give an education in one of Australia’s greatest exports: AFL. Most non-Australians have only a passing knowledge of the game: the oval ball, the huge crowds, and the endless running.
But what about the history? And why do Australians treat the AFL Grand Final as something approaching a sacred holiday?
AFL (Australian Rules Football) has been around for more than 150 years. It began in Melbourne in the 1850s, when a group of cricketers wanted a winter sport to keep fit between seasons. What they created was a hybrid of rugby, soccer, and pure chaos that became one of the most popular sports in the world. By 1896, the Victorian Football League (VFL) had been established. Over the decades it grew, expanded interstate, and by the 1990s transformed into today’s AFL: a truly national competition with 18 teams representing every corner of Australia.
The game itself is like nothing else. Played on a massive oval, it demands speed, stamina, and strategy in equal measure. Players sprint, leap, and crash into one another for four quarters while trying to kick the ball through tall goalposts. The scoring system seems designed to confuse outsiders, but once explained, it makes sense. What really matters is the spectacle: the athleticism, the unpredictability, and the roar of a crowd that regularly tops 100,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Brendan walked David through all of it, from legendary clubs like Collingwood and Carlton to modern dynasties such as Hawthorn and Richmond. He explained why allegiances are inherited like family heirlooms, and why the Grand Final is the most-watched event in Australia every year.
This chat was perfectly timed. The AFL Grand Final takes place this weekend, and while David will not pretend to be an expert yet, he now understands why it matters so much. It is not just a game. It is a century-and-a-half-old tradition, a cultural glue, and, if Brendan’s passion is anything to go by, an obsession that will never fade.
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About the speakers.
David Norcross is CEO and Founder of Lexicon, Bangkok’s #1 Digital Storytelling agency.
Brendan Cunningham is Regional Business Development Director at ASW Consulting: a recruitment agency and headhunting firm in Vietnam and Thailand, focused on identifying and selecting the best talent for companies operating in (or establishing new entities) in Vietnam, Thailand, and the broader South East Asian region.
English