Australian Rules football

Australian Rules football is a type of football that was invented in Australia and is only played in Australia to any serious degree. It is one of 3 types of football that are unique to one country, the other 2 being American football aka Grid Iron, which is only played in the United States of America, and Gaelic football, which is only played in Ireland. Australian Rules football is most similar to American Football in that both are based on Rugby and used an oval ball, while Gaelic Football is based on soccer and uses a round ball. However, in terms of how the game is played, aside from tackling, Gaelic Football is most similar. Recently, an International Rules football system was set up which combined Gaelic Football and Australian Football and they play annual Australia vs Ireland international matches. There was a thought to make a similar international combination of Australian Rules and American Football but the American Football players were not interested. A number of Gaelic Football players have ended up playing Australian Rules football. Similarly, a number of Australian Rules football players have converted to American football. To date, no American Football players have ended up playing either Australian Rules or Gaelic Football and no Australian Rules football players have ended up playing Gaelic Football.

Origins of the game

Traditionally, Australian Rules football is said to have had its origins with Rugby. While using a similar-sized and shaped ball, they would pass the ball forward instead of backwards, punching the ball before doing so, and catches (called marks) would result in free kicks. No tries would be scored, but rather goals would be the sole way of scoring. They also introduced behinds, worth 1 point (instead of 6 for goals) for near misses, with behind posts either side. It also no longer mattered if the ball was kicked low to the ground, with no crossbar needing to be kicked over.

Australian Rules football was said to have been created as a winter sport to keep cricket players fit in the off season. It was preferred to Rugby because Rugby was very dangerous with many injuries. Australian Rules football, while still more violent than a sport such as soccer or American football, nonetheless has relatively few serious injuries, with head high tackles and pushes in the back being illegal, as well as any violent contact, which is certainly not the case in rugby.

An alternative history was suggested by Australian aboriginals, suggesting that the origin came from an alleged traditional aboriginal came called Mar Grook, which, other than having an oval-type ball-type thing, was actually more similar in nature to soccer. As there is no historical evidence that Mar Grook was played prior to European settlement, there is also a suggestion that Mar Grook actually came about as an offshoot to Australian Rules football, not the other way around.

Nonetheless, largely because a number of Australian aboriginal players are very good at football and aboriginal players make up a disproportionately high number of elite level players, the idea that the official origins revolve around Mar Grook has been officially suggested as a dual origin.

This is similar history to the origins of cricket, which traditionally was said to have been created in England based on lawn bowls and tenpin bowling, but in India they had an alternative view suggesting that in fact it was created in India first. Thus, nowadays cricket historians have a dual history of the origins of the game, especially noting that the subcontinent, including India, make up the majority of cricket players and cricket enthusiasts around the world, and they are far more enthusiastic about the sport than anyone else, which is a similar situation to aboriginal Australians with regards to Australian football.

Basic rules of the game

Each team has 18 players, who are split up into groups of 3 for each general position across the ground. There are 3 in the back of the field (full back, left back pocket and right back pocket), 3 in the half back (centre half back, left half back flank and right half back flank), 3 in the middle (centre, left wing and right wing), 3 in the half forward (centre half forward, left half forward flank and right half forward flank) and 3 in the forward (full forward, left forward pocket, right back pocket), as well as 3 on the ball (ruck, ruck-rover and rover).

Traditionally, these 18 players played in specific positions around the ground and would only moved within a certain space of their position. Each back player had an opposite number who they tried to stay close to, while each forward tried to get away from them. The centres tried to get away while their team was in possession and then find their opposite number when the opposition had possession. The rucks would tap the ball during bounces and throw-ins while the ruck-rover and rover were on the ball, acting independently to other players and trying to help out the other players, going all around the ground.

Over time, these positions have become largely meaningless as players move all over the ground, and at the elite level they can go anywhere they like at any stage, with full backs kicking goals and full forwards playing defensive roles at different stages. Just the same, still the traditional mindset exists to some extent, only with more modern themes.

The fundamental part of the game involves kicking the ball. If the ball travels at least 15 metres and is caught on the full, then it is a mark, and all other players have to stop and let the player who catches (marks) the ball have a kick. A player can play on after a mark if they so desire, but if they choose to do this then they can be tackled by another player and the ball taken off them. A player who takes a mark and chooses to stop and take the kick cannot be tackled.

An alternative to kicking the ball is hand passing the ball, which involves punching the ball, having held it in the other hand. If a ball is punched from the same hand that holds it, it is called a throw, which is illegal and results in a free kick. If a ball is not punched at all, it is also called a throw and a free kick results.

At any time, except while taking a mark or free kick, if a player has the ball in their hands they can be tackled by a member of the other team. A valid tackle is one in which they are held in a bear-hug type way anywhere between the shoulders and the waist. Anything over the shoulders is illegal and a free kick is given, as "over shoulder height", while any tackle that is below the legs is also illegal and is termed "legging" and also results in a free kick. Any tackle that uses the feet is considered to be "tripping" and also results in a free kick. If, either in the process of tackling or just in general play, a player puts their hands or any part of their arms or feet into the back of a player, it is called a "push in the back" and also results in a free kick. Other ways to get a free kick are kicking a ball out of bounds on the full or deliberately hand passing or kicking the ball with the aim for it to eventually go out of bounds (this rule is up for interpretation by the umpire).

Any time that a free kick is awarded, it works in the same way as a mark, and the player who is awarded the free kick may walk back and take the kick at their own leisure. They can also opt to play on, moving past where they are meant to kick from. If they play on, then they can be tackled and they do not have free reign to kick at their leisure.

If the ball goes out of bounds by accident (not on the full or deliberately), an umpire throws the ball in, over their shoulder, usually aiming to land about 20 metres in from the boundary line. Other players then attempt to tap or catch the ball and run with it to resume play. Where possible, ruck men will vie for the ball, with other players hoping to get their taps.

At the start of the game, each quarter and during times when the ball gets held up, usually in a kind of all-in tackle, the umpire will bounce the ball, or, if weather makes bouncing the ball infeasible, they will throw the ball up into the air. The aim is for the ball to bounce or be thrown up around 15 metres in the air. During these bounces, much as in basketball or a number of other sports, two ruck men will go up to try to tap the ball to other players on their side to resume play.

The main aim of the game is to kick goals, which are each worth 6 points (except when rules are amended). A goal must be kicked on the full by a player of the team who is kicking that way (if an opposition team member kicks a goal for the other team, it only counts as a behind, worth 1 point, unlike in soccer and some other sports). Goal posts are at opposite ends of the ground, usually about 10 metres apart.

If the player trying to kick the ball hits the goal posts, it counts as a behind (worth one point). If the ball is touched before going through the goals (by players of either team), then it counts as a behind. If the ball is rushed through, either by kicking or hand passing or simply running the ball past the goal line by a member of the opposite team, then it counts as a behind. Also, next to the goal posts are behind posts, also about 10 metres apart, on either side of the goal posts. If the ball lands between the goal posts and the behind posts, a behind is scored.

Each game is usually divided into 4 quarters. At the elite level, these quarters last for 20 minutes plus time on. Time on is awarded whenever there is a stoppage in play. At some levels, the length of the quarters may be set as for example 15 minutes with no time on added, which is often the case at junior level. Typical total length of a quarter at the elite level is about 25 minutes - 20 minutes plus an average of 5 minutes added on. Between each quarter there is usually a break of about 10 minutes, with a 30 minute break at half time. As such, the average length of a game, including breaks, is about 150 minutes, or about 2 1/2 hours. This length of time can be considerably shorter at junior level, where there may be fixed 15 minute quarters, ensuring a total game time of 1 hour. Games have been known to last for 3 hours and more, especially when lots of goals are scored.

In addition to the 18 players, each team can have any number of players on the interchange, who at any time can swap with players on the field, and then swap back later, for any reason at any time in the game. At junior levels there may be no limit to the number of players on the interchange bench, but at the elite level there is a fixed restriction of 4 interchange players, making a total of 22 players. At junior level there is often a rule that you can only interchange at quarter time breaks, although some games may allow interchanges when a goal is scored. At the elite level there are no such restrictions. Having 19 players on the field at a time (or more), often the result of interchange players coming on just before the player leaving has gone off can result in free kicks and 50 metre penalties.

A 50 metre penalty is awarded in case of a severe infringement, usually as a result of an initial mark or free kick being paid then a 2nd offence being conducted after the original free kick has already been awarded. As the name suggests, this results in the player with the free kick being allowed to go an extra 50 metres further towards goal, an amount which is guessed by the umpire. If the player was within 50 metres of goal, no matter what angle they were on, they are moved straight to the goal square, where a goal is virtually inevitable. 50 metre penalties can be cumulative, with a 100 metre penalty occasionally awarded and potentially a 150, 200 or any length penalty could be awarded (although usually a player will be taken off the field after it has got to 100 metres).

When a goal is scored, the ball returns to the middle of the field, where a bounce or throw up is conducted by the umpire.

When a behind is scored, a player from the opposition side is given the ball and allowed to kick in from the goal square (about 10 metres in from the goals). This is similar to a player in basketball throwing in after a goal is scored. If the player steps over the goal square, then the ball is bounced/thrown up from the goal square, often resulting in a goal to the other side. If the ball is kicked out to the boundary line without any other player touching it, whether on the full or not, a free kick is given to the other side, usually resulting in an easy goal. A player who kicks in from the goal square can elect to kick it to themselves and then play on, which is most commonly done when there is no opposition player anywhere near them. To do so, they must kick the ball from behind the goal square line to outside of the goal square line. If they step over the goal square line while doing this, or the ball doesn't leave the goal square line, then the ball is bounced on the goal square line. Kicking the ball in after a behind is very difficult for new players and at the junior level typically there is a designated kicker in, as few players know how to do it properly. In this way, it is similar to throw ins in soccer, which are very difficult for new players to master. At the elite level, many players are proficient at this skill.

The elite level - Australian Football League (AFL)

The Australian Football League, also known as AFL, is the premier league for playing Australian Rules football. This is based on the Victorian Football League (VFL), which is based in the Australian state of Victoria, focussed around the capital city of Melbourne, which historically had more people interested in Australian Rules football than any other state. The main ground for Australian Rules football is the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which is the largest sporting ground, in terms of maximum attendance, in the world, which at its peak was able to hold over 120,000 people, but has since been reduced in capacity to slightly under 100,000 people.

Historically, the VFL formed as a result of another league, the Victorian Football Union (VFU) and 5 clubs that felt that they were considerably better than the other clubs and hence wanted to start their own competition. Those 5 clubs were Carlton, Melbourne, Essendon, Richmond and Collingwood. These 5 clubs are thus seen as the 5 founding members of the VFL, and hence the AFL. They invited a 6th club, based on Melbourne University (calling themselves simply "University") to make up the 6th club, although that was never expected to be a permanent club. This league started in 1896.

Over the years, several other clubs joined, including Fitzroy, Footscray, South Melbourne, Geelong, North Melbourne, St Kilda and Hawthorn. By the time that St Kilda and Hawthorn joined, there was no longer a University side and the league compromised 12 teams, which was the standard for many years. These 12 clubs are seen as the original 12 clubs of the competition, and outside of Victoria they are known as the Victorian-based clubs.

In 1983, South Melbourne, citing financial difficulty, was renamed as Sydney, keeping their mascot of the Swans to become the Sydney Swans. They ceased to be located in South Melbourne and instead were based in Sydney. This in turn brought hopes of a truly national league. Sydney originally had some success, due largely to significant financial investments into the club by rich corporate investors and them "stealing" other players by paying large sums of money for them to come from other clubs.

In 1987, the VFL was expanded to 14 clubs with the introduction of West Coast Eagles (based in Perth, Western Australia) and the Brisbane Bears. West Coast Eagles had immediate success, while Brisbane Bears, based in a non-Australian Rules football city (Brisbane), struggled for success. West Coast Eagles had the choice of all players who were from Western Australia, a state that preferred Australian Rules football to both Rugby and Soccer, while Brisbane, who prefers Rugby to Australian Rules football, struggled to find quality players.

In 1991, the VFL added a 15th club, the Adelaide Crows, controversially because actually Port Adelaide had put in the bid first. The reason to have Adelaide instead of Port Adelaide was because the VFL felt that it should represent the capital city not simply an Adelaide-based local club (Port Adelaide is historically the most successful Australian Rules football club in South Australia). This meant that the competition had a bye.

In 1993, the VFL added a 16th club, Port Adelaide.

The VFL demanded for other sides to merge so that they could add not only Port Adelaide but also Fremantle, a 2nd Perth-based team, so as to have 2 clubs from each of the main Australian Rules football states of South Australia and Western Australia, which they felt was important. Pressure was placed on Fitzroy and Footscray to merge with each other, as well as St Kilda and Hawthorn. Brisbane Bears also were given some pressure to merge. In the initial stages it seemed likely that Fitzroy and Footscray would merge but Footscray put on a big campaign to raise funds and increase membership, and changed their names to the Western Bulldogs, so as to represent a larger area of Victoria, now including Gippsland, well outside of Victoria. St Kilda and Hawthorn were then favoured to merge, being the 2 most recent Victorian-based clubs, with possibilities of them merging with each other or one with Fitzroy. Hawthorn was also asked to merge with Brisbane. Ultimately, Brisbane merged with Fitzroy, to become the Brisbane Lions, keeping the mascot from Fitzroy.

In 1995, in light of there now being 16 clubs, with now 4 of them based outside of Victoria (Brisbane, Adelaide, Port Adelaide and Sydney), the VFL renamed itself as the Australian Football League, or AFL.

In 1997, the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy Lions merged to become the Brisbane Lions, and Fremantle were introduced, making a 16 team competition that now included 5 non-Victoria based teams (though both Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions were in part based on original Victorian clubs South Melbourne Swans and Fitzroy Lions).

In 2011, there are plans to introduce a 17th team, the Gold Coast Suns, and in 2012 a side from Western Sydney will be introduced as an 18th team.

There has been a lot of pressure from Tasmania for them to have their own side, as Tasmania, unlike both Brisbane and Sydney, prefer Australian Rules football to Rugby, but the small numbers of people in Tasmania has meant that to date this idea has been rejected by the AFL. The Northern Territory, with a large aboriginal population, also has petitioned to have their own AFL side, although to date that has not eventuated, largely due to lack of numbers. Both the Northern Territory and Tasmania have sufficient number of players in the AFL to make up a full side of their own, while neither Gold Coast or Western Sydney have nearly as many players born in their areas to make a full AFL side.

Salary caps, trades and how players are chosen for each club

In local leagues, typically players play for clubs that are close to where they live, though they have the option to play for a club that is a distance away, if they prefer that one, while in junior leagues players will almost always play for the school that they attend (unless their school does not have their own side and they play for a combined school side). In the elite level, however, which club a player plays for is now a complicated process.

Originally, clubs chose players from their "feeder" areas, which were divided up by the 5 original clubs (Collingwood, Melbourne, Richmond, Carlton and Essendon). These were not only players who lived in the suburbs with the club's names but also players who were in nearby suburbs that did not have their own VFL team. As the league expanded, feeder areas changed, as agreed to by the other clubs. Richer clubs tended to have larger feeder areas and hence had access to better players and tended to do better than poorer clubs. In the early days of the VFL, the 5 original clubs dominated others and won the majority of the premierships. Newer clubs such as Fitzroy, Footscray, Geelong, South Melbourne and North Melbourne struggled to get enough players from their feeder areas and hence did not do as well. This was even worse with the last 2 clubs to join, St Kilda and Hawthorn.

As the VFL moved towards being the AFL, the feeder areas concept was scrapped and it was instead replaced with the idea of trades. Players who were yet to play in the AFL, usually juniors, were placed on a list and different clubs bid for each player. The bids are not made with money but rather in order, with the clubs that did worse the year before getting earlier draft picks, and more draft picks, in comparison to those who did better in the season before. Thus, if you finish last one year, you get the first choice of who you get on the pre-season draft, while if you win the premiership you get the last choice. Each side gets several draft choices, for example getting choices 1, 10, 23, 35, 48 and 61 and they are not obligated to use all of their draft choices.

Prior to the pre-season draft clubs can make agreements to trade existing players from each club. In such cases, they may also trade pre-season draft picks as part of the deal. For example, a good player may be traded for a poor player plus draft pick 15. As such, a given club can end up with lots of different draft picks, far more than their ladder position suggested, or, conversely, far less. Some trades can involve 3 or more clubs and can be very complex indeed. In the case of player trading, the players who are being traded also have to agree to the trade.

There are also a wide variety of other drafts, including post-season drafts involving players who are sacked from one club making themselves available at another, and so forth.

The salary cap was introduced to ensure that richer clubs did not get an unfair advantage in getting better players, largely because of the unfair dominance that the 5 original clubs had over the VFL in the early days (which was also due to their larger feeder areas than what the other clubs had). This salary cap meant that the combined total of salaries paid to all players in a given club had to be the same as all other clubs. When it was originally introduced, a number of players had to take significant pay cuts and a lot of complaints were made, although since then the salary cap has been increased.

Originally, clubs who were based in more expensive areas of Australia, namely Sydney and Brisbane, were given larger salary caps, due to the belief that players needed more money to live there. This situation changed after Brisbane won 3 premierships in a row from 2001-2003 and Collingwood president Eddie McGuire complained in 2002 suggesting it was unfair. From 2004 onwards, the salary cap has been the same for all clubs regardless of where in Australia they are based.

Popularity of Australian Rules football

Overall, Australian Rules football is the most popular "type" of football in Australia, more popular than either Rugby League or Rugby Union (though Rugby as a whole is more popular, if combining both types of Rugby) and also more popular than Soccer. It is not as popular as Cricket, Australia's favourite sport. The 4 types of football as a whole (Australian Rules Football, Rugby League, Rugby Union and Soccer) combined are far more popular than Cricket.

Australian Rules football is most popular in the state of Victoria, where it is the most popular sport of any kind, even surpassing the popularity of Australia's most popular sport, cricket.

South Australia, a much smaller state, also has Australian Rules football as its most popular sport, as cricket is not particularly popular in South Australia compared to most of the country, although in recent years soccer has become more popular in South Australia than either Australian Rules football or cricket, due largely to people arriving in South Australia from soccer-loving countries such as Serbia and Croatia, partially as a result of the Serbia-Croatia war.

Tasmania, the smallest state in Australia, also likes Australian Rules football to a large extent, although cricket is still the most popular sport in Tasmania. Due to its small size, Tasmania has not yet been given its own AFL team, although Hawthorn play 4 games per year in Tasmania as their home ground and wear a logo that says "Tasmania Hawthorn Hawks".

Western Australia much prefers cricket to Australian Rules football, but prefers Australian Rules Football to Rugby by a considerable margin. Due to its larger size, Western Australia competes with Tasmania and usually beats Tasmania on an interstate level, although it is fairly rare that interstate Australian Rules football matches are conducted.

Northern Territory marginally prefers Australian Rules football to Rugby, though both are roughly equally popular. They prefer both sports to cricket by a considerable margin, largely due to the high aboriginal population.

New South Wales prefers cricket to all other sports by a considerable margin and prefers Rugby Union to Rugby League by some margin. With the introduction of the Sydney Swans and them now having won 2 premierships, there is more interest in Australian Rules football than there was previously but the vast majority of people in New South Wales do not like Australian Rules football. With the increase of people coming to Australia from soccer-loving countries, soccer is now becoming increasingly popular in New South Wales as well.

Queensland prefers Rugby League to all other sports, but also like both Rugby Union and cricket. In state of origin matches of Rugby League, Queensland competes with New South Wales and often wins, largely because people from Queensland like Rugby League so much more than people from New South Wales do. Such is the rivalry that state of origin matches between Queensland and New South Wales are televised nationwide and have a similar feeling in Australia to the Super Bowl in the United States of America. People in Queensland have little to no interest in Australian Rules football, even less than people in New South Wales do, though with the advent of the Brisbane Bears, now the Brisbane Lions, and their winning 3 consecutive premierships in 2001-2003, there is some interest now in certain sectors. The introduction of the Gold Coast Suns in 2011 is hoped to gain greater interest in the area, though many suggest that it will be a complete failure due to the lack of interest in Australian Rules football in the state.

As a general rule, New South Wales and Queensland are considered to be Rugby states while Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania are considered to be Australian Rules football states. Northern Territory is considered to be half and half.

In states where Australian Rules football is most popular, saying "football" means Australian Rules football, while if you say "football" in Queensland or New South Wales, you are referring to Rugby - which would then prompt the question "Do you mean Union or League?" meaning Rugby Union or Rugby League.

Nowhere in Australia does "football" mean soccer (other than by some immigrants who have failed to adopt the Australian culture), although football means soccer throughout most of the world, outside of USA, Australia and Ireland, all of which have their own unique brands of football.

Attendance and finances of AFL

While cricket is more popular than Australian Rules football on a national level, this is largely because all over Australia people like cricket, while in only half of the Australian population do people prefer Australian Rules - as the other half preferring Rugby. In states which are "Australian Rules" states, football is much more popular than cricket.

At a junior level, crowds attending football matches usually number 50 or 100, with parents becoming quite passionate about their children. Local games can get crowds of several thousand, up to 10 or 20 thousand in South Australia and in the now local level Victorian Football League (now called VFL).

At the elite level, typical crowds can be 20-30 thousand plus, if the capacity allows, with grand finals at the MCG typically being sold out weeks in advance, for the largest sports ground attendance-wide in the world. Viewer numbers per week can be 2 to 3 million, out of a population of 22 million, although this is a combined total across all 8 games televised per match.

Typical AFL players earn around $100,000 to $150,000 per year, though they are allowed to have endorsements through advertising and the like and can earn up to $500,000 per year. This is one of the richest Australian-based sports around, only behind cricket in sheer monetary earnings.

Whilst sports such as soccer, basketball, tennis, golf and motor car racing can earn much larger sums of money for Australians, in these cases the money is coming primarily from overseas sources. The average soccer, basketball, tennis, golf or motor car sports person in Australia earns considerably less money than the average Australian Rules football player, though currently the richest Australian sports person is Lyletton Hewitt, a tennis player, who earns in excess of $1 million per year.