text: how poular is afl in other countries?   firstly to the shadow, you have no idea what afl is and what is the objective of the game is, and the irish media is pumping something that is part of the game, to something  that is out of this world. come on you people how soft do you want this game to be? international rules is crap and should be thrown out.   now whay, to answer your question our game the afl is growing and growing around the world, slowly but surely. here are some countries that do play our great game in a lower level :  modern era - the game begins abroad in the late 1980s, as distance became less of an obstacle, amateur teams were established in japan (1987), england, denmark and canada (1989).  in the 1990s, amateur competition has grown in countries such as sweden (1993), germany (1995), usa (1996), argentina, spain and samoa (1997), south africa (1998), as well as a number of solely expatriate teams, mainly based in south east asia.  since 2000, fledgeling competitions have been established in countries such as ireland (2000), tonga (2002), scotland, france and china (2005).  in 2006, pakistan, indonesia, catalonia, norway, bermuda and east timor joined the list of playing nations.  many of these were initially established by australian expatriates but collecting growing numbers of native players. in other countries, it grew out of afl exhibition matches, cult television following or internet communication. north american fans formed an organization, afana, specifically to work for improved media coverage of australian football. since the 1990s, the afl and other development bodies have contributed to the development the game overseas.  papua new guinea, new zealand, south africa, the united states, canada, japan and denmark in particular have shown strong growth and potential amongst local players.  i hope this helped you,   football is our game, and the afl is trying to show what our great game is all about to the world.