gridiron

No, that must have been a mistake: "rugby" not "Rugby".

Same diff., capitalised or not. Anyway, Rugby school in England is where the game originated. But only Aussie rules football is truly Australian :)

I'd say Gridiron is kind of outdated. I prefer "American football" as well, since gridiron is really just the playing field.

There are four high profile footballs in Australia, these being:
a. Rugby League,
b. Rugby Union,
c. Australian Rules Football, and
d. Soccer.

My feel for the word "gridiron", is that it is the Australian name
for American Footfall.

Incidently, Rugby League is significantly closer to American Football than the other three. At the very top level (I think), there have been player and coaching interchanges between the two codes of football. Rugby league use to have a four tackle rule a la
the four downs in American football. It is now, a six tackle rule. They often kick deeply on the sixth tackle, just as they often kick deeply on the fourth down. At the very highest level in Rugby League, at times, passes have been thrown a la American quarterback style.

Australian Rules Football is somewhat like Irish Football. A hybrid football game called International Rules has been developed so that international games can take place between Australia and Ireland.

>so that international games can take place between Australia and Ireland. <

Not exactly truly 'international' LOL

Technically it is international: two're enough.