| Players Who Have Converted From One Football Code To Another |
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In some countries where the practice is common they are known simply as ''football code converts''. REASONS WHY PLAYERS CHANGE CODES Some reasons can be:
MAIN FOOTBALL CODES AND KEY ATTRIBUTES
FROM ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL Association football to American football Numerous American football placekickers grew up playing football (soccer); however, very few have competed at a very high level in their original code. A large number of the first "soccer-style" placekickers of the 1960s and early 1970s were Europeans and Latin Americans who changed codes in adulthood. Eventually, kickers who changed codes in adulthood were largely, though not completely, displaced by players who were either born and raised in the U.S. or immigrated to the U.S. at a relatively early age, thus receiving more exposure to American football than most of the first soccer-style placekickers. Association football to Australian rules football Although playing with different shaped ball and using the hands, there have been many Aussie Rules players who have played soccer at junior level. AFL players to have played soccer at junior level include Andrew McLeod , Clive Waterhouse , Adam Goodes , Adem Yze and Eddie Betts . Englishman Brad Moran converted in 2003 and Brad Green was trialled with Manchester United before switching codes. FROM AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL Australian rules football to American football The punting specialist position requires similar skills to those found in Australian football players. Salaries are up to 5 times higher and the position lends itself to longevity. Australian football players generally retire at around 30, whereas American football punters can play well into their 40s (in fact, one of the players listed below, Darren Bennett, played 11 seasons in the NFL after leaving behind an Australian rules career when he was nearing 30). Initially Australians sought out American football careers although now NFL scouts are more often actively seeking punters from Australia [http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17795003%255E20322,00.html Australian rules football to Association football The technique of kicking Grubber goals and Scissor Kick ing in Aussie Rules is similar to goal striking in soccer, and International Rules participation provides experience with the round ball and even Goal Keeping . Australian rules football to rugby union As in rugby league and Australian rules, early in the history of the two codes in Australia the two codes were interchangeable . Such is the divide today that comments from professional Australian rules players such as Jason Akermanis about switching codes are met with disbelief. Nevertheless, there are still some positions and roles that have commonalities (particularly those that involve kicking and catching such as the backs and second row in rugby union; half forwards and rucks in Australian Rules). {Link without Title} Also at amateur level, conversion is quite common, as in the case of many start-up Australian Rules clubs in countries such as . Australian rules football to rugby league Early in the history of the two codes in Australia, players would interchange the codes and even had discussions of merging them into a single game. {Link without Title} League great in Papua New Guinea. Likewise other players who hail from towns such as Wagga Wagga and Darwin , areas providing quality access to both codes and could draw on a combination of skills (such as Laurie Daley ). Players of both codes at Junior levels have included Peter Sterling (League) and Paul Kelly (AFL). Greg Brentnall played Australian Football in Riverina in the 1960s before turning down an offer to play in the VFL/AFL and switching to rugby league taking up a contract with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 1972. His ability to catch the highball made him a valuable fullback for many rugby league representative teams, and he represented Australia in rugby league. FROM GAELIC FOOTBALL Gaelic Football to Association football
Gaelic football to Australian rules football See Also: International Rules football See Also: Comparison of Australian rules football and Gaelic football Like rugby union and league, the two codes share similarities, making switching between them a possibility. International Rules representation for players of both codes is common. The Gaelic Athletic Association is fully amateur, meaning that there is a financial lure for players to compete in elite Aussie Rules competitions in Australia. {Link without Title} Gaelic football to Rugby Union Gaelic football to Rugby league FROM RUGBY UNION Rugby union to Association football Rugby league / rugby union See Also: Comparison of rugby league and rugby union Two of the closest codes, they share some similar skills. Until 1995 union was officially amateur and union players were offered money to switch codes. That trend has since reversed. Conversion from code to another is more difficult for ''forwards'' rather than ''backs'' where the similarities are most adjacent. It is worth noting that several players, including Iestyn Harris and Mat Rogers , have converted between the two codes on more than one occasion.
Rugby union to rugby league Rugby union to American football See Also: Comparison of American football and rugby union Rugby union and American football share the same origins, but have evolved into very different games. Both are very physical and require similar body types. Rugby union to Australian rules football In recent years, several schoolboy rugby union players have made a transition to Australian Rules, including Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Adam Campbell (who represented New Zealand at U15 level), Daniel Merrett , Brad Moran and Tom Williams who represented Queensland at U16 level. FROM RUGBY LEAGUE Rugby league to rugby union Rugby league to Australian rules football In recent years, several schoolboy rugby league players have made a transition to Australian Rules, including Paul Kelly , Kieren Jack , Matthew Whelan and Sam Gilbert whilst Wayne Carey from Wagga Wagga was exposed to rugby league at a young age. Converts to football codes to and from other sports Players who competed in both sports in college: Tony Gonzalez , Julius Peppers . This group of players, while small, is substantially larger than the first:
Hurling and Gaelic Football Dual Players Because Hurling and Gaelic Football are sister sports in Ireland the number of 'dual players' is almost endless. Previously it was common for players to play both sports simulaneously at the top level. Former Irish Taoiseach Jack Lynch won successive All-Irelands in Gaelic Football (one) and Hurling (five) in the 1940s. Only one person - Teddy McCarthy - won an All-Ireland in Hurling and Gaelic Football in the same year - 1990 with Cork . However in recent times this has become almost impossible as both games became ever more professional. The most recent player at the very top level is Sean Og Ó HAilpín who played in two All-Irelands for Cork in 2000. He has since only played hurling. As mentioned above his brother has converted to Australian Rules Football . SEE ALSO REFERENCES |
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