Saturday afternoon in Brisbane, and it was finally time to step into another side of Australian sport. After AFL, hockey, football, and NRL, today's basketball game offered a familiar rhythm but with a distinctly local twist. The Brisbane Bullets were hosting the South East Melbourne Phoenix at 4:30 pm, an early-season clash promising a fast, high-intensity spectacle on court.

Sunday afternoon in Brisbane, and my friends insisted it was finally time. After dipping my toes into AFL earlier this year, the other side of this country’s great sporting divide was calling. The Brisbane Broncos were hosting the Penrith Panthers in a Preliminary Final: a rematch of 2023’s Grand Final that had the whole city buzzing. Kick-off was set for 4:05 pm, the late-afternoon sun setting the perfect stage for a Queensland rugby league blockbuster.

I’ve watched a lot of football in my life. Mostly European, to be specific. In Köln, the average midtable game in February would comfortable draw fifty-thousand electric fans. So turning up to an Australia Cup Round of 32 tie between two semi-professional clubs in suburban Brisbane might seem like a strange decision. But as I've learned in my time here, the soul of the sport in this country very much resides below the top tier. And with two local teams in Brisbane Olympic and

On Sunday afternoon, I found myself at the O’Brien Icehouse in Melbourne’s Docklands, ticking off the second entry on my list of Australian sporting experiences. This time, it was ice hockey, a sport which is much less popular here, but one that I am more excited to attend.

The first article in a new series exploring the gameday experience at different Australian sports.