New team Vale Vikings aims to raise the profile of the sport in Penarth
IT’S a frosty Wednesday night in Penarth, and I’ve come to the Old Penarthians Rugby Club to witness a training session for new local Australian rules team, Vale Vikings.
Captain and coach Rhys Silver, 30, from Dinas Powys, has been playing “footy” for years but this is his first experience running a team in Penarth.
“I think a lot of people have a preconception of what Aussie rules is. They think it’s a sport that has no rules and is very aggressive.
“It’s very skilful, and it can get physical, but it’s no more physical than rugby I would say.”
Australian Rules Football, commonly referred to as Aussie Rules, is a contact sport in which two teams aim to score points by kicking a ball between two goal posts at either end of an oval pitch.
It has been played in Wales since 2007, run and managed by the Welsh Australian Rules Football League.
The league features teams from major cities in Wales but growth of the sport has benefitted from a unique way of founding new clubs.
Callum Newman, 30, from Barry, plays for the South Cardiff Panthers but is currently helping the Vikings out.
“There were quite a few teams when we first started, but then it dropped off some years later. Rhys was playing for the Panthers two years ago, and he decided that he wanted to form a new team,” he said.
“He was living in the Vale, hence, Vale Vikings.”
The idea of ex-players from one club deciding to set up new ones is well-founded in Wales.
“It’s growing very well like that in Wales. It’s a year-by-year process,” Callum says. “Next year we’re hoping to have the Gwent Tigers playing, because one of the Panthers players is moving out that way and wants to set up a team.”
I ask Callum that in a country currently gripped by Six Nations fever, what advantages does footy have over rugby?
After a short pause, he explains there is no need to choose between the two.
“The main rugby season ends when we start because they don’t like playing in the summer. We sometimes get a nice overlap where they come down and play in the off-season and have a good time.
“There’s disconnects too, where of course rugby players will try and throw the ball when you can only punch it in Aussie rules, but it’s all good fun. Most of us have a background in rugby and we’ve played rugby for a lot of our lives, so it’s very easy to make the switch to footy.”
As with all contact sports, Australian rules football has its fair share of injuries but Callum says they are just as bad as those you can pick up in rugby or football. During our interview, one of the players overhears us and shouts: “He’s made of balsa wood!” which Callum laughs off.
“Since I started playing this game I’ve chipped my clavicle, broken my tibia, and tore my meniscus, but I used to play basketball, a non-contact sport, and I broke both my wrists and ankle in that. Every sport has their own risks – if you get better at them you don’t get hurt.”
Every sport has their own risks – if you get better at them you don’t get hurt.”
Callum Newman
One of Vale Vikings’ newest members, Rob, 30, from Bridgend is flagging during a particularly intense fitness drill, and lets out a sigh of relief when I ask if he’s free for a few moments to chat.
“I’ve been playing rugby down here for the last few years, so I thought I’d give this a bit of a go as well. It’s different in some ways but the same in others, there’s a few transferrable skills like positional play and kicking, but the fitness levels are a lot more intense in Aussie Rules,” he said.
“My best advice to a potential new recruit would be just to come down, have a training session and watch a game. Everybody down here is more than happy to help out. We’re all learning and helping each other as we go.”
Both Rhys and Callum believe that spreading the word about Aussie rules will lead to greater engagement with the sport.
Callum explains: “If you’re comfortable playing, you can play. It’s the kind of sport where it’s got a really good culture, you can train together, do socials together, and have a good time with a nice group of people.”
Anyone wanting to get involved with the Vikings can do so by messaging them on Instagram.
