Episodes
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2026 AFL Grand Final Recap: “When Am I Gonna Get Grandchildren?”
This episode features a lot of music, a healthy dose of bells, and our experiences with the craziest Grand Final we've experienced yet! Kylie had a bookend presence, and of course Wharfie Time will forever be tied to Freo's late collapse. We also give our postmortems for both the Lions and…
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2026 AFL Preliminary Finals Recap: “Would’ve Been the Bahama Quadrangle”
This title refers to both Nickelodeon nostalgia and umpiring. Go figure! Prelim weekend delivered easily the best combined action of our seven years watching this sport, and we go over all of it, plus other newsworthy items and postmortems for the losets.
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2026 AFL Semi-Finals Recap: “Identity Theft Is Not a Joke”
Millions of families suffer every year… just like [insert quantity] of Rams fans suffered after their team neglected Australia for as long as possible, despite it being their designated market. Yup, we lead off with a heavy dose of NFL talk, then bridge into the footy kind of like a fellow Bay…
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2026 AFL Finals Week 2 Recap: “I Didn’t Say Good Luck”
Ethan decided to pull a Scott Pendlebury and manage himself to bring up the big 300 at home! While this weekend lacked any heart-palpitation-inducing finishes, there was enough satisfaction to be had across the four-game slate, particularly for our holder host on Friday. Saturday's qualifier...
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2026 AFL Wild Card Recap: “Checks Smudged Handwriting on Left Hand”
Like or not, the wild card games are here to stay after the exceptional product and drama we saw on Friday and Saturday. We rejoice because of friend of the program Arty Jones, while we lament the Dees doing largely what we expected. Postmortems for the losers are included per usual for our…
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2026 AFL “So You Didn’t Crack the 10,” Part 2: “Bleed Someone Else’s Blood”
Our postmortems for the teams that missed out on finals continue here, including Benjamin's long-awaited lashing out against a whole lot of folks in blue and gold. We also provide reasons why each of the 10 finalists can and can't win the flag; stick around until the end for that!
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2026 AFL “So You Didn’t Crack the 10,” Part 1: “Best Cost Performance”
Safe to say the teams we’re talking about in this episode did not live up to the title quote. As we do every year, we give postmortems for the teams that failed to make finals, because when history is written by the winners, someone needs to talk about the losers. Part 2 coming soon!
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2026 AFL Round 24 Recap: “They Don’t Call Him Taylor Chairer”
Back to bad pun areas with Ethan, I see. The deadest of closing rounds in recent memory still had a decent bit going on, particularly Saturday as the 5 to 10 spots were sorted out. The league probably didn’t get what they wanted in terms of matchups, but they’ll be able to steer clear of a…
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2026 AFL Round 23 Recap: “He Looks Like Beavis”
Now which player is the subject of this revelation? This was a bit of an awkward episode to record, because it’s hard to stay lighthearted when something as grave as the Swans scandal arises. We did our best, though, to keep the focus on the good of football this past week, including Draw FC’s...
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2026 AFL Round 22 Recap: “Interesting Wet Fart”
…yeah, this title is Benjamin’s doing, but it does describe a lot of the weekend’s action. Thank goodness Round 22 got off to such a compelling start in comparison. The Great Bulldog Conspiracy Against Themselves is alive and well, but so is the might of George Wardlaw, even in limited time....
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2026 AFL Round 21 Recap: “Local Medical Facility”
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AmericansFooty to get more of our footy content (and other musings) throughout the week!
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2026 AFL Round 20 Recap: “We Battled! We Battled!”
While Ethan is on the road, our thoughts drift to future footy pilgrimages (s/o Craig). We had polar opposite experiences on Friday, and Benjamin made sure to experience the game that overlapped his in full after the fact. The rest of the round didn’t do as much for us, aside from the finale…
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2026 AFL Round 19 Recap: “Bad Bread All Around”
A tamer Round 19 by our standards is supplemented by cricket (what an atmosphere and match to finish the MLC campaign), rugby, and the Australia v Ireland women’s game. Not to say we weren’t surprised by some of the men’s footy — Friday night in particular took us for a spin. Ethan metaphorically...
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2026 AFL Round 18 Recap: “Time to Get Demonetized”
We’re both back home after enjoying a pretty intense round of footy elsewhere. This time, Benjamin was the one to stay awake for the weeknight comeback. We start with a lengthy segment on that game and its many successes, the start of four pretty intense games to open the slate. Then the round…
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2026 AFL Round 17 Recap: “Never Can Say Goodbye”
Back to full rounds and full American-ness! Both brothers lament their teams’ horrific starts, and Ethan inadvertently ventures into theories of social contagion. At least they can both laugh at whatever happened in Launceston and enjoy the Spencer Memorial Game. Enjoy our first ever Double…
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2026 AFL Round 16 Progress Reports: “World’s Smallest Violin”
One more round of bye-week reports before full rounds return! It’s Vic bias by default, but at least we weren’t the ones to celebrate Saints legend Jamie Cripps. Can you name all the double-digit goal kickers for the four teams discussed as Benjamin quizzes Ethan once more? Follow us on Twitter…
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2026 AFL Round 16 Recap: “…Takes Strike One!”
Benjamin went to the Socceroos match and saw only a bit more than the nothing that showed up on the scoreboard. At least there were enough goals in Round 16 to satiate him… almost. And even when a team only scored three goals, he got a kick out of it. Ethan questions how impressive the Lions...
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2026 AFL Round 15 Progress Reports: “To Be Contondered”
Round 15’s byes were… polar, if you will: two perennial contenders and two clubs that have been limping to the barn each of the past few seasons. At least one of the latter is West Coast, so Benjamin can talk a lot about what he sees. Ethan also gets tested on double-digit goal scorers, to mixed...
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2026 AFL Round 15 Recap: “Source: I Totally Made It Up”
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AmericansFooty to get more of our footy content (and other musings) throughout the week!
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2026 AFL Round 14 Progress Reports: "D'Ambrosio… Fantasia… Tshabalala"
Fun with names goes across cultures and codes. Round 14's crop of byes leaves three buzz-worthy Victorian clubs and the ladder leaders out of the action. We set the table for their coming clashes and highlight the good, the bad, and the awkward for each. Also, go Maroons.
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2026 AFL Round 14 Recap: "Hi Again, Murph!"
Is it a bit? Who even knows at this point with that guy? Either way, Port and Sydney have had some fun clashes in recent years, and we can add another to that list. That helped us forget about some of the disappointment of Thursday's hyped-up clash, as well as Waterman pissing away another game…
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2026 AFL Round 13 Progress Reports + SDNR Jumper Rankings: “Hi John”
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AmericansFooty to get more of our footy content (and other musings) throughout the week!
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2026 AFL Round 13 Recap: “You Are Getting Very Sleepy”
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AmericansFooty to get more of our footy content (and other musings) throughout the week!
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2026 AFL Round 12 Progress Reports: “…Do All Three?”
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AmericansFooty to get more of our footy content (and other musings) throughout the week!
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2026 AFL Round 12 Recap: "The Ducks"
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AmericansFooty to get more of our footy content (and other musings) throughout the week!
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2026 AFL Round 11 Recap: Thank You, Neale
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AmericansFooty to get more of our footy content (and other musings) throughout the week!
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2026 AFL Round 10 Recap: “Cracking” Redux
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AmericansFooty to get more of our footy content (and other musings) throughout the week!
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2026 AFL Round 9 Recap: "Tried to Get Froggy"
Ribbit. Ribbit. One Lion was prepared for Carlton terries in what we soon found out was Voss' last as coach. Good riddance. Also in this episode: a return to form for Geelong, a near-miss for Draw FC, and a couple Bay Area high school tangents that may or may not relate to the footy.
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2026 AFL Round 8 Recap: "Aura May Be the Incorrect Word"
We've got our NPR voices ready for one of our absolute favorite bits… but that's just a snippet of a marathon episode about a round that started off as well as any in recent memory, included a lot of personal disappointment for both hosts, and ended… better than lukewarm.
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2026 AFL Round 7 Recap: "The Whole 2π Radians"
Around the league we go again in a week that saw utter disappointment from our two teams, mind-boggling decisions from officials in more ways than one, and a few sterling performances that deserve 3 or 10 votes depending on what award you're thinking of.
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2026 AFL Round 6 Recap, Part 2: "Four Could Be a Fanny Pack"
Alternate Title: "Kindly Deeds Done for Free." Both come from Ethan. We continue our discussion of Round 6 with the final two games of Behind Saturday. Sunday was like a sandwich with high-quality meat on bread that was not up to the task. Heck, maybe even the bread was a little off, because it…
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2026 AFL Round 6 Recap, Part 1: "Don't Litigate and Drive"
Round 6 was so full that we decided to split up our recap, instead of having a marathon episode of even greater length than our earlier ones this season. The Blues are the Blues and of course Collingwood got involved in another after-siren finish, but that isn’t even the main story from Thursday....
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2026 AFL Round 5 Recap: "When Should We Start to Worry?"
Gather Round 4.0 is in the books, and we hope it (mostly) sticks in SA. The result of the Saturday night "main event" wasn't surprising, but it leaves us with lots of questions about how dire the Bulldogs' situation really is. Plus, Alex Pearce did it again, the Blues can't get out of their own...
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2026 AFL Round 4 Recap: "Just Give Them a Propeller Hat"
This is much more than your regular recap: we're truly going international this time! Ethan has launched a brilliant initiative, and Benjamin is completely on board. Plus, our commiserations on both our teams losing in very different embarrassing ways, and all sorts of fun with derpy moments and...
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2026 AFL Round 3 Recap: "Nothing to Do with Shooting an Alligator"
I mean, most of footy doesn't have to do with that. Neither does someone wiping blood on an opponent, though, and that happened this week. Tristan Xerri will make us remember this round for a while, but so will West Coast's Jobe Shanahan, and so too will the Blues and their legendary collapse.
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2026 AFL Round 2 Recap: "Say All of Them in One Breath"
Spring has arrived in America, and the first Eagles win has arrived in Perth — both worthy causes for celebration. Fourth quarters turned every which way in Round 2 and occupy much of our focus, particularly in the round bookends and the Showground tilt. …Oh, and Essendon got blasted on the oval...
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2026 AFL Round 1 Recap: "Jungle Bird!"
So much for noises of affirmation or dissent… what about when you need to express something but don't know what to use? Thankfully, we've got plenty to express after a full round of footy. The Thursday opener reminded all doubters how a season should truly start, while the Cats shook off a rough...
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2026 AFL Opening Round Recap: "Any Animal Tooth Will Do"
We're back at long last, ready for another season! Benjamin has gotten into teaching, and he and Ethan are knee-deep into state basketball playoffs, but the footy consumes all. Find out our initial thoughts on new rules, takeaways from the first five games, and our picks for round awards.
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2025 AFL Grand Final Recap: "Embarrassment of Riches"
The Lions reigned supreme, much to Ethan's chagrin and somewhat to Benjamin's surprise. We discuss our different Grand Final viewing experiences and tie up some season-long narratives.
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2025 AFL Preliminary Finals Recap: "Not This Year, M*****f*****s"
Not sorry, says Ethan! The largest prelim crowd in 54 years saw Victoria's best rivalry (no, we're not biased, why?) go the Cats' way, with a healthy helping of Dangerfield. The next night, an all-feline Grand Final was confirmed. Keep listening for our postmortems of the prelim losers, as well…
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2025 AFL Semi-Finals Recap: "We Got […] Before GTA VI"
And then there were four. Drama decided to take a pass on the semi-finals, but we've still got plenty to break down. Plus, we look at other codes, marveling at the oddities in multiple forms of football.
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2025 AFL Finals Week 1 Recap: "Don't Say the [CENSORED] Word"
Well, that was… fun? If you were a completely neutral party, I'd definitely say Saturday's eliminators were. However, given our respective interests, we hold reservations. Ethan also turned against a (former) favorite of his — learn who it was and more here!
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2025 AFL "So You Didn't Crack the 8," Part 2: "Mysterious…"
With the home-and-away season done and dusted, it's time to look back at those clubs sitting on the sidelines in September. We begin to give the losers their due in this annual two-part event!
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2025 AFL "So You Didn't Crack the 8," Part 1: "A Bit of a Compromise"
With the home-and-away season done and dusted, it's time to look back at those clubs sitting on the sidelines in September. We begin to give the losers their due in this annual two-part event!
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2025 AFL Round 24 (mostly) Recap: "Forgot to Say Clear"
Yeah, a couple clubs did some obvious things to actively avoid victory here in the final round. Benjamin anticipated the Bulldogs' failures, while Ethan certainly didn't. We also go into some Australian connections in college football as that season gets going too!
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2025 AFL Round 23 Recap: "Lost on These Fools"
With just one round to go, 10 teams are mathematically out of it… yet their headlines on and off the oval remain as entertaining as those of the finals contenders. We celebrate expected and unsung heroes alike across the league, and Benjamin crams as many references to one band as possible into…
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2025 AFL Round 22 Recap: "Teacher? …Teacher?"
We're back! …No, not just with a new episode. We're both back home! Ethan's returned from his pilgrimage, and Benjamin's started his new job. It's been a very dramatic week for both of us, and the footy definitely added to those feelings… even if Ethan didn't see much of the excitement in person.
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2025 AFL Round 21 Recap: "To Gryan, From Gryan"
Ethan did the thing. His first visit to Kardinia Park was the centerpiece of his whole footy pilgrimage, because of the interactions he had post-match. Round 21 spaced out its drama pretty well, though our older host only saw one of the big results in person. Listen for more of his takes on the...
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2025 AFL Round 20 Recap: "Despite All the Rain…"
Ethan's footy pilgrimage is underway! He's already taken in 3 games in as many states, so listen in to hear all about his inaugural Australian experience. From back in California, Benjamin inquires and reflects on his own unique setting for watching the most insane ending of the year. Sections...
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2025 Round 19 AFL Recap: “No Zihuatanejo”
As much as Benjamin's Eagles want redemption and escape, it's nowhere in sight. Thankfully, the other WA team can lift our collective mood. We also got some key results involving "Australia's Florida" to discuss in this extremely unique episode!
About this show
Their love of the footy born during the COVID pandemic, brothers Ethan and Benjamin Kassel combine to bring you their perspective on Australia's game from across the Pacific.
Hosted by
Ethan and Benjamin Kassel
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