Laws of Australian rules football

The Australian Football Council (AFC), was formed in 1905 and became responsible for the laws, although individual leagues retained a wide discretion to vary them.

Australian rules football is a contact sport played between two teams of eighteen players on an oval-shaped field, often a modified cricket ground.

Dangerous physical contact (such as pushing an opponent in the back), interference when marking, and deliberately slowing the play are discouraged with free kicks, distance penalties or suspension for a certain number of matches, depending on the seriousness of the infringement.

The original rules were widely published and distributed by James Thompson in the 1859 edition of The Victorian Cricketer's Guide as the "Laws of the Melbourne Football Club as played at Richmond Paddock 1859".

Tripping and pushing are both allowed (but no hacking) when any player is in rapid motion or in possession of the ball, except in the case provided for in Rule 6.

When a ball goes out of bounds (the same being indicated by a row of posts) it shall be brought back to the point where it crossed the boundary-line, and thrown in at right angles with that line.

In the early days there were no set rules to decide the winner of a game, however it was most commonly the first side to kick two goals.

[3] [4] Clubs represented were: Melbourne, St. Kilda, South Yarra, Richmond, Scotch College, University, Williamstown, Collingwood, and Boroondara.

In practice, Rule 8 was rarely enforced, umpires would commonly allow players to carry the ball a sufficient distance for which to execute an effective kick.

When a ball goes out of bounds (the same being indicated by a row of posts) it shall be brought back to the point where it crossed the boundary-line, and thrown in at right angles with that line.

The major changes at this time were: The publishing of the laws prompted the adoption of the code by the first football clubs in the colonies of Queensland (22 May 1866) and New South Wales (26 May 1866).

[14] A major rewrite occurred in 1877 and it is during this time that state bodies began to govern their own leagues and/or affiliate with Victorian Associations.

A major inclusion in these laws was the ball-up which was introduced in 1872; prior to this, a scrimmage would be allowed to continue until the ball was won.

Major rule changes during this time were: With the absence of New Zealand delegates, the council reverted to the title "Australian Football".

which effectively increased the league's power and cut red tape, allowing the AFL to gain control of the Laws of the Game[how?]

The sin bin rule was discarded in favour of player reports and the allocation of free kicks against the aggrieved side.

It introduced a time limit for set shots, which was thought by some to be in response to players such as Matthew Lloyd and Brendan Fevola taking up to a minute to prepare for kicking their goals.

The AFL made more stringent the interpretation of awarding 50-metre (55 yd) penalties for "scragging" (attempting to deliberately hold play up by grabbing the opposition player after they had taken a mark).

In 2007, the AFL began introducing rules aimed at attracting more juniors by reducing the forceful contact and aggression in the game.

[18] In 2008, reacting to an incident involving the Sydney Swans playing 19 men on the field, new interchange rules were introduced to supersede the head count.

[19] Also, through the AFL Tribunal, it began to outlaw tackles which pinned the arms of a player and drove their head into the ground.

The main field markings are: The game is a fast-paced combination of speed, athleticism, skill and physical toughness.

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.

These rules are summarised: In a recent effort to reduce the amount of unnecessary stoppages, the interpretation of the prior opportunity has widened to include any player who grabs hold of the ball during a ball-up or throw-in situation instead of knocking it away.

It is conventional in both spoken and written circles to list the goals, behinds and total when reporting an Australian rules football score.

In addition to these umpires, some leagues, like the AFL, also have a Steward who monitors interchanges and substitutions to ensure they are being conducted properly.

Onfield infractions considered to warrant a more severe penalty than a free kick are handled off-field by a league tribunal.

Such incidents include deliberate or reckless acts of violence, such as striking, punching, tripping, kicking or endangering the head of an opponent, as well as misconduct such as abusing umpires or other players.

[26] In the major professional league AFL, each quarter runs for 20 minutes[27] plus time on – which makes up for time occupied in stoppages, such as when the ball goes out of bounds, injuries, goals (or behinds) being kicked, or when the umpire is setting the angle of a free kick on goal.

[29] The 2023 membership of the Competition committee is:[30] Previous members of the committee have included former VFL/AFL players Kevin Bartlett,[31] Brendon Gale, Andrew McKay,[32] Matthew Pavlich,[17] Luke Darcy, Adrian Anderson, Rowan Sawers, Nathan Buckley and Steve Hocking.