Australian rules football

:Australian Rules redirects here. For the movie, see Australian Rules (film).

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Australian rules football (also known as Aussie rules or Footy) is a game played between two teams of 18 players on cricket ovals, or similar-sized areas. The game is distinguished from other kinds of football by the fast, relatively free movement of the ball (partly due to the absence of an offside rule) and the awarding of a free kick for any clean catch — known as a mark — of a ball which has been kicked more than 15 metres.

Related Topics:
Cricket - Oval - Football - Offside - Metre

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The top-level league in Australia is the Australian Football League (AFL). Professional pre-season competitions usually begin in late February, although the "football season" proper is from March to August, with finals being held in September.

Related Topics:
Australia - Australian Football League

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Australian rules which was invented in Melbourne, is the predominant winter sport in Australia. It is the most popular sport in the Northern Territory (NT), South Australia (SA), Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia (WA). In the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), rugby union is the predominant sport. In New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland it is rugby league. However, with ongoing net migration from Victoria and SA to Queensland, the on-field success of the Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions, and the growth of amateur football in those areas, this is changing to a degree. In recent years, there has been a boom in Australian rules in Brisbane, and this appears to be closely linked to the success of the Lions, who won three premierships in a row (2001-2003), and were runners-up in 2004. In Sydney alone, the Swans' 2005 premiership win was watched by an average television audience of one million. In both the ACT and south-western NSW, Australian rules has rivalled the two varieties of rugby in popularity, over many decades.

Related Topics:
Melbourne - Winter sport - Australia - Northern Territory - South Australia - Tasmania - Victoria - Western Australia - Australian Capital Territory - Rugby union - New South Wales - Queensland - Rugby league - Sydney Swans - Brisbane Lions

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Cricket is the most common summer spectator sport in Australia, and is usually played on the same grounds as Aussie Rules. In the past, many elite-level footballers played representative cricket, but the increasingly professional nature of the game made this impossible by the 1980s. Many amateur and school-level players still play both.

Related Topics:
Cricket - 1980s

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Unlike most soccer competitions, there are no separate "league" and "cup" trophies (although there is a pre-season Wizard Cup tournament). The teams that occupy the highest positions (usually four in most amateur leagues, but eight in the AFL) play off in a "semi-knockout" finals series (in the AFL, the top four sides get a second chance if they lose their first final), with the two successful teams meeting to contest the premiership. This is decided by one game, the Grand Final.

Related Topics:
Soccer - Wizard Cup - AFL

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