Structure
and competitions
The AFL is the most popular national competition in Australia and the only
fully professional league for Australian Rules in the world.The football season,
proper, is from March to August (early autumn to late winter in Australia)
with finals being held in September. In the tropics, the game is played in
the wet season (October to March). Pre-season competitions in southern Australia
usually begin in late February.
The most powerful
organisation and competition within the game, the AFL,
is recognised by the Australian Sports Commission as being
the National Sporting Organisation for Australian rules
football. There are also seven state/territory-based organisations
in Australia, most of which are now either owned by or
affiliated to the AFL. Most of these hold annual semi-professional
club competitions while the others oversee more than one
league. Local semi-professional or amateur organizations
and competitions are often affiliated to their state organisations.
The AFL is also
the de facto world governing body for Australian rules
football. There are also a number of organisations governing
amateur clubs and competitions around the world.
Unlike most soccer
competitions there are usually no separate "league" and "cup" trophies.
The team finishing first on the ladder is often referred
to as a 'minor premier', although this bears little or
no significance. The McClelland Trophy in the AFL is considered
a consolation prize. For almost all Australian rules competitions
the focus is almost always on winning the premiership.
The team which finishes at the bottom of the ladder at
the end of the season is said to get 'the wooden spoon'.
The premiership
is always decided by a finals series. The teams that occupy
the highest positions play off in a "semi-knockout" finals
series (The AFL finals system differs from many amateur
competitions in that it gives some teams a double chance).
The two successful teams meet in the Grand Final to contest
the Premiership. The winner is awarded the Premiership
Cup.
Rules of the Game
Both
the ball and the field of play are oval in shape. No more
than 18 players of each team are permitted to be on the
field at any time. Up to four interchange (reserve) players
may be swapped for those on the field at any time during
the game. There is no offside rule nor are there set positions
in the rules; unlike many other forms of football, players
from both teams disperse across the whole field before
the start of play.
A game
consists of four quarters. The length of the quarters can
vary from 15 to 25 minutes in different leagues. In the
AFL, quarters are 20 minutes, but the clock is stopped
when the ball is out of play, meaning that an average quarter
could last for 27 to 31 minutes. Games are officiated by
umpires. Unlike other forms of football, Australian football
begins similarly to basketball. After the first siren,
the umpire bounces the ball on the ground, and the two
ruckmen (typically the tallest man from each team), battle
for the ball in the air on its way back down.
The ball
can be propelled in any direction by way of a foot, clenched
fist (called a handball or handpass) or open-hand tap (unlike
rugby football there is no knock-on rule) but it cannot
be thrown under any circumstances. Throwing is defined
in the rules quite broadly but is essentially any open
hand disposal that causes the ball to move upward in the
air.
The Sherrin brand is used for all official AFL matches. A red ball like this
is used for day matches and a yellow ball is used for night matches.A player
may run with the ball but it must be bounced or touched on the ground at
least every 15 metres. Opposition players may bump or tackle the player
to obtain the ball and, when tackled, the player must dispose of the ball
cleanly or risk being penalised for holding the ball.
The ball
carrier may only be tackled between the shoulders and knees.
If the opposition player pushes a player in the back whilst
performing a tackle, the opposition player will be penalised
for a push in the back. If the opposition tackles the player
with possession below the knees, it is ruled as a low tackle
or a trip, and the team with possession of the football
gets a free kick.
If a
player takes possession of the ball that has travelled
more than 15 metres from another player's kick, by way
of a catch, it is claimed as a mark and that player may
then have a free kick (meaning that the game stops while
he prepares to kick from the point at which he marked).
There are different styles of kicking depending on how
the ball is held in the hand.
The most
common style of kicking seen in today's game, due principally
to its superior accuracy, is the drop punt (the ball is
dropped from the hands down, almost to the ground, to be
kicked so that the ball rotates in a reverse end over end
motion as it travels through the air). Other commonly used
kicks are the torpedo punt (also known as the spiral or
screw punt; the ball is held at an angle and kicked, which
makes the ball spiral in the air, resulting in extra distance)
and the checkside punt, used to curve the ball towards
targets that are on an angle.
Forms
of kicking which have now disappeared from the game include
the drop kick (similar to the drop punt except that the
ball is allowed to make contact with the ground momentarily
before being struck with the foot) and place kick (where
the ball is first placed on the ground when shooting for
goal, similar to the place kick used in rugby union).
Apart
from free kicks or when the ball is in the possession of
an umpire for a ball up or throw in, the ball is always
in dispute and any player from either side can take possession
of the ball.
Scoring
At each end of the field are four vertical posts. The middle two are the goal
posts and the two on either side, which are shorter, are the behind posts,
or point posts.
A goal
is scored when the football is propelled through the goal
posts at any height (including above the height of the
posts) by way of a kick from the attacking team. It may
fly through on the full or bounce through and must not
be touched, on the way, by any player from either team.
A goal cannot be scored from the foot of an opposition
(defending) player.
A behind
is scored when the ball goes across the line between a
goal post and a behind post or if the ball hits a goal
post or if it is touched by any part of the body other
than a foot, but also the foot of an opposition player,
(a rushed behind) before passing between the goal posts.
A goal
is worth 6 points whereas a behind is worth 1 point. The
Goal Umpire signals a goal with two hands raised at elbow
height, a behind with one hand, and then confirms the signal
with the other goal umpire by waving flags above his head.
The team
that scores the most points at the end of play wins the
game. A score of 10 goals and 10 behinds equals 70 points.
A score of 9 goals and 18 behinds equals 72 points. The
latter score would win the game despite the fact that that
team scored one goal less. The result would usually be
written as:
Team
A 9.18 (72) defeated Team B 10.10 (70);
and said,"...
nine-eighteen seventy-two defeated ... ten-ten seventy."
Australian rules football. (2007, January
8). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:53,
January 18, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Australian_rules_football&oldid=99222713
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