Main Index
e-mail
Guestbook

I have been to a few other sites that try to explain the AFL game, you could be there reading all day long if you wanted to. I am going to attempt to do something the same but because I don't want to bore you I will try and keep it short and straight to the point.

QUICK HISTORY:
Australian Football has a long and proud history of over 100 years and is enjoyed by millions of Australians every weekend during winter.

The AFL (Australian Football League) first started out as the VFL (Victorian Football League) but in 1990 it had to be changed as the league was no longer played solely by Victorian teams.

The VFL was the only league in Australia that was attracting the big crowds. Other state league crowd attendances were dismal compared to the crowds that the VFL was getting. Also the VFL had the greatest players around because all good players from other state leagues would join VFL teams because of crowds and money offers. Also the standard of the competition was of a higher standard than other leagues.

There still is a VFL competition and most states have there own leagues as well. For example the SANFL in South Australia (regarded as the second best league in Australia) and the WAFL in Western Australia. 

OBJECT OF THE GAME:
In a nutshell the basic object of the game is to score more points than the opposing team over the time allowed.

THE SKILLS OF THE GAME:
Kicking:
Kicking is propelling the ball by foot. The most common kicking style is the drop punt.

Other kicking styles are torpedo punt which is used to kick the ball larger distances, and the drop kick which is hardly ever used in today's football, it involves dropping the ball onto the ground and than kicking it very quickly.

Handballing:
A handball (can also be known as a handpass) is the method of moving the ball by propelling it with the hand. Basically you punch the ball on its end with your fist while holding it in the palm of your other hand. This movement is executed very fast.

Marking:
A mark is taken when a player catches the ball that has been kicked without it touching the ground and the ball has travelled more than 10 metres. When a player marks the ball he can than take a free kick.

There are many different types of marks; the overhead mark and the chest mark are just an example of two. The overhead mark is one of the most spectacular things you can witness, it most always involves a player using another player (not necessarily from the opposing team) as a ladder to lift himself higher and to take the mark over head. The chest mark is one of the most safest ways to mark the ball, it involves the player letting the ball hit his chest and than quickly wrapping his arms and hands around the ball.

Tackle:
A tackle can only be made on a player that has the ball. A tackle involves quickly grabbing a player with the ball and wrapping your arms around him and dispossessing him of the ball and than letting him go.

Shepherd:
A shepherd is when one of your team mates legally blocks players from the opposing team from getting to the player with the ball.

Hit Out:
A hit out is when one of the taller players (a ruck man) hits the ball from a bounce up to one of his team mates. There are three situations in a game where this skill is used; a centre bounce, a ball up and at boundary throw ins.

SCORING:
There are two possible scores you can get in football. A goal and a behind. A goal is worth 6 points and is awarded when the ball passes through the two big posts without being touched by another player or touching the posts. The goal umpire indicates a goal by pointing out two fingers and than waving two white flags. After a goal has been scored the ball is brought back to the centre square and is bounced up.

A behind is worth one point and is awarded when the ball travels between the a big post and a little post. A point can also be called a 'rushed behind' this means that the ball has gone through the goal by being touched over of ran through. A goal umpire indicates a behind by pointing out one finger and than waving one flag. After a behind has been scored, the ball is bought back into play by being kicked from the goal square.

GAME LENGTH:
The game is divided into quarters. Each quarter goes for 20 minutes plus time on. Time on is time when the ball has not been in play, this time is than added on at the end of the quarter. The amount of time on is determined by the timekeepers. There are breaks between the quarters with the half time break being the longest (15 minutes).

THE BALL:
The AFL game is played with an oval shaped ball. Two different coloured balls are used. Red and Yellow. The Red balls are used for day games and the yellow balls are used for night games.

BASIC RULES OF THE GAME:
When a player breaks a rule he gives away a free kick to the opposing team. Free kicks can be given away for:

Receiving a high tackle, tripping, pushing in the back, being held without the ball or shepherding illegally, holding the ball, kicking the ball out on the full, deliberately taking the ball out of bounds

PLAYERS:
There are 18 players on the ground from each team at any one time and another 4 interchange players from each team sitting on the bench. Play does not stop when players interchange.

UMPIRES:
There are 3 field umpires, 2 boundary umpires and 2 goal umpires and a few reserves just in case. The umpires role as in any other sport is to officiate the game according to the rules. There are many rules in the game and most umpires have there own interpretation of them. The game is very fast paced and the umpires do not always make the right decision, they have to make a judgement in a split second.

STADIUMS:
AFL games are played in stadiums with an average crowd of 25,000 - 45,000 people.

Adelaide only has one AFL stadium; Football Park at West Lakes, it holds 46,000 people and has a new large screen. The stadium is currently being redeveloped into a larger capacity stadium.

Melbourne has a few AFL stadiums. The most well known is the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), it currently holds around 100,000 people. The newest stadium in Melbourne is Colonial Stadium and holds around 50,000 people. It is the only AFL stadium in Australia that can close its roof. It takes 20 minutes for the roof to open or close.

There are 2 other AFL stadiums in Victoria; Optus Oval (aka Princes Park) is Carlton's official home ground and holds around 35,000 people, the stadium does not have any lights.

The other is Shell Stadium is the home ground of the Geelong Football Club. Geelong need to keep playing games there, to satisfy local fans, and it holds almost 30,000 people. It has not got lights.

There is only one AFL stadium in Sydney - the SCG (Sydney Cricket Stadium), it holds around 40,000 fans. I also think that from season 2001 the Olympic stadium may also be used for AFL football?

In Brisbane there is only one stadium, The Gabba it was recently redeveloped and now holds around 35,000-40,000.

There are two AFL stadiums in Perth: Subiaco Oval and The WACA (Western Australian Cricket Association). Subiaco was re-developed recently to look more like a stadium, and the capacity was increased to the a similar number as all other AFL grounds.

Note: This is my first attempt at trying to explain the game of Australian Football, it has not been easy and I have probably over covered some points of the game and under covered others. If there is anything else you want to know or think that should be covered here e-mail me or check out the official AFL site.

Main Page | Crows Results | Fixtures and Results | AFL Table | Coaching Staff | Player List | Message Board
Crow Chat | Club Song | My Tips | Crow History | Club Contact | Links | AFL Guide