Australian Rules Football: A quick guide

Australian Rules Football (AFL) is a physical contact sport that is described as a cross between rugby which is from the UK and Gaelic football which originated in Ireland.

AFL’s rules were codified in 1858 – predating soccer, football, rugby and Gaelic football.

Today it is the most popular sport in Australia – beating even cricket – and is a multi-billion dollar business.

• It is played on an oval field and each team consists of 18 players who each attempt to kick the oval shaped ball through a configuration of 4 posts at the corresponding end of the field.
• Each game lasts for 4 quarters of 20 minutes of playing time.
• No player can be sin-binned during a game of Australian Rules Football – this can lead to terrible fights during a game.
• Players are banned retrospectively.