The laws of Australian football describe the rules of the game of Australian rules football.
The rules were first formed by Tom Wills and the Melbourne Football Club in 1859. The laws significantly pre-date the advent of a governing body for the sport. The first national and international body, the Australasian Football Council, was formed in 1890 to govern Australasian Rules. Since 1990, the rules for the game known as Australian football have been governed by the Australian Football League and the organisation's Laws of the Game committee.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Players, ground and equipment
* 2 Play
o 2.1 Holding the ball
* 3 Scoring
* 4 Umpires
* 5 Length of the Game
* 6 History of the Laws
o 6.1 Melbourne Rules of 1859
o 6.2 Victorian Rules of 1866
o 6.3 Australasian Rules of 1890
o 6.4 Australian National Football of 1927
o 6.5 Australian Football of 1993
o 6.6 "AFL"
* 7 AFL Rules Committee
* 8 See also
* 9 References
[edit] Players, ground and equipment
Eighteen players are permitted to take the field for each team, with an additional four players on an interchange bench (although this number often varies in exhibition and practice matches). The equipment needed to play the game is minimal. As in other kinds of football, players wear boots with stops (known as studs in some regions) in the soles, shorts, and a thick, strong shirt or jumper known as a guernsey.
AFL football
AFL football
The game is played with an ellipsoid ball, on a grassed oval. A red ball is used for day matches and a yellow ball is used for night matches.
Four posts are erected at either end of the oval and markings are placed on the ground as shown in the diagram below. They are aligned in a straight line 6.4 metres apart from each other. The size of the ground is not fixed, but must be 135-185m long and 110-155m wide. Lines are drawn on the field to mark
* the boundary,
* a 45m wide centre square,
* two circles in the centre with diameters 3m and 10m and a line dividing the circles in half,
* a 9×6.4m goal square at each end of the ground,
* a 15m wide interchange on one flank of the oval.
* a distance of 50 metres from the goal line (the "Fifty Metre Line"); after introduction of 50m centre square, the "Fifty Metre Lines" were replaced by 45m lines at Sydney Cricket Ground due to the ground's length, to avoid the overlaping with the centre square
Diagram of a standard ground for Australian rules football
Diagram of a standard ground for Australian rules football
[edit] Play
The game is a fast-paced combination of speed, athleticism, skill and physical toughness. Players are allowed to tackle the player with the ball and impede opposition players from tackling their teammates (known as shepherding), but not to deliberately strike an opponent (though pushing the margins of these rules is often a substantial part of the game). Like most team sports, tactics are based around trying to get the ball, then — through a combination of running with the ball, hand-passing (punching the ball from the open palm of the other hand) and kicking — deliver it to a player who is within range of goal. Because taking a mark entitles the player to a free kick, a common tactic is to attempt to kick the ball on the full (without bouncing) to a teammate who is within kicking range of goal. In this situation, packs of players often form around the goal square, and the opportunity arises for spectacular high marks (or "speckies"), in which players launch themselves off opponents' backs to mark the ball, high in the air. This particular skill is highly regarded as a spectacle, and an annual "Mark of the Year" is awarded at the end of a season.
The traditional playing positions.
The traditional playing positions.
There are no set positions in the rules of the game, but traditionally the field was divided into three major sections: the forward line, back line, and midfield. The forward and back lines consisted of six players, arranged into two lines of three players each. The midfield generally consists of the designated ruckman (i.e. player who contests the ruck or bouncedown) and players who either stay in the centre area of the ground (between the two 50 metre arcs) or follow the ball and are not confined to a particular area.
The modern game, however, has largely discarded positional play in favour of a free flowing running game and attempting to have loose men in various positions on the ground. The rise in popularity of the hand-pass since the 1970s has greatly influenced this style of play, with players more willing to follow the ball and move it quickly amongst themselves rather than kicking long to a one-on-one marking contest. In the late 1990s a tactic known as flooding was devised and also shifted focus away from set positions. When a team "plays a flood", they direct two or more of their midfield or forward line players into their defence, thus out-numbering their opponent and making it difficult for any opposing forward to take an uncontested mark. Most football sides are named (and demonstrated) in the traditional set positions, but it is in fact uncommon for players to stay within the traditional areas of their position. The players are shuffled on and off the field using the interchange bench, the blood rule means that if any player, for any reason, should begin to bleed, no matter how minor or severe, they must remove themselves from the ground to receive treatment. They may return when the flow of blood has stopped and has been treated by the team medic.
[edit] Holding the ball
One of the things that causes the most confusion for people that are not familiar with the game are the Holding the ball, Dropping the Ball, and Throwing rules. Confusion arises because a player being tackled is not allowed to hold onto the ball, but is not allowed to throw it either.
These rules are easily summarised:
* Players must always dispose of the ball by either a kick or a handpass.
o A handpass, also called a handball, is performed by punching the ball from one hand with the other fist. The ball can not be thrown up (like a volleyball serve) and hit, nor handed to a teammate like an American/Canadian football handoff.
* When a player is in possession of the ball, and moving, the ball must be bounced, or touched to the ground, at least once every 15 metres. Failure to do so results in a penalty to the opposing team, who is awarded a free kick. This is sometimes called running too far or travelling, and is signalled by the umpire in the same way as travelling is signalled in basketball.
If the ball carrying player decides to run with the ball or to evade a tackling opponent, he would be deemed to have a prior opportunity of being able to dispose of the ball legally.
* When a player is in possession of the ball, and is tackled correctly (ie., above the knees and below the shoulders), they must immediately dispose of the ball by kicking or handpassing. Failure to do so, when a prior opportunity to dispose of it existed, results in a penalty benefiting the tackling team, which is awarded a free kick. This is also called holding the ball. Exceptions to this rule include:
o Being bumped, that is, hit side-on by another player or tackled in such a manner that causes the ball to be knocked free or come loose from a player's possession.
o Being tackled with the ball despite gaining possession of it but had no chance of disposing it (no prior opportunity). A ball-up would result to restart play.
If the ball carrier, who had prior opportunity for properly disposing the ball, was swung off balance while attempting to dispose the ball but not making contact, a holding the ball decision would be awarded against the ball carrier on the basis of the ball not being legally disposed of whilst tackled.
In a recent effort to reduce the amount of unnecessary stoppages, the interpretation of the prior opportunity have widened to include players who:
* Grabs hold of the ball during a ball-up or throw-in situation instead of knocking it away.
* Dives onto the ball in dispute.
* While in a prostrated position, pulls the disputed ball in underneath him.
In these instances if the player is then tackled and could not dispose of the ball legally, a holding the ball penalty would be paid against him.
[edit] Scoring
Australian rules football goal posts - the two tall central posts are the goal posts, and the two shorter outer posts are the behind posts.
Australian rules football goal posts - the two tall central posts are the goal posts, and the two shorter outer posts are the behind posts.
Like many other codes of football, the way to score points is to score goals. In Australian Football, there are two types of scores: a goal, and a behind. There are four posts at each end of the ground; the two middle (and taller) posts are the goal posts, and the two outer (and shorter) posts are the behind posts. The area between the goal posts is the goal: kicking the ball between these posts scores a goal which is worth six points. Kicking the ball between a goal and a behind post scores a behind, which constitutes a single point. A behind is also scored if the ball passes between the goal posts, but is not kicked by the attacking team (eg, it comes off the hands of either team, or is kicked by the defending team), or if the ball hits the goal post. (If the ball hits the behind post, the ball is considered to have gone out of bounds.) A rushed behind (also worth one point) is scored when the defending team deliberately forces the ball between any of the posts. This may occur in pressure situations where a defender decides that it is s