AFL 🏃

1. Adelaide Football Club
2. Brisbane Lions
3. Carlton Football Club
4. Collingwood Football Club
5. Essendon Football Club
6. Fremantle Football Club
7. Geelong Football Club
8. Gold Coast Suns
9. Greater Western Sydney Giants
10. Hawthorn Football Club
11. Melbourne Football Club
12. North Melbourne Football Club
13. Port Adelaide Football Club
14. Richmond Football Club
15. St Kilda Football Club
16. Sydney Swans
17. West Coast Eagles
18. Western Bulldogs

AFL is a fast-paced game that combines the skills of speed, athleticism, skill, and physical fitness. Players are allowed to tackle the player with the ball and impede opposition players from tackling their teammates. This is known as shepherding. However, players cannot deliberately strike an opponent. AFL tactics are based around trying to get the ball, then – through a combination of running with the ball, hand-passing, and kicking – deliver it to a player who is within the range of the goal. 

TRADITIONAL PLAYING POSITIONS:

In AFL there are no set positions in the rules of the game, but traditionally the field was divided into three major sections: the forward line, back line and midfield. The forward and back lines consisted of six players, arranged into two lines of three players. The midfield generally consisted of the designated ruckman (player who contests the bounce-down) and players who either stay in the centre area of the ground or follow the ball and are not confined to a particular area.

THE MODERN GAME:

The modern game has largely discarded the traditional playing positions in favour of a free flowing running game and attempting to have players in various positions on the field. The rise in popularity of the ‘hand-pass’ since the 1970s has greatly influenced this style of play. The players are shuffled on and off the field using the interchange bench. 

ADDITIONAL RULES:

• Player health and safety is protected via the laws of the game
• There are a few restrictions on where the player can be located across the ground
• Continuous and free flowing football is encouraged ahead of repetitive short passages of play

AFL began its evolution in Melbourne around 1858, but the origins before that time are the subject of much debate as there were a multitude of football games played in Britain, Europe, Ireland and Australia whose rules influenced the early AFL games played in Melbourne. Teams would have to agree before each match which rules would be followed, and different aspects of association football, Gaelic football, rugby football, Sheffield rules, Cambridge rules Winchester College football were apparent in the early games. The first match the AFL Commission identified as a direct precursor to the codification of Australian football was organised and umpired by Tom Wills and contested on 31 July 1858 between Melbourne Grammar School Football Club and Scotch College.

The oldest set of rules were drawn up on 17 May 1859, three days after the reformation of the Melbourne Football club for the 1859 season. The Melbourne Football club was first formed on 31 July 1858 when a code of rules were written. These rules were based on school football rules but made simpler so they were easier to follow. The earliest official formal leagues were the South Australian National Football League formed in 1877.

The first intercolonial matches were played in 1879 which spread throughout the country. The game was shaped in the early years through feedback from clubs, players and spectators. The sport then further spread across the country and became the main winter sport played in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. The game was played in New South Wales and Queensland but was second in popularity to rugby union.