Australian rules football is one of the nation's favourite pastimes. It is a game steeped in and sustained by its tradition, beloved for its singularity as much as its spectacle.
However, this has rarely hindered those in charge of the country's most-watched code from attempting to edit its foundations. History is littered with ill-fated, albeit well-intentioned experiments, undertaken for a variety of reasons. Some were executed in an effort to broaden the game's appeal to the dormant masses, particularly in the northern frontier; some were an attempt to level the playing field, while others were in aid of globalising this uniquely Australian sport.
We're counting down 10 of these AFL experiments, and casting a verdict on their respective efficacies.
Forking out on code hoppers
Rugby league superstars Karmichael Hunt and Israel Folau were paid upwards of $1 million per season to be the faces of the AFL's expansion clubs.
Neither cut the mustard.
Hunt played 44 games across four seasons at Carrara, contributing to just six victories for a hapless Gold Coast Suns outfit. He would defect again, to rugby union, after the 2014 AFL season, playing for the Wallabies on six occasions.
An inaugural Giant, Folau played 13 times in GWS' first season, contributing to one victory, and registering 10 or more disposals just twice. His experiment lasted three seasons fewer than Hunt's, with Folau suiting up for the NSW Waratahs, a rugby union side, from 2013, until 2019. Folau's Wallabies career was far more successful than Hunt's, with the controversial figure donning the green and gold 73 times, before the termination of his contract with Rugby Australia, following his outspoken condemnation of homosexuality.
Fair to say the AFL did not get what they paid for. However, it put paid to the notion that rugby league players could easily adapt to the code.
Verdict: 1/10. Not all publicity is good publicity.
