2006 AFL Grand Final

Ok I'll to explain it in the simplest way possible. Australian football is a very simple game with very simple rules although skills take a while to learn. What it is 18 players from each side play on a very large ground that's oval shaped (like a cricket ground) and is a lot bigger to all other codes of football. Players on each team punt (no dropkicks, occasional kicks on the ground) the ball to each other, handball (punching the ball while it's in your hand, a lot like an under-arm serve in basketball, but players aren't allowed to throw the ball at all. Players retain possession by running with ball and passing it to their teammates. The object of the game is to score goals, which are worth six points. Players score goals by kicking the ball between the 2 middle posts. If players miss goals they can still score 1 point which is called a behind if they miss the goals but travels close enough that it's inside the two smaller posts on either sides of the goals. If the ball hits either goal post it's a behind and if it hits either behind post it's out of bounds. If the ball is touched (not kicked) through any of the posts, it's a behind and if an opposition players kicks a goal at the wrong end it's a behind. When players punt the ball and it travels at least 15 metres and one of their teammates "marks" (catches) the ball, a free kick is awarded. Players in defense try to stop the opposition from setting up goals while the midfield try to gain clearances and stop opponents from getting possession. Fowards try to mark the ball at their end to score goals, although goals can be scored on the run. If a player tackles an opposition player with the ball the tackling player can get a free kick for the team. Players must only tackle above the knees and below the shoulder or risk free kicks. Players must also bounce or ground the ball every 15 metres whilst running with the ball (similar to traveling in basketball). The sport has exciting traits such as players marking the ball in mid air, often jumping on an opposition player's back to mark the ball. The ball is out of bounds if it goes over the out of bounds line near the fence (like the boundary rope in cricket). When the ball goes out of bounds one of the boundary umpires throws the ball in by looking away from the field and throwing the ball in the air behind him. Players can be penalized with a free kick if they deliverately put the ball out of bounds. Players are penalized with a free kick if they kick the ball out of bounds on the full. (without the ball bouncing before it crosses the boundary line). Umpires often bounce (sometimes they throw it in their like basketball especially when the ground is too wet) the ball with 2 players contesting the ball (a lot like a jump ball in basketball). They bounce the ball at the start of each quarter, each goal and when the ball is locked. There are 3 field umpires, 2 boundary umpires, and 2 goal umpires. The winner of the game is the team which finishes with the most points. In the AFL each team plays 22 games (one each week, which is called a round) until the AFL Finals. A win awards a team 4 points, 2 points for a draw (although draws are rare, only averaging like 2 every 176 game season), and 0 for a loss. The 8 teams out of the 16 which finish with the most points enter the AFL Finals. If teams are tied on points it goes by the greater posistive percentage of point differential (i.e. 3000 points for, 2000 points against = 150%). The top 4 teams in the finals receive a double-chance (meaning that if they lose their first final they're not eliminated) whilst the the bottom 4 teams do not. There are 9 games in the finals and the two remaining teams face off at the MCG, Melbourne, Australia in the Grand Final with the winner of that game being the premiers for that year.

wow, that was long^^^^

Wow. That sort of made sense! Perhaps you could add that to the wiki somewhere for AFL, i.e. the rules of the game.

by the way the ball is oval shaped but it isn't as pointy as gridiron ball or even a rugby ball...

If you have any more questions about the sport please ask me here and I'll answer here...

Even though the season is over...