Australian Rules Football

          Considering I will be studying abroad in Australia next semester I decided to take time and learn the rules of some of the popular sports over there. the most popular sport is Australian Rules Football and I will explain a few "laws" of the game and how it is played.     

            Australian Rules Football originated in Australian as far back as 1841, where there is evidence of the first few matches ever being played, although the laws (rules) of the game were unknown. The laws have evolved over time to where they stand now. Australian Rules Football is played on an oval shaped field with an oval shaped ball. The playing field has a center square that is 50m x 50m, which dictates how many midfielders can be in that area, it surrounds two-center circles, one that is three meters in diameter and the other 10 meters in diameter; the center circles dictate where the two opposing ruckmen stand during a center bounce. There are two 50m lines that are arced around the goal lines. The 50m lines are strictly used for knowing where players are at on the field. The goal lines that are on either end of the field are straight lines and 19.2m long, which house the goal posts. Outside of the goal lines there are goal squares that are 6.4m x 9m in front of each goal. The goal squares come into play because there are 2 sets of goal posts on either end of the field, the regular goal posts are 6.4m apart and usually painted white, and the behind posts are shorter than the regular posts and are on either side of the regular goal posts but they are 6.4 m away as well, but they are painted red.

          The two teams playing are allowed to have 18 players on the field at a time with 3 bench players waiting to be substituted in.  The structure of the players on the field is similar to the structure of players on a soccer field; there are six forwards, six defenders, and six midfielders that consist of two wingmen, one center, and three followers. 

          The games last four quarters that are 20 minutes each; the clock only stops on scores, the ball going out of play and whenever the umpire needs the clock to stop. Similar to rules of soccer there is usually stoppage time at the end of quarters to replace the time that was missed during injuries, or stagnant time during a game. The game as officials called umpires; there are four different types of umpires: field umpire, goal umpire, boundary umpire, and an emergency umpire. In the professional AFL games there are three field umpires, two goal umpires, four boundary umpires, and usually one or two emergency umpires to replace injured umpires.

          Australian Rules Football starts when the umpire bounces the ball while two opposing players, ruckmen, try to get the ball similar to a tip-off in basketball, but its called a center bounce. Another rule is that when moving the ball down field the players can kick the ball, punch the ball or tap the ball with an open-hand, but cannot be thrown at all. When running the ball down the field, the player with the ball must make the ball touch the ground once every 15 meters. Another form of moving the ball downfield is by kicking it to teammates. Professional AFL players can kick the oval-shaped ball as accurate as an NFL quarterback can throw it. The interesting thing when it comes to kicking is that when the kickers teammate is trying to catch it he can use the opposing players as leverage, by jumping off their back, etc. When it comes to stopping the opposing team advancing the ball downfield towards your goal you can tackle them, but it cannot be too high or too low, the hit must be between the knees and shoulders. When tackled the player must dispose of the ball cleanly to the other team.

            When it comes to scoring there are only two ways to score points and they are by kicking the ball through the four goal posts that I stated earlier. The team receives six points for kicking the ball through the two main goal posts and only one point when the ball is kicked through the main goal post and the behind post. When the ball is kicked it can touch the ground or fly through the air as it passes through the goal posts but it cannot be touched by anyone on the field before it goes into the goal and after the attacking team has kicked it.

          I think it will be useful to know some of the rules of Australian Football prior to going over there so I can catch up quicker and potentially spend time learning the rules to other games like cricket, rugby, etc.