Hahaha debates about the two sports never end nicely
I would also like to chime in that it's not soccer, it's football
But, for the purpose of this post, I shall call it soccer.
Personally, I would pick soccer over AFL any day. This is because I grew up playing it - I have basically lived and breathed it for ~14 years. I have so many amazing memories from playing this sport (along with some not too good ones), and have made some awesome friendships from playing. I think it's a sport where you don't necessarily appreciate the skill and work it takes in order to become a high level/pro player (or even a semi-good player), until you play the sport yourself.
I think the problem is, the sport is demonised a bit, and has been demonised in the past (potentially due to its history as an immigrant sport? I'm not sure, so don't quote me
), plus, in Australia, the sport's own governing body isn't a great help. The same can definitely be said though, about soccer fans demonising AFL - it's a two way street.
I can certainly though, see why people love AFL. I personally don't understand the sport (despite my best attempts!), and it's just something I've never been able to engage with particularly well. However, I appreciate that it's a very technical sport in its own right.
I'd say I also struggle to watch AFL more now too because I can recognise injuries and I pay more attention to them, then I start thinking about consequences later on in players' lives (particularly for repeated concussions, etc.), and it just makes me cringe. This does happen when I'm watching soccer, too, but I think the fact that I have that deep underlying love for the sport is a big help in making me continue to watch (plus, there are less head injuries in soccer).
I feel like we should be able to respect both games without needing to declare allegiance to one and denounce the other