Australian Rules Football

I

Introduction

Australian Rules Football, an 18-a-side field game related to rugby union football and Gaelic football and regarded as the national code in Australia, and also in Papua New Guinea. The field or pitch is ideally oval and has the largest area of any field game.

II

Rules of the Game

A team comprises three full-forwards, three half-forwards, three full-backs, three centres, and three half-backs—plus three players known as the ruck, comprising two “followers” and a “rover”. A game is controlled by a field umpire, two goal umpires, and two boundary umpires. A match consists of four 25-minute “quarters”, with “time on” for injury. After each quarter the teams change ends. There is a 15-minute break at half-time and a five-minute break after three quarters. The ball is somewhat larger and heavier than that used in rugby union. It measures 29 y by 22 • in (73.6 by 57.2 cm) and must weigh between 16 and 17 oz (454 and 482 g).

The object is to score goals and behinds. A goal is scored when the ball is kicked between the two centre goal posts which are 7 yd (6.4 m) apart, and it is worth six points. A behind is scored when the ball is kicked outside a centre post but between a centre post and a behind post. The behind posts are 7 yards from the centre posts. This scores one point. For a goal to be scored the ball must not touch another player en route. However, a behind is scored when the kicked ball touches a goal post or passes between the goal posts after first touching any player, is kicked or knocked between the posts by a defender, or passes directly over a goal post.

The game is started by the field umpire who bounces the ball high in the centre circle. When he has done this the followers—who are very tall players—go for what is named the “hit out” in order to get the ball to the rovers. When a rover has the ball he is in a position to get it towards the opponents' goal. Movement of the ball is mostly done by long kicks which will often be in the region of 60 to 80 yd (55 to 73 m). A player kicks the ball to another member of his team, who in turn kicks it to another player who may then be in a position to kick a goal or a behind.

Each player is marked (guarded) by an opponent who will try to prevent him from getting the ball or try to take it himself. Thus, the player to whom the ball is kicked tries to elude the opponent, shadowing him in order to take a mark. A mark is given when a player catches and holds the ball directly from another player's kick at least 11 yd (10 m) away. If he does this then he can take a free kick when he will kick the ball to a teammate nearer the opposition goal. The mark, or marking, is the most spectacular aspect of the game, especially when the giant ruckmen are involved and the marks are of the high-flying variety—known as “screamers”. A player who makes a mark is allowed to kick without any interference from anywhere behind where he marked. Only one opponent is allowed to stand at a mark and no other player is permitted within an 11 yd (10 m) semicircle behind the mark. The ball may not be kicked directly on the full over the boundary line. If it is then a penalty is awarded and this is a free kick. If the ball is kicked legitimately over the boundary line (that is, if it bounces before going over), the boundary umpire, while facing away from the field of play, throws the ball over his head into the field of play, a distance of 10 to 15 yd (9.14 m to 13.72 m).

Apart from kicking, rules for playing the ball are as follows: a player may not throw it, but he can pass it by holding it in one hand and punching it with the other (called handball). A player may hold the ball until he is held by an opponent and a player can tackle an opponent who has the ball or block him near the ball. As far as holding an opponent is concerned, a player may hold a player in possession of the ball but at the same time he has to give him a reasonable chance to get rid of it by kicking it or punching (handballing) it away. If a tackle is made it must be below the ball-carrier's shoulders and above his knees. A player holding the ball may be tackled with the open hands, and also with arms, shoulders, chest, and hip, and such contact is open to many abuses.

A player may also run with the ball, but if he does so he must bounce it or touch it on the ground at least once every 11 yards (10 m). If when running with the ball a player hits it over an opponent's head and then catches it he must bounce it or pass within 11 yards.

Overall, it is a fast, exciting, and often quite rough game for which the essential skills are long, very accurate kicking, clean catching/marking, and adroit deflection of the ball in mid-air (called palm-out or tap-down) to a teammate.

Tactically, the alignment of the players requires six backs in defence of the goals (two of the full-backs being designated “back pockets”), and six forwards in attack (two of the full-forwards being designated “forward pockets”). The three centres link defence with attack (the centres near the boundary are known as wings or wingmen). The ruckmen plus the rover have the essential roles of winning the ball at set pieces (centre bounces and boundary throw-ins). Otherwise, their mobility gives them a free-ranging brief.

III

History

The game's principal initiator or inventor was Henry Colden Harrison who, with three friends (W. J. Hammersley, Thomas Wills, and J. B. Thompson) formed the Melbourne Football Club in 1858. They had seen Irish troops on garrison duty playing Gaelic football and also Englishmen playing a rudimentary form of rugby union, then in its infancy. From this experience the Australians devised the basis of an indigenous game and one which would suit the Australian temperament. Harrison and his friends were cricketers and this helps to explain why the Australian Rules field is an oval. It was first played on cricket grounds, and sometimes still is. The first recorded match was in August 1858. By the late 1870s there was widespread interest and in 1877 the Melbourne clubs formed themselves into the Victorian Football Association, the oldest governing body for football in Australia. The first interstate game was between Victoria and South Australia and the first interstate carnival in 1908. Victoria has won most often. The National Football League was contested from 1976 to 1986, but Victoria withdrew in 1977-1978 when it ran its own premiership series. The premier game in the Australian football league is the Grand Final, played annually since 1897 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Carlton, Essendon, Collingwood, and Melbourne have been the most frequent winners. In 1992 West Coast Eagles (Perth) became the first non-Victorian winners.