Australian rules is now classified as a minor sport with the lowest media profile and attendance of the four major football codes.

Since 2012 the AFL has positioned Greater Western Sydney Giants (GWS) as a local side, scheduling three home games a year at Manuka Oval.

In 2013, 2016, 2021 and 2022 the stadium's average attendance was higher than that of the Giants home, the Sydney Showgrounds, despite having 10,000 less available seats and a schedule of lower drawing opposition clubs.

[5] Home grown hero Alex Jesaulenko and Australian Football Hall of Fame legend was a household name in the 1970s in Canberra.

Tom Wills, founder of Australian rules was born on the Mongolo Plain near what is now the ACT from 1835-1839 prior to his family's move to Victoria.

In 1874, the newly formed Southern Rugby Union (SRU), which governed football in the colony of New South Wales, placed a ban on clubs playing Australian rules as such, the clubs risked expulsion from the union if they competed against nearby Victorian rules sides.

The gradual migration of civil servants from Melbourne to Canberra helped fuel strong early enthusiasm for the Australian rules.

[9] Three teams (Canberra, Duntroon and Federals) contested matches at the Acton Racecourse (now covered by Lake Burley Griffin) and at Blanfordia (now Manuka Oval).

[18] Under significant pressure from rugby league junior development in the territory and fearing the impact on its strong local competition of entry of a Sydney team, a formal bid for license to enter a Canberra team into the VFL was made with expected crowd projections of 15,000 per match and a significant television audience.

[20] The Raiders were based at Queanbeyan in nearby New South Wales and weren't immediately successful with a wooden spoon in its first season and very small crowds, but the home team began to rapidly attract public support within two years began to outdraw the VFL's Canberra attendances.

[22] With the VFL denying the Canberra bids entry and with the rising popularity of the Raiders, the ACT between 1983 and 1984 sought admission to the South Australian National Football League.

[27] In 1990, a sold out Ansett Cup (pre-season) match between Hawthorn and Sydney Swans at Bruce Stadium set an ACT attendance record of 11,500.

In 1993 an official "AFL For Canberra Bid" led by Ron Cahill and backed by the ACT government was launched.

Despite a frost, the match attracted a large amount of interest and a crowd of just under 12,000 attended and the Eagles defeated the struggling Lions by 28 points.

It scheduled North Melbourne Football Club's (the Kangaroos) first premiership match at Manuka Oval which attraced a crowd of 11,321.

We have neglected it over the past periods of time" In 2001, the AFL club the Kangaroos signed a deal with the ACT government to play some home matches at Manuka Oval.

However, in 2007 the club received a more lucrative offer, to play some home games at Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast, Queensland, and signed a deal to that effect, which was met with significant disgust from Canberra.

[35][36] In August 2006, the AFL announced that the Melbourne Demons and Western Bulldogs would each play home games at Manuka, to fill the void left by the Kangaroos.

[41] The first AFLW premiership match played at Manuka, a Giants home game, with free entry attracted at territory record women's attendance of 6,460[42] however the league did not schedule any other matches and AFLW did not return to the ACT for another 4 years, and it did so with paid entry to significantly reduced crowds.

[43][44] Over the years, the ACT has produced many top players for elite professional leagues such as the Australian Football League, including Alex Jesaulenko, James Hird, Mick Conlan, Craig Bolton, Don Pyke, Shaun Smith, Adrian Barich, Brett Allison, and Aaron Hamill.

The Greater Western Sydney Giants Academy created a Canberra sub-academy, giving GWS has first pick of the most talented players from the ACT.