The wonderful game of Aussie Rules Football

[PeterB]

Good old Collingwood for ever,
They know how to play the game.
Side by side they stick together,
To uphold the Magpie name…

I’m a happy little camper today, as my football team, the Collingwood Magpies, is on top of the AFL ladder at the moment. Yes, there are still many games to go until the finals, but it’s still a pleasant feeling to see my team play so well.

Of course, for those of you for whom Australian Rules Football is something of a mystery, my joy might not be very infectious. So I dare say I’d better provide a bit of an explanation for your benefit.

Australian Rules Football, or Aussie Rules, is the locally developed version of football. Its rules were first written down in the 1850s, although the game has changed a lot since then. It was originally designed to provide a game to keep cricketers fit during winter, and thus took advantage of empty cricket ovals by using the whole oval for the game, rather than restricting the game to a rectangle in the middle.

Aussie Rules is played by two teams of 18 players, with each team allowed another four players on the interchange bench. Players can be swapped from the interchange bench as often as the coach wishes, but play doesn’t stop for these interchanges. The game is played in four quarters of 20 minutes, with time added on for stoppages. Only the timekeepers known officially how much time is left, and they’re off the ground. This can make the end of close games particularly tense, as no one knows exactly how much time is left.

Teams score points by moving the ball through the four goalposts at each end of the ground. If the attacking team kicks the ball through the two central posts, they score a goal, worth 6 points. If the ball passes between an outer post and the nearer inner post, it’s a behind, worth 1 point. Likewise, if the ball is punched through any pair of posts, or hits one of the central posts, or is moved through by the defending team, the score is 1 point.

To move the ball around the ground, players can kick it, hand pass it or run with it.

If you catch the ball on the full from a kick which travelled at least 15 metres, you can claim a mark (like a fair catch in American Football or a mark in Rugby Union), then take your kick without interference. Marking is one of the great highlights of Aussie Rules, and most of the great photos of the game are of marking contests, as either packs or individuals fly through the air to grab at the ball.

To handpass the ball, you hold the ball in the palm of one hand and punch it with the clenched fist of the other hand. Of course, the player receiving the handpass must play on immediately.

Players running with the ball must touch it to the ground every 10 metres. On wet days, this means leaning over to physically touch the ball to the ground. But on most occasions, players throw the ball to the ground at such an angle that it bounces back into their hands.

While the ball is live, opposition players may attempt to tackle the player with the ball. Tackles must be laid between the knees and the shoulders. If tackled, the player with the ball must immediately dispose of the ball legally.

Unlike some other forms of football, Aussie Rules allows for a limited amount of interference with players not in possession of the ball. A player is allowed to use his hip and shoulder, or his arms, to block the progress of opposition players, but only as long as the ball is within 5 metres.

The nature of Aussie Rules is such that the ball is often buried under a scrum of bodies. In these cases, the field umpire stops play and restarts play by throwing it in the air for opposing players to contest (as in basketball games).

The player in possession is penalised if he: runs too far without bouncing the ball; doesn’t get rid of the ball when tackled; or kicks the ball out of bounds on the full. The player not in possession will be penalised if he: tackles a player too low or too high; tackles a player without the ball; or interferes with a player attempting to take possession of the ball, without attempting to do so himself. Serious infringements may attract a 50 metre penalty (effectively worth a kick downfield).

At the start of each quarter (again, sort of like basketball games), and after each goal is scored, play restarts in the centre. One of the field umpires throws the ball up in the centre circle, and each team is allowed one man within 3 metres (IIRC) of the ball. Each team is also allowed only three other players in the centre square (50 metres a side) until the ball is thrown up.

After a behind is scored, the defending team kicks the ball back into play from the goal square, in front of the two main goal posts.

There are a few more rules, but it’s probably easier to learn by watching a game on whichever satellite TV station brings it to your part of the world.

Aussie Rules is a wonderfully subjective game. Whenever a player is tackled, both sides’ supporters will call out for a free kick for their side, and roundly abuse the umpire if they don’t get it. Both sides’ supporters will also freely abuse the umpires when they give decisions the wrong way (that is, against their own team), but cheer loudly if the free kick goes their way.

A good game will see each team score about 15 goals, for a total score of around 100 points. However, if both sides play defensively, scores can drop to half that.

Although developed in Australia, the game has been introduced around the world, initially by expatriates, but increasingly by locals. There are local leagues in Canada, the USA, Ireland, the UK, Denmark, South Africa, New Guinea, Japan, New Zealand and Nauru, at least. The AFL has even run a couple of mini World Cups, with teams of locals from these countries competing over the course of a week, with a grand final played at the massive Melbourne Cricket Ground as a curtain raiser to an AFL game. I forget who won, but it shows that the game is gaining popularity overseas. So far, two Irish men have played in the AFL, while one club has recently trialled a Japanese player in a pre-season game.

When sides don’t get too defensive, Aussie Rules is a spectacular game to watch, especially live. Unlike American Football, the action is constant, and all players get to handle the ball regularly. Unlike Soccer, teams score plenty of goals, and there’s a lot of physical action to keep the crowds happy. Unlike Rugby League and Rugby Union, the ball travels around the ground a lot, and it’s hard for a side to dominate possession. Instead, you have a game of constant action, with long kicks, high marks, and hard physical contact. What more could a football fan want? Except for your team to lead the competition, I suppose!

Good old Collingwood for ever,
They know how to play the game.
Side by side they stick together
To uphold the Magpie name.
See, the barrackers are shouting,
As all barrackers should.
Oh, the premiership’s a cakewalk
For the good old Collingwood.

If you’d like some more information and links about Aussie Rules (like how ex-AFL players have been getting positions as punters for teams in the NFL in the USA), Wikipedia has a good article with lots of links: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football

[Al Johnston]

First time viewers often form the impression that the correct name of this sport is "Australian No-Rules Football" ;D

In the UK, Channel 4 used to run a highlights programme through the AFL season. In the Grand Final programme they had the Australian Cultural Attaché waxing lyrical about how the game perfectly illustrated the grace, artistry and athleticism that permeate Australian life. Each time he mentioned a compliment, the screen showed footage of one Aussie Rules player barging, elbowing or just punching the lights out of another.

Very entertaining ;D

A friend who moved to Aus felt right at home in Collingwood, because the team wore the same colours as his beloved Newcastle United

[3onthetree]

Careful you don't invoke the Collywobble curse with your singing.

[PeterB]

Well, me and my big mouth.

The coach decided to rest his best player for a trip across the country to play one of the other teams at the top of the ladder, and Collingwood lost by less than three goals. The coach then said that this wasn’t a case of “close enough without the star.” I suspect, however, that saying it didn’t mean he believed it himself. While the coach obviously has to plan for the lack of good players, the very reason he rested this player was to ensure that he was available for the finals, when his presence would presumably make the difference. So I don’t think he’s that concerned by this loss.

As far as watching the game when you don’t understand it, I know that many English folk call the game Aussie No-Rules, because it so often looks like a brawl for the ball. But perhaps one might like to consider what rugby union scrums, rucks and mauls must look like to Americans. I never used to watch “Friends” as a rule, but I remember one scene in which David Schwimmer’s character was standing beside what was apparently supposed to be a rugby maul for something like two minutes, discussing matters with one of the female characters, with the maul heaving all the time, but not going anywhere.

Having said that, I understand Aussie Rules got something of a cult following among the Hispanic population of California back in the early 1990s. Given the excited reaction of most Latino people to the scoring of goals in soccer, you can imagine how carried away the commentator got whenever goals were scored in the Aussie Rules games he covered, given that a typical Aussie Rules game can easily see 30 goals scored.

For that matter, I remember reading the experiences of an expat Australian introducing the game to English school kids (given that there’s no crossbar on Aussie Rules goal posts, you can easily substitute witches hats or school bags for goal posts, meaning little equipment needs to be carried around). The school kids hadn’t realised how easy it was to score goals in comparison to soccer, so initially they reacted to scoring a goal the same way they would to scoring a goal in soccer. How long this euphoria continued, I don’t know. :-)

[PeterB]

The Australian Football League, which is the main Aussie Rules competition in the country, has usually been pretty good at advertising itself. One of their more successful campaigns was about 10 years ago, featuring the EMF song “Unbelievable”, and several TV personalities asking questions to camera, adding the phrase, “I’d like to see that.” It so happens that the only personality I remember from the campaign was Heather Locklear (it must have been around or just after her Melrose Place days). Her question was something like, “A bunch of fit men in tight shorts running around a football field? I’d like to see that.”

Anyway, the campaign stuck in my mind, and gave me an idea.

One of my other hobbies is ballroom dancing – I’ve been doing it for about 8 years now, learning a range of ballroom, latin and rock ‘n’ roll dances. The studio I learn at holds balls a couple of times a year. At the balls, in addition to lots of general dancing, some students present dance routines.

In a dance routine, the dancer and his/her teacher have the dance floor to themselves to present a choreographed dance. Usually, a senior teacher recommends an appropriate dance, the student selects the music, the teacher works out the choreography, and then the teacher teaches the routine to the student over a number of lessons leading up to the ball. Routines are an opportunity to learn more about a particular dance, as well as giving students a chance to show off their skills uninterrupted. The routines are often based on a theme, with specially made costumes rounding out the performance.

What does this have to do with Australian Rules football?

Well, as I said, I had the song “Unbelievable” stuck in my mind, and wanted to do a dance routine. The song is just the right speed to dance to, and I had an idea of a football theme for the routine. I’d done a couple of more traditional routines before – walk onto the dance floor, dance, walk off, as most routines are run – and this time I wanted to do something a little more adventurous.

My costume was the kit of the football team I support – jersey, shorts, long socks – and I replaced the black laces of my dance shoes with white laces from my running shoes to make it look like I was wearing football boots as well. At the start of the routine I was also wearing a tracksuit top and had a football. Instead of walking onto the dance floor with my partner, I jogged onto it with one of the male teachers, who was dressed as a fitness trainer. We did a lap of the dance floor, with me successfully bouncing the football Aussie-Rules-style on the dance floor. We stopped in the middle while I stripped off the tracky top and handpassed him the football, and then I lay down on the floor. He tried to make me do push-ups, but I wasn’t interested. Then my teacher strutted on, dressed as a cheer leader, pom-poms and all, accompanied by whoops and cheers from the audience. I started doing push-ups, but she simply planted a foot in my back and shoved me to the ground. The music then started, preceded by a recording of her saying, “A footballer that can dance? I’d like to see that.” She handed the pom-poms to the male teacher, and the routine proper started.

The other fun thing about the routine was that we were both able to incorporate some non-dancing moves into the routine – some leg stretches for me, and the splits for her. Now, at the time, I was doing a lot of social dancing, and I was also a football umpire at the time, so I was quite fit, and I’m happy to say that a couple of the ladies in the audience were quite vocal in their appreciation of the routine. It never led to anything else, but the applause certainly gave me quite a buzz at the time. That’s one of the reasons I’m still dancing after so many years – it’s a very pleasant excuse to have a woman in your arms. :-)

Ahem. This thread is supposed to be about Australian Rules football, but I thought it was worth showing how some people express their enjoyment of the game.

[Obviousman]

Carn the Eagles!

(Guess who is a Sandgroper?)

[turbonium]

Hi Peter

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not exactly a game for those who are timid of physical contact? I've only seen a few matches on TV as they are rarely shown.

You mentioned scrums, etc from rugby - did it originate as a branch-off from rugby? Besides the scrums, I find some other similarities between them, from my (very) limited viewing experience of Aussie Rules Football, and my short time dabbling in rugby some years ago....

I seem to recall - is it the goal umpires that make interesting motions when a goal is scored? - arms bent up at the elbow and index fingers pointed out - then they wave flags?

I found it exciting to watch. I wish the TV networks here would stop showing so much poker and other non-sports, and put some Aussie Rules Football matches on. I could easily become a fan.

[PeterB]

Hi Peter

G’day Turbonium

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not exactly a game for those who are timid of physical contact? I've only seen a few matches on TV as they are rarely shown.

No, you’re quite right. Aussie Rules football is a game for physically strong people, or at least, people who aren’t afraid of mixing it physically. But despite that, the only protection most footballers wear is a mouthguard. Some players, however, do wear soft headgear.

You mentioned scrums, etc from rugby - did it originate as a branch-off from rugby?

Tricky question. Aussie Rules emerged in the 1850s, around the same time that the rules for rugby union and soccer were codified. It’s probably better to say that, like them, it was based on a group’s interpretation of the old medieval games of village football. In each case, (Aussie Rules, soccer, rugby union) the rules writers focussed on a different aspect of the village football games – soccer forbade use of the hands, rugby union forbade forward passes by hand. Aussie Rules instead evolved as a more free-flowing game, with no off-side rule.

Having said that, the game that Aussie Rules is most similar to is actually Gaelic football. There are also claims that the people who developed Aussie Rules had seen local aboriginal people play a football-style game, and borrowed some aspects of that game too.

Besides the scrums, I find some other similarities between them, from my (very) limited viewing experience of Aussie Rules Football, and my short time dabbling in rugby some years ago....

It’s a bit hard to make comparisons between football codes, but if pushed to make one, I’d say that Aussie Rules was perhaps more similar to soccer, if you could imagine a game of soccer in which all 11 players on each side could handle the ball like a goalie, anywhere on the field.

I seem to recall - is it the goal umpires that make interesting motions when a goal is scored? - arms bent up at the elbow and index fingers pointed out - then they wave flags?

Yep, that’s them. Two hands as you describe for a goal, one hand for a behind. The tradition is that when the goal umpire signals a goal, supporters of the scoring side call out, “How big is it, umpire?” as though he was showing the size of…er…something.

I found it exciting to watch. I wish the TV networks here would stop showing so much poker and other non-sports, and put some Aussie Rules Football matches on. I could easily become a fan.

Good to hear you enjoyed it. Frankly, the experience is much better live. On the TV it isn’t easy to watch play develop over large parts of the ground, and because the play is almost continuous, there often isn’t much time to show replays.

[Al Johnston]

I recall that the VFL and the Irish GAA created a hybrid game for matches between Australian Rules and Gaelic Football players.

Gaelic football is very similar, the main differences being a round ball and a soccer-style goal with a net, plus vertical extensions to the uprights, scoring is IIRC 3 point for a goal (in the net) or 1 point for between the uprights but over the crossbar.

The hybrid goal was IIRC a combination of both games, ie four posts plus a crossbar and net. In the early games there was a tendency for the AR players not to score as highly as their possession warranted: since in AR, if anyone touches a goal-bound shot the scorer effectively forfeits five points, the kickers had an instinctive tendency to aim high: miles over the crossbar.

[3onthetree]

Game three of the State of Origin rugby League is being played in Melbourne.
Maybe they can convert some Victorians back to their British heritage. ;D
I won't hold my breath though, The Herald Sun will bury any mention of the game near the obituaries.

[PhantomWolf]

Same place NSW will bury QSL

[PeterB]

Mushroom said:

The Herald Sun will bury any mention of the game near the obituaries.

Funnily enough, we were having a similar discussion at work about the lack of rugby league coverage in Melbourne, even though Melbourne has a team in the National Rugby League competition.

It's amusing how parochial people are in Australia about their football code. Rugby League dominates in Sydney, and to a lesser extent in Brisbane. Aussie Rules is the favourite game in Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart.

The Australian Football League has teams in it from all the mainland state capital cities (Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and, mostly, Melbourne). In fact, teams from outside Melbourne have won the last five AFL premierships, with Sydney being the current premiers.

The world of Australian Rules football even came up with the concept of State of Origin - teams made up of players coming from the various states. This led to a few years of fierce games involving Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia. Things were a bit unbalanced with only three teams, so a fourth team was created, called the Allies. It was designed to field players who came from all the other states and territories. As far as I was concerned, it was a team I could support, being born in the Australian Capital Territory, and the Allies team containing one of the best players from the team I support. But support for State of Origin in the AFL dried up, which I think is a shame.

Instead, the concept has been taken up with a vengeance by the world of rugby league, with New South Wales and Queensland facing off for a best of three set of games each year. The first of those games is tonight.

[PeterB]

Al Johnston said:

I recall that the VFL and the Irish GAA created a hybrid game for matches between Australian Rules and Gaelic Football players.

Gaelic football is very similar, the main differences being a round ball and a soccer-style goal with a net, plus vertical extensions to the uprights, scoring is IIRC 3 point for a goal (in the net) or 1 point for between the uprights but over the crossbar.

The hybrid goal was IIRC a combination of both games, ie four posts plus a crossbar and net. In the early games there was a tendency for the AR players not to score as highly as their possession warranted: since in AR, if anyone touches a goal-bound shot the scorer effectively forfeits five points, the kickers had an instinctive tendency to aim high: miles over the crossbar.

Yes, the hybrid game is played once a year, shortly after the AFL season has finished. The two-game comps alternate between Australia and Ireland, and seem to attract large crowds in both countries. I suspect this is because these games are the only way players in either game will get a chance to represent their countries.

I've watched bits of some of the games, but they don't interest me that greatly. I'd prefer to see each game promoted internationally on its own merits.

As it happens, while writing some of these posts, I read up some of the information available on Wikipedia about the history of Australian Rules football. I didn't know that in the early years of the 20th century, Australian Rules football was played widely in both South Africa and New Zealand, in each case brought over by Australians, but eagerly picked up by locals. Apparently this popularity faded as a result of World War 1.

[PeterB]

Not only is Aussie Rules a great game to watch, it’s also played by a lot of people in the community. It’s one of the three most popular sports in the country in terms of number of people playing it.

I even played it for a few years myself, though I was never much good at it. My sad excuse is that Mum and Dad were so concerned about me breaking an arm playing any sort of contact sport that I wasn’t allowed to play any at school. I suspect this has made me a little shy of violence, and as a result, not terribly effective in body contact sports. But when I was about 24 I decided to give it a go.

For reasons I can’t quite remember I decided to play for one of the local university teams. Now compared to American Football at American universities, most sporting teams in Australian universities are spectacularly amateur. In the case of the Australian National University here in Canberra, it fielded two or three teams in the local second rank amateur competition. Over the course of nine years I played a little over 50 games, during which time I rarely covered myself with glory.

But I did have some high points – in particular the game where I scored my one goal.

For decades, the ANU and the Royal Military College Duntroon have been rivals, a rivalry I understand was particularly strong during the Vietnam War. But in about 1980, the Australian Defence Force Academy was opened, and the ANU’s rivalry was transferred to the new tri-service military college. Uni students naturally have an antipathy for military cadets, but I have to say I disliked the cadets as well – although they were incredibly fit, they struck me as being not terribly bright people, and I also disliked their unchanging haircuts – crew cut except for leaving it longer at the forelock.

Anyway, this particular day I hadn’t been selected, but got a game when another player didn’t turn up. I didn’t get on the field during the first half, and at half-time the score was 5.5 (35) to 3.3 (21) in ADFA’s favour. We played better in the 3rd quarter, but ADFA pulled away to lead 7.9 (51) to 5.6 (36) at the last break. I had a couple of minutes on the field in the third quarter in the forwards, but the ball didn’t come too near me. In the last quarter, we kicked the first goal to bring the margin back to 9 points. When the ball came back up the ground, my opponent ran across to mark it, and I grabbed him just as he ran off. The umpire blew his whistle, and awarded me a free kick for holding the ball – my opponent had made no attempt to dispose of the ball when tackled – and I was only about 20 metres from goal, on a slight angle. Fortunately the kick was straight, and our full-forward kept the opposition full-back away from the ball to let it through for the goal.

I was taken off a few minutes later, but then spent the rest of the game literally cheering myself hoarse on the sidelines. Over the rest of the game we scored another three goals, while our opponents were incredibly inaccurate, kicking 1.6. The result was that we won 10.6 (66) to 8.15 (63). The smallness of the margin made it all the more enjoyable, and I’m happy to claim that it was my goal which made all the difference.

A few years later I managed to break my arm in a pre-season game – an opponent’s elbow accidentally struck my arm halfway between the wrist and elbow, cracking the bone.

After I retired from playing the game, I decided to give umpiring a go, especially after a friend told me how much umpires were paid ($65 a game if I remember correctly). The fitness training we did was formidable, and I’ve certainly never been nearly as fit as I was that year. I decided to be a field umpire, because I thought goal umpiring was a little too simple (and a few too many players aim at the goal umpire), and boundary umpiring required way to much running. I had a fairly nervous start to the business, but I soon got a sense of what was going on.

Late in the season, I had the chance to umpire some games in an interstate primary and secondary schools competition. State and territory teams from around the country came to Canberra for a round-robin tournament, and I got to umpire three primary schools games. Despite their age and size, the kids had impressive skills. The best game of all was the last one, between the two undefeated states – South Australia and Victoria (the Victorian squad was drawn from over 1000 hopefuls!). I now know that at least a few of the kids who played in that game are now playing in the AFL. So even if I never umpired at AFL level, I have at least umpired AFL players!