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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 135-185m long and 110-155m wide. Lines are drawn on the field to mark

• the boundary,
• a 50m wide centre square,
• two circles in the centre with diameters 3m and 10m and a line dividing the circles in half,
• a 9×6.4m "goal square" at each end of the ground,
• a 15m wide interchange on one flank of the oval.
• a distance of 50 metres from the goal line (the "Fifty Metre Line")

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.

There are no set positions in the rules of the game, but traditionally the field was divided into three major sections: the forward line, back line, and midfield. The forward and back lines were comprised of six players, arranged into two lines of three players each. The midfield generally consists of the designated ruckman (i.e. player who contests the ruck) and players who either stay in the centre area of the ground (between the two 50 metre 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. The players are shuffled on and off the field using the interchange bench, the blood rule means that if any player, for any reason, should begin to bleed, no matter how minor or severe, they must remove themselves from the ground to receive treatment. They may return when the flow of blood has stopped and has been treated by the team medic.

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:

• Players must always dispose of the ball cleanly. A disposal is either a kick or a handpass. Failure to do so results in a penalty to the opposing team, which is awarded a free kick. This is usually called either dropping or throwing.
  • A handpass, also called a handball, is performed by punching the ball from one hand with the other fist.

• When a player is in possession of the ball, and moving, the ball must be bounced, or touched to the ground, at least once every 15 metres. Failure to do so results in a penalty to the opposing team, who is awarded a free kick. This is sometimes called holding the ball or travelling, or more informally as "running too far", and is signalled by the umpire in the same way as travelling is signalled in basketball.

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.

• When a player is in possession of the ball, and is tackled correctly (ie., above the knees and below the shoulders), they must immediately dispose of the ball by kicking or handpassing. Failure to do so, when a prior opportunity to dispose of it existed, results in a penalty to the tackling team, who is awarded a free kick. This is also called holding the ball. Exceptions to this rule include:
  • Being bumped, that is, hit side-on by another player or tackled in such a manner that causes the ball to be knocked free or come loose from a player's possession.
  • Being tackled with the ball despite gaining possession of it but had no chance of disposing it (no prior opportunity). A ball-up would result to restart play.

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:

• Grabs hold of the ball during a ball-up or throw-in situation instead of knocking it away.
• Dives onto the ball in dispute.
• While in a prostrated position, pulls the disputed ball in underneath him.

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

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.

• 1866 - Time limit for matches introduced; Behind posts used for first time
• 1872 - Field umpires introduced
• 1887 - Umpire required to bounce ball instead of throwing it up in the air; Flags waved to signify goals
• 1891 - Centre bounce at start of quarters and after every goal; Players required to take up set field positions at start of play
• 1897 - 6 points for a goal, 1 for a behind - previously, only goals counted
• 1986 - 50 metre arc
• 1988 - Emergency umpires empowered to report players
• 1994 - 3 field umpires introduced; Blood rule (players must be removed from ground when bleeding, also when having blood on their body/playing uniforms); Number of interchange players for AFL matches was increased from 2 to 3
• 2003 - Centre circle for ruck contests
• 2006 - Timed set shots; Kick-in before flag waved; High penalties for scragging after marks

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

• Category:Australian rules football terminology
• Law of Australian Football (pdf)

• Australian rules football