Be afraid AFL. Be very afraid.

Australia's bid to host the World Cup has already benefited football in this country. Football has been the most played sport in this nation for as long as we've been able to grow grass so I was surprised to learn from Jeff Kennett that there are still idiots out there who think that it is a minority sport. Thanks to the debate instigated by the Aerial Ping Pong autocracy and some of the more self serving NRL club bosses, Football's pre-eminence as a participant's sport and potential as a spectator sport in Australia is now more entrenched than ever in the minds of the public.

 It does seem to me however that AFL's attack on Football could be justified from a self serving basis where other sports are not. While AFL's chief Andrew Demetriou has been attacking the bid, NRL's boss David Gallop has been sitting back and saying 'show us the money', and the stadiums.

 The NRL has much to gain from a football world cup - in terms of stadiums, what's good for a football stadium will be good for a rugby stadium. More rectangular stadiums with the crowds close to the action is exactly what the NRL needs and FIFA's requirements for stadium capacities of 40,000 will accommodate even the most ambitious growth aspirations for the NRL and the A-League.

 Despite the worst off-field season in Rugby League's history, television ratings grew another 6% in 2009. It is a game tailor made for television. The heart of the action fits nicely on a television screen and for even the most un-educated rugby viewers it is a simple game to understand. It is much simpler than AFL, Rugby Union or Grid Iron, and it takes far less patience to watch than the 4 hour epic that is the Superbowl.

 The skills of Australian Rugby League players are also far superior to proponents of these other other sports. When the Kangaroos recently toured the UK, the more open minded Rugby Union commentators delighted at the skill displayed by this team and bemoaned the lack of entertainment in their own sport.

 AFL however does not have so much to benefit from the Football World Cup. It has long been the number one football code in the country in terms of spectators and its national reach is far greater and more effective than Rugby League's. It seems the only way for it to go from here is down. While Rugby League's ratings and game attendances grew in 2009, AFL's crowd attendances for the home and away matches stalled and the television ratings fell 4%.

 One of Rugby League's more controversial television commentators, Rex Mossop, referred to AFL as a game 'based on the mistakes of Rugby League'. It's not strictly true but it is true that AFL can be an ugly game as often as it can be beautiful. It is also our most inaccessible winter sport, a game that you really have to grow up with to understand. It's growth outside of Australia is limited to a curiosity on the televisions of London Pubs and despite being more like football than any other game, the crowds coming to the Football World Cup will only serve to expand the pool of people who misunderstand AFL.

 Don't get me wrong though, AFL is our own game and we should be proud of it. The NRL will never grow internationally beyond the borders of where Rugby is already played and it will never threaten the national level of penetration that the AFL has achieved. Football however, does have more potential as a truly national game and through the A-League and beyond to the English Premier League it is another great threat to AFL on the television sets of Australia.

 Andrew Demetriou and Jeff Kennett may sound closed minded and fear mongering but they have every reason to be afraid.