"Rules by Ren" by Paul Renouf

First, some mis-construed beliefs about Aussie Rules. Contrary to some new-watchers to the sport's belief, 'Aussie Rules' does not mean 'Without Rules'. Aussie Rules is not a derivative of rugby, gridiron, soccer, or any other game. But, one of the reasons the game is so wonderful to watch and play is because it allows every player to use nearly all of the skills mentioned in the above sports (running the ball, punting, receiving, dribbling, tackling, scoring).

The code of play is quite comprehensive and over the years, addendum's to the code have been added to prevent non-sportsmanlike exploitation of technicalities.However, the principles of the game are basic, and very easy to understand with even one session of watching the game.

This overview will attempt to describe the game to all new-comers, but is mainly directed at the American culture. Parenthesis () will be used to disclose qualifying remarks, and brackets [ ] will be used here to reference common American terms that are synonyms to the Australian (or Aussie Rules) language.

The objective of Aussie Rules is to outscore your opponents in total points. These points are tallied by summing the goals (worth six points) scored, and the behinds (worth 1 point) scored. A goal is scored by kicking [punting] the ball (similar to an American football) through two upright posts. The ball must come off the foot of a player. So no throwing or punching it through - it must be kicked through. A behind is scored if the ball is touched by anyone, or is kicked through the smaller posts on either side of the goal posts.

Eighteen players take the field for each side. Two reserves [substitutes] may be interchanged at any time. The game lasts 100 minutes, divided into four, 25-minute quarters.

The ball can be moved around the ground by either: running with it, kicking [punting] the ball, or handpassing (punching with a closed fist). Throwing the ball is disallowed.

Free-kicks are awarded for infringements of the rules. A free-kick allows a player to take a kick un-obstructed (without being tackled) from the spot of the infringement.

A player can run as far as he wants with the ball (provided the player touches the ball to the ground every ten meters - usually accomplished by bouncing [dribbling] the ball).

A player running with the ball is in open play. He may be tackled by anyone from the opposing team. A tackle usually means wrapping up the player, like in rugby, but can be like a good ole American-style 'hit'. The tackle is illegal if it is above the neck or below the knees. It is also illegal if it is a direct push from behind. Otherwise a free kick (without obstruction) is awarded to the tackled player at that spot. {So you can't trip up a player, ride him into the ground from behind, or clothesline him}. Now here's where it gets interesting - if a player is tackled (legally), he must make an immediate attempt to dispose of the ball (legally - no throwing now). If he holds on to the ball during a tackle (like as in rugby), he is deemed 'holding the ball' and the tackler gets a free kick. Now, on the other hand, it is illegal to tackle a player without the ball. So, if a player does dispose the ball during a tackle, the tackler must immediately let go.

Now, even though I have just said it is illegal to tackle a player without the ball, it is not illegal to bump a player with your hip and shoulder at any time. In other words, if your teammate has the ball, you may obstruct an opponent's path to him by hitting your opponent with your body side-on (often done in a robust manner).
The game is fast, and players are constantly being tackled and disposing of the ball, and then being let go, hip-and-shoulder'd ..... blah, blah. But to new-comers of the sport, this is probably the reason it can look like 'no rules'. In actual fact, there are many rules, but players know what they are and (mostly) do not violate them. All of the rules are personally interpreted and administered by the umpire (and are often disputed by players and fans alike).

A player can kick the ball in any direction (but of course, the objective is to get it to your goal). If any player from either team marks [receives] the ball from a kick, he may take an un-obstructed kick from that spot. Much of offensive strategy is to get clear from your opponent [your tagger] so as you can receive the ball and take an un-obstructed kick. The mark [reception] does not count if the ball has touched the ground - a mark must come directly from the foot of a player (from either team) and must have traveled at least ten meters.

The other method of moving the ball is to handpass, or punch, the ball. But unlike marking [receiving] a kicked ball, receiving a handpass does not give you an un-obstructed free-kick. So you are in open play when receiving one of these. This type of pass is obviously a shorter range method of moving the ball around, but can be very effective at keeping your players on the move and heading towards goal. It is the typical method of disposal when players are being tackled.

If the ball crosses the boundaries of the field 'on-the-full' (directly from a kick, without touching the ground first), the opposing team gets to kick it back in from the spot it went over. If it did bounce first though, or was handpassed over, an umpire will throw it back in high in the air. Any player can just grab the ball from this 'throw-in' and start play. But typically, tall fellas compete for the 'throw-in' (much like a 'jump-ball' in basketball) and try to tap it to their players. Similarly, a 'bounce-up' in the center of the ground is used to start the game and after any goals scored. If a behind is scored, the opposing team returns it into play by an un-obstructed kick from the goal in which it was scored.

That's about it! But a couple of words here on tactics and how the umpire will sometimes not call a free, because it would actually penalize the team that was infringed upon.

A team is much more effective at moving the ball and scoring if their players are free from their opponents. In the duration of time that it takes to award a free-kick to a player (usually he's on the ground, sometimes with his 'lights out'), the defensive players of the opposing team can simply tag their men. If the team that was infringed upon still have possession of the ball, stopping play and returning the ball to where an infringement occurred would actually be worse-off for them (because now their men are most likely being tagged by the opposition). In this case, an umpire will immediately call "PLAY ON" and it is know as 'paying the advantage'.

Here's an example: say a player is tackled and legally handpasses the ball to a teammate. And say the guy who was tackling him rides him into the ground and then bite his nose off and shoves it into his eye, or commits any other offense.

Well... the player that received the handpass in the first place is already off down the field heading toward other open teammates, or even goal. The 'infringed upon' team in this case would 'prefer not' to have gotten the free-kick because: "Bloody Hell, they we were about to kick a goal anyway!!"'Paying the advantage' in footy is quite common.

In a similar way, the strategy of an effective team is to 'play the advantage'(‘play’, not ‘pay’, as above). If you are awarded a free kick or mark the ball and you may take the un-obstructed free-kick that you are awarded - players want to keep the game constantly moving. Often, they will ‘play on’ as soon as they are handed the ball. This done simply by running with the ball. Of course, once they elect to 'play on', they are now in open field play and may be tackled suitably.

There's a whole lot of other rules like: turning free-kicks over to the other team for time wasting, deliberately putting the ball toward the boundary line when you are under pressure, bouncing [dribbling] the ball while being tackled, only allowed eight blokes in a center-square area during a 'ball-up', and more. But nothing too important. Give us a buzz if you're curious.