I don’t know if we’ve ever had a thread for Aussie Rules here, but it was mentioned as an alternative to association football during the World Cup, so maybe how’s the time.
But first, what’s the structure of a footy match?
-4 20 minute quarters. Once upon a time, the clock counted up, so time taken for stoppages, such as centre bounces, ball-ups, and boundary throws as well as the time after a score would be included on the television clock, but not the official clock. So you were left to guess when 20 minutes had been played. These days, however, most metrics use a countdown clock with stops for the important stuff
-18 players per side, with a 4-person interchange bench
-3 ways to move the ball: running, as long as you bounce it once every 15 metres or so; hand balling (punch or slap, no throwing allowed); kicking
-If you kick it 15 metres or longer and it’s caught clean, that’s a mark and a set kick option. If you’re within the 50-metre arc you’re attacking, you get 30 seconds to make a play; outside of 50, it’s 10 seconds
-Scoring comes in two manners: goals (a kick that clears the boundary between the two middle posts without being touched by anyone else) are 6 points, and behinds (a kick that strikes a post, is touched over with a hand before clearing the boundary line, or missing between a goal post and an outer post) are worth 1 point. Scores are often presented as [goals.behinds.points], but at the end of the match, points are all that matter.
-For the home and away season, ladder points are 4 for a win, 2 for draws, none for losses
-The top 8 teams make the playoffs, collectively known as the Finals, but seeding is different. 1st hosts 4th and 2nd 3rd, but all four teams know their season isn’t over. Those are the Qualifying Finals, and the winners get a bye and host a Preliminary Final (semi-final), while the loser hosts a Semifinal (quarter-final) the next week. 5-8 and 6-7 are the Elimination Finals, with the winners going on to the Semifinals. The winners of the Preliminary Finals go on to the Grand Final at the 100,000 seat Melbourne Cricket Ground (COVID messed things up there, as the 2020 GF was at the Gabba in Brisbane, and the 2021 GF at Optus Stadium in Perth. They were back in Melbourne last year, though). This is the pinnacle of the AFL season, with the league’s Best and Fairest awarded the Charlie Brownlow Medal, some major musical act brought in for the week, and a parade into the MCG.
As of this season, there are 18 teams in the league, and as a reflection of its very Victoria roots, 10 of those teams are based in the state of Victoria, and all but one of them in Melbourne. Even two of the eight interstate teams have roots in Melbourne.
Melbourne teams (first year in VFL/AFL, Premierships)
-Carlton Blues (1897 [est. 1864], 16)
-Collingwood Magpies (1897 [est. 1892], 15)
-Essendon Bombers (1897 [est. 1872], 16)
-Hawthorn (1925 [est. 1902], 13)
-Melbourne Demons (1897 [est. 1858], 13)
-North Melbourne Kangaroos (1897 [est. 1869], 4)
-Richmond Tigers (1908 [est. 1885], 13)
-St. Kilda Saints (1897 [est. 1873], 1)
-Western Bulldogs (1925 [est. 1877 as Footscray Bulldogs], 2)
Non-Melbourne Victoria team
-Geelong Cats (1897 [est. 1859], 10)
NSW teams
-Sydney Swans (1897 [est. 1874 as South Melbourne Swans, moved to Sydney in 1982], 5)
-Greater Western Sydney (GWS) Giants (2012, 0)
WA teams
-West Coast Eagles (1987, 4)
-Fremantle (Freo if you’re Australian) Dockers (1995, 0)
SA teams
-Adelaide Crows (1991, 2)
-Port Adelaide Power (1997 [est. 1870, played in SANFL until joint AFL], 1)
Qld. Teams
-Gold Coast Suns (2011, only team to never appear in Finals)
-Brisbane Lions (merged club, 1997, 3)
-Fitzroy Lions (1897-1996 [est. 1883], 8)
-Brisbane Bears (1987-1996, 0)
If there’s appetite for it, I’ll try to get a primer for each club, including where they’ve been and where they’re at today. As there’s no Pro/Rel in AFL, its teams have boom and busy cycles similar to North American teams, so you don’t have to worry about picking a side then having to scrounge the Internet for a pirated stream of some state league. But don’t try to understand player movement. It makes almost no sense, and there’s almost no player movement past January on the league calendar.
As far as venues go, the league is limited if it stays in the seven cities it has (no seriously, it’s Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Geelong, Adelaide, and Perth), so the round are spread out from Thursday to Sunday, and it’s not rare to have teams play in completely out-of-the-way places to “grow the game”. Some examples include one round where all 18 teams will play in Adelaide one round. Western Bulldogs play a match in Ballarat every year, which would be like the Patriots playing a game in Lawrence. There are also round where the league will go to Darwin and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, or Hobart and Launceston in Tasmania. So most teams might play only 8-9 matches at “home”, a nebulous concept for the Melbourne sides, who split between the MCG and Marvel Stadium in the Docklands neighbourhood.
Oh, and Round 1 starts a week from Thursday, with Carlton playing Richmond at the MCG. So get a side and dig in.
But first, what’s the structure of a footy match?
-4 20 minute quarters. Once upon a time, the clock counted up, so time taken for stoppages, such as centre bounces, ball-ups, and boundary throws as well as the time after a score would be included on the television clock, but not the official clock. So you were left to guess when 20 minutes had been played. These days, however, most metrics use a countdown clock with stops for the important stuff
-18 players per side, with a 4-person interchange bench
-3 ways to move the ball: running, as long as you bounce it once every 15 metres or so; hand balling (punch or slap, no throwing allowed); kicking
-If you kick it 15 metres or longer and it’s caught clean, that’s a mark and a set kick option. If you’re within the 50-metre arc you’re attacking, you get 30 seconds to make a play; outside of 50, it’s 10 seconds
-Scoring comes in two manners: goals (a kick that clears the boundary between the two middle posts without being touched by anyone else) are 6 points, and behinds (a kick that strikes a post, is touched over with a hand before clearing the boundary line, or missing between a goal post and an outer post) are worth 1 point. Scores are often presented as [goals.behinds.points], but at the end of the match, points are all that matter.
-For the home and away season, ladder points are 4 for a win, 2 for draws, none for losses
-The top 8 teams make the playoffs, collectively known as the Finals, but seeding is different. 1st hosts 4th and 2nd 3rd, but all four teams know their season isn’t over. Those are the Qualifying Finals, and the winners get a bye and host a Preliminary Final (semi-final), while the loser hosts a Semifinal (quarter-final) the next week. 5-8 and 6-7 are the Elimination Finals, with the winners going on to the Semifinals. The winners of the Preliminary Finals go on to the Grand Final at the 100,000 seat Melbourne Cricket Ground (COVID messed things up there, as the 2020 GF was at the Gabba in Brisbane, and the 2021 GF at Optus Stadium in Perth. They were back in Melbourne last year, though). This is the pinnacle of the AFL season, with the league’s Best and Fairest awarded the Charlie Brownlow Medal, some major musical act brought in for the week, and a parade into the MCG.
As of this season, there are 18 teams in the league, and as a reflection of its very Victoria roots, 10 of those teams are based in the state of Victoria, and all but one of them in Melbourne. Even two of the eight interstate teams have roots in Melbourne.
Melbourne teams (first year in VFL/AFL, Premierships)
-Carlton Blues (1897 [est. 1864], 16)
-Collingwood Magpies (1897 [est. 1892], 15)
-Essendon Bombers (1897 [est. 1872], 16)
-Hawthorn (1925 [est. 1902], 13)
-Melbourne Demons (1897 [est. 1858], 13)
-North Melbourne Kangaroos (1897 [est. 1869], 4)
-Richmond Tigers (1908 [est. 1885], 13)
-St. Kilda Saints (1897 [est. 1873], 1)
-Western Bulldogs (1925 [est. 1877 as Footscray Bulldogs], 2)
Non-Melbourne Victoria team
-Geelong Cats (1897 [est. 1859], 10)
NSW teams
-Sydney Swans (1897 [est. 1874 as South Melbourne Swans, moved to Sydney in 1982], 5)
-Greater Western Sydney (GWS) Giants (2012, 0)
WA teams
-West Coast Eagles (1987, 4)
-Fremantle (Freo if you’re Australian) Dockers (1995, 0)
SA teams
-Adelaide Crows (1991, 2)
-Port Adelaide Power (1997 [est. 1870, played in SANFL until joint AFL], 1)
Qld. Teams
-Gold Coast Suns (2011, only team to never appear in Finals)
-Brisbane Lions (merged club, 1997, 3)
-Fitzroy Lions (1897-1996 [est. 1883], 8)
-Brisbane Bears (1987-1996, 0)
If there’s appetite for it, I’ll try to get a primer for each club, including where they’ve been and where they’re at today. As there’s no Pro/Rel in AFL, its teams have boom and busy cycles similar to North American teams, so you don’t have to worry about picking a side then having to scrounge the Internet for a pirated stream of some state league. But don’t try to understand player movement. It makes almost no sense, and there’s almost no player movement past January on the league calendar.
As far as venues go, the league is limited if it stays in the seven cities it has (no seriously, it’s Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Geelong, Adelaide, and Perth), so the round are spread out from Thursday to Sunday, and it’s not rare to have teams play in completely out-of-the-way places to “grow the game”. Some examples include one round where all 18 teams will play in Adelaide one round. Western Bulldogs play a match in Ballarat every year, which would be like the Patriots playing a game in Lawrence. There are also round where the league will go to Darwin and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, or Hobart and Launceston in Tasmania. So most teams might play only 8-9 matches at “home”, a nebulous concept for the Melbourne sides, who split between the MCG and Marvel Stadium in the Docklands neighbourhood.
Oh, and Round 1 starts a week from Thursday, with Carlton playing Richmond at the MCG. So get a side and dig in.