Global Invasion: NFL Gatecrashes the MCG as Local Codes Face an Existential Reckoning

The National Football League is being played in Australia for the first time, with the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers set to play a regular-season game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Tickets to the historic match sold out in under half an hour, but the spectacle has triggered a deeper debate: are the AFL and NRL losing their grip on the next generation of Australian athletes? An AFR editorial warns that if the global sports explosion encourages youngsters to look overseas...