| Laws Of Australian Football |
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The laws of Australian football describe the rules of the game of Australian Rules Football . 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 ''. The game is played with an ellipsoid ball, on a grassed oval. 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 135-185 M long and 110-155m wide. Lines are drawn on the field to mark
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 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 "speccies"), 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. 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. 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:
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.
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. In a recent effort to reduce the amount of unnecessary stoppages, the interpretation of the prior opportunity have widened to include players who:
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. SCORING 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 is pressure situations where a defender decides that it is safer to concede one point to the opposing team rather than risk a goal being scored. A goal umpire judges whether a goal or behind is scored. The goal umpire shows that a goal has been scored by pointing both index fingers in front of him and then waving two flags above his or her head to indicate the score to the other goal umpire. A behind is signalled by pointing one finger, and waving one flag. An AFL or any other Australian Football result will usually appear like this: Brisbane Lions 17.10 (112) def. Sydney Swans 13.17 (95) The first number is the number of goals (six points) scored, the second number is the number of behinds (one point) scored, and the third number in the brackets is the total score. The final result is decided on the total score only, there is no 'countback rule' in which the team with the most goals wins. Some rule changes in the Preseason Competition relate to scoring - see New Rule Trials for further details. UMPIRES The game is controlled by a number of ''field umpires'' (at elite level, three), two ''boundary umpires'' whose main job is to conduct ''throw-ins'' when the ball leaves the field of play and two ''goal umpires'' who judge whether the ball is kicked between the goal posts without being touched by another player or the goal posts (thus scoring a goal), between a goal and point post (thus a point) or outside the goals entirely (thus becoming the boundary umpire's responsibility). The goal umpires wear distinctive uniforms (such as white, and recently brightly coloured, coats) and are equipped with two flags. After a goal is scored and indicated to the players via hand signals, the goal umpire waves the two flags such that the other goal umpire sees and records the goal. One flag is waved for a point. LENGTH OF THE GAME The length of a game of Australian Football can vary from league to league, but is generally around 15 to 25 minutes per quarter. In the AFL , each quarter runs for 20 minutes excluding ''stoppage time'' (also known as ''time on''). The clock is stopped on occasions such as the ball going out of bounds, injuries, goals (or behinds) being kicked, or when the umpire is setting the angle of a free kick on goal. Time is kept by two off-field officials, known as ''timekeepers'', who sound the siren at the start and end of each quarter. The average AFL quarter will thus run from between 27 to 33 minutes, depending on the amount of stoppage time. SIGNIFICANT RULE CHANGES - TIMELINE Since the sport was first codified, many rule changes have been instituted by the AFL, firstly in efforts to clarify scoring and officiating games, then later to clean up the game and more recently to speed up its pace.
In recent years, the pre-season cup (as of 2006 , the NAB Cup ) has been used as a test-bed for experimental new rules - see New Rule Trials for further details. SEE ALSO |
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