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Australian Rules Football is a great game. It is a strange
combination of soccer, rugby and basketball. The game moves quickly and
has plenty of contact. I played "Footy" from July of 2001 to
October of 2005. During my footy career I had the pleasure of playing
for four teams. On the local level I played with the Chandler Outlaws
and Arizona State University. At state level I played with the Phoenix
Scorpions who became the Arizona Hawks during my tenure. Last but certainly
not least I had the honor to play at the International level with the
American Revolution. I have a separate page for each level of play. I
put some basic rules of the sport below. Enjoy!
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Basics of the game
(FAQ)
A team is made up of 22 players, of which 18
are on the ground at any one time. The players play in positions all over the
ground, but are generally matched up to a specific opponent. The game is divided
into four quarters, with one quarter consisting of 20 minutes plus time-on.
Time-on is the extra time allocated when play stops. The teams swap ends (kick
in the other direction) at the end of each quarter. The idea is to score more
total points than the opposition. Total points is the combination of goals and
points scored during a game.
Kicking: Players mainly kick drop punts
for accuracy.
Handball: Holding the ball in the palm
of one hand and punching it with the other hand.
Marking: Catching the ball after it has
been kicked by another player without being touched in flight.
Umpires: There are three field umpires,
two boundary umpires and two goal umpires. The field umpires officiate according
to the laws of the game. This means paying free kicks or marks. The crowd often
disagrees with the umpires because of different interpretations of the laws.
Fans' interpretations often depend on which team they barrack for.
Goal: Scored when the ball is kicked
through the two tallest white posts (goalposts) by a player on the team kicking
to that end, without the ball being touched by anyone. It is worth six points.
Point: Scored when the ball goes between
a goal post (the tall one) and a point post (the smaller post), or hits one
of the goalposts or is 'rushed' (either comes off someone's hands before crossing
the goal line or is kicked through the other team's goals to thwart a goal).
It is worth one point.
