If you're old enough to remember the earliest days of ESPN, you might recall that they filled a lot of open time with replays of Australian Football matches. It was an 80s basic cable curiosity that most U.S. sports fans watched for a few minutes. Then, after much head-scratching and confusion, they changed the channel. As time went by and ESPN got the broadcast rights for American sports and grew into a juggernaut, Aussie Rules became something of a punch line. "Yeah, we used to show that," they would remind us at every anniversary. "Wasn't that strange?"
What's strange in this country, however, is a national obsession halfway around the world. Since ESPN stopped showing Victorian Football League games, the VFL has grown into the 16-team Australian Football League, which spans the continent and has the highest per capita attendance of any sports league on the planet. In terms of overall average attendance, the AFL is third (35,250 per game) behind the NFL (67,738) and the German Bundesliga (38,888). That puts the AFL ahead of Major League Baseball (31,423), the English Premier League (34,363) and La Liga in Spain (29,029) in terms of average attendance.
This incredible popularity in Australia, however, hasn't translated into a large audience in the Northern Hemisphere. Ask a typical sports fan about Aussie Rules in this country, and they usually respond with something to the effect of, "Uh, you mean that weird rugby-like game?"
Of course, that's completely inaccurate. Australian football is completely separate from rugby. It's a game with is own history, its own traditions, and its own style. It's fast-paced, it's physical, and once you understand the rules of the game, it's a ton of fun to watch.
So just what are the Aussie Rules, anyway? Find out after the jump...
When the Australians began playing football in 1858, they saw it as a way to keep cricketers fit during the winter. As a result, Australian football is played on a cricket oval, which may be between 135 and 185 meters long. At each end of the oval are four goal posts arranged like so:
The object of the game is to kick the ball through your goal posts more than your opponents kick the ball through theirs. If you kick it through tall those center posts, that's a goal, which is worth 6 points. If you kick it through either of the side posts, that's called a "behind," which is only one point. It's also a behind if you bounce a ball off the center posts. Kicking accuracy counts for something in this game.
Each team has 18 players on the oval at once, and unlike other popular football games like soccer and rugby and American football, there's no offside rule. That means players can pretty much run anywhere on the field, which creates a much more free-flowing game.
The game starts with a "center bounce," which is kind of like a tip-off in basketball, except the ref bounces the ball in the center square, and two big guys called ruckmen fight to tip the ball to their teammates. Once a player gets the ball, he has four options:
1.) He can run with the ball, but he has to bounce it off the turf every 10 meters or so.
2.) He can kick the ball to a teammate or, if he's close enough, through the goal.
3.) He can "handpass" the ball, which is an underhand punch of the ball. (It's gotta be punched, too. Laterals are a no-no.)
4.) He can stand there and get his ass tackled.
While players can advance the ball toward goal by running and handpassing all day, the kicking game is important because of something called the mark. Basically, if a player makes a clean catch of another player's kick, he can take a mark, back up from the spot of the catch and make a free kick. He only has about 5 seconds to make that kick, though, before the ref shouts, "Play on!" A player can earn a mark on an opponent's kick as well.
Thus, teams can advance the ball by kicking to each other and getting free kicks all the way down the oval. Then when a player gets a mark within 50 meters of the goalposts - sort of an end zone, if you will - that player gets a free kick for goal. That's when most of the points are scored, so spoiling marks becomes increasingly important for back line players. Champ Bailey, for example, might be a pretty good back line player in this game.
After a goal is scored, the ref brings it back to the center for a bounce, and the process begins again. If a team only scores a behind, though, the opposing team gets a free kick from the goal square in front of the posts. Oh, and if the ball goes out of bounds, the ref gives it a backward heave back into play -- unless it's kicked directly out of bounds. Then it's a free kick to the other team.
And that's it.
Now that you know how they play football in Australia, you're probably thinking, "That sounds like fun. Where can I watch a game?"At the moment, the exclusive broadcast rights to live Australian Football League matches in America belong to Setanta Sports, an international sports network that's only available through DirecTV and ITVN. (There's a rumor going around, though, that Dish Network will add Setanta Sports sometime in advance of Rugby World Cup in September.) Most of their AFL games kick off on Saturday nights at 11:00 PM Eastern, 8:00 PM Pacific. The regular season runs from March to August -- we're about halfway through the current AFL season as of today -- and the top 8 AFL teams enter the Finals Series in September.
Match replays are also available online from Big Pond, an Aussie broadband provider, though more recent video is reserved for Big Pond's customers. You can also find copies of past matches if you know your way around certain BitTorrent hub sites, but I don't think the boys at AOL want to encourage copyright violations.
However, Das FanHaus does encourage you to seek out Australian Football, because now that you know how it's played, you can see for yourself just how much fun it is.
(Dan FanHaus will provide ongoing coverage of the Australian Football League as the 2007 season progresses -- as best we can from the other side of the world, anyway. Bookmark this link for the latest AFL posts.)
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Nice article. I have never understood the "mark" until now and it finally makes sense.
Posted at 12:32PM on Jun 14th 2007 by Roger
2. There are many similar elements between Gaelic Football and Australian Rules football.. hence there is a "compromise rules" series, a hybrid game, played between Ireland and Australia each year. Its getting fairly violent though, and rumours are it will be abandoned.. watch it while you can.
Posted at 4:56PM on Jun 14th 2007 by David Corcoran
3. Awesome article Daveo! Well explained, you deserve to become an honorary Australian.
Aussie Rules is King!
Posted at 3:07AM on Jun 15th 2007 by Ryano
4. The AFL is not all that popular in the northern states of Australia. Its games often get outrated by 10 year old reruns of a Japanese cooking program in those states.
The AFL is only the major football code in the less populated states.
Rugby League is far more popular in Queensland & NSW. These states have more than 55% of Australia's population.
10 teams in Victoria
2 teams in South Australia
2 teams in Western Australia
1 team in Queensland
1 team in New South Wales
Posted at 4:16AM on Jun 15th 2007 by Airpoe
5. It isn't the same now the officials at the goals don't look like they work on a supermarket fish counter.
Posted at 6:28AM on Jun 15th 2007 by Colnagoman
6. Australian Rules Football is a regionally stunted game played primarily for and by rampant non-heterosexuals in the Southern States of Australia. The AFL is a conglomeration of blind lepers who have unnerving control over the sporting minds of ½ the population.
The game itself begins when two teams of 18 limp-wristed nancy boys run onto an oval through a 40 foot high banner made of toilet paper which has messages of love from their fans painted in it in various shades of lipstick. Running though the banner is the zenith of anyone's Australian Rules Football experience.
Prior to the game's commencement but after the "running of the banner" each side gathers in a group and runs around the oval to warm up. This is commonly known as a "melee" and is the first of many over the approximately 120 minutes the game takes.
Once the game starts at the sound of a hooter that would arouse a Moose, the ball (similar to a Gridiron ball, but less heterosexual) is bounced by a prat in a dangerously loud shirt called the "umpy". The main vocation of the umpy is to spend the game listening to 40,000 lispers calling out "ball". Most umpys are thankful that the word "ball" has no S in it.
From the first bounce until the end of the game there is a 100 minute game consisting of the aforementioned 36 men attempting to do things to each other that would be considered outrageous at a Mexican Donkey Show.
Scores are earned by kicking the ball between 4 posts at either end of the ground, yes 4. A player earns 6 points (a goal) for kicking the ball between the two highest posts in the centre of the 4 posts, and he scores 1 point (a behind) for missing the big posts but still managing to not miss all the posts.
Talent and co-ordination are not requirements to play Australian Rules Football. It is slightly tougher than Draughts but a smidgeon under Backgammon in toughness.
It is a game adored by 1/2 the country and hated by the other half. The collective IQ of the former is 12.
Hate Australian Rules Football even if you've never seen a game, it saves time later on.
Posted at 7:19PM on Jun 20th 2007 by airpoe's male partner
7. Quote: airpoe's male partner
"18 limp-wristed nancy boys"
If you think AFL players are nancy boys I would like to know what you think of football/soccer players.
Not to mention NFL players... I've seen tougher Drag Queens.
Posted at 12:05AM on Jun 21st 2007 by Rowan
8. Soccer is fine.
AFL is gayer than a conga-line featuring George Michael, Elton John, Julian Clary and the Vienna Boys Choir.
Comparing AFL to NFL is pretty funny. The only position AFL players have been able to garner in the NRL is punter. The punter position in NFL is a position set aside for bloke who simply can't play a contact sport.
Posted at 10:12PM on Jun 24th 2007 by airpoe's male partner
9. airpoe:
If you really think AFL is that gay then you should add yourself to that conga line. You are gayer than aids.
Posted at 3:44AM on Jun 29th 2007 by Rowan
10. airpoe you are a official w*n*ka
you compare a grown man reaching in another mans ass and tickling his nuts to blokes smashing each other in tackles and call it a gays game but have you ever played this "girls game"?? didnt think so you're too caught up on your PC getting w*n*kas cramp.
and too everyone wondering what AFL is like try it for your self. skillful, tough, hard footy.
Posted at 8:49AM on Jul 1st 2007 by AFL Champion
11. Firstly -
Posted at 12:32PM on Jun 14th 2007 by Roger
A mark - or 'fair catch' - was actually in the rules of both Association Football and Rugby Football. They moved away from it. Aust Footy retained it, and thus it is a feature, especially the speccie.
I always feel that Aust Footy is a lot like Basketball on grass - but with 18 a side, kicking and a return to the centre for another jump ball/tip off after every goal.
It's greatest feature is the 'neutral contest' and no off-side. Unlike the 'Formation' Games with rigid negative rules such as Off-Side and no forward passes and the like.
If you comprehend this - then you realise, that anything can happen at anytime. That a 'turn over' can hurt you when your opponent pumps the ball 50metres over your head to your opponent that you just 'ran off'. That a 3 goal lead can be overtaken within a few minutes.
Note also - the 'pure' form of the goal. It MUST be kicked by the attacking team and MUST NOT be touched by anyone or thing (i.e. post) - although it can bounce through. There's no 'own' goals. And unlike Rugby, where once a try was a way to score a goal and now the goal has been completely devalued - AFL is still a game where kicking goals wins.
Anyway - brain damage is limited by not having to 'head' a ball. And spinal damage is limited by not having to participate in a 'scrum'.
btw -
Rugby types should never accuse other codes players of being non-heterosexual - the rugby scrum must surely be home to these folk - and after all Sydney (the Aust centre of the poorly attended and poorly signed up - club members - 'National' Rugby League is also the home of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras).[Note - Melb only has 1 NRL team because News Ltd pays for it to be there, News Ltd own Storm and half the NRL. Whereas AFL is run by an independent Commission and all clubs are predominantly 'member owned' (constitutions vary a little) - a bit like the Green Bay Packers. Thus the AFL is even distinct to the new A-League soccer league in Aust which has all 'private' franchises.]
Anyway - quick comparison. AFL 16 clubs ~ 550K club seasons members vs NRL 16 clubs ~ 50K. The NRL folk sit at home, watch it on tele. Ave attendance ~15K. AFL is certainly best seen live though; from level 2 or 3 of a stadium.
Note also - AFL is all the more astounding given the very anti-Victorian attitude of many in the Northern States which blinds them to the 'native' game. They'd rather play an anal British game than there own far more athletic, skillful and exciting game. (Note - AFL is not as Rough as the Rugby codes - once, maybe, but not anymore. It does provide the greatest range of skills, athleticism, endurance and body type without requiring body weight well over obese on the BMI!! - well, AFL ~170cm to ~211cm). Generally, a player can overcome a weakness in one area by being strong in other areas, so that even players not that good by foot can find a niche.
New South Wales however is a very interesting case study of a highly competitive sporting market. The A-League soccer is going and may go further head to head with the NRL in both major metro and key regional markets, including Sth East QLD. Both being played on rectangular fields - promises for a full on fight. Ironically, sitting to the side of the NRL is the Aust Rugby Union which poaches players and competes against it's Rugby League cousin. Yes - the Northern States offer no sense of unity or community. Whereas Aust Footy saw perhaps individual clubs rather than specific codes 'dividing' the demographic. The AFL heartland of Melbourne is even able to absorb the best followed/attended A-League Soccer Club whilst forging ahead with record AFL crowds and Club Memberships. Even Sydney's A-League team pales by comparison to the Vics - - but then Melbourne is the World Sporting Capital.
Posted at 12:55AM on Jul 10th 2007 by Michael C