Australian Rules Football

Overview

Australian football. Eighteen players a side on a large oval, moving an oval ball by kicking and handballing towards four posts at each end. There is no offside.

This entry is checked against the Laws of Australian Football 2026, published by the AFL on 13 February 2026. Law numbers below are the AFL's. Under Law 2.2, a league can apply to the AFL to vary the Laws for its own competition, so local football may differ in places.

1. The ground and the teams

An oval, not a rectangle. The Laws allow a playing surface 135 to 185 metres long and 110 to 155 metres wide, so grounds differ considerably.

At each end are four posts:

• Two goal posts, 6.4 metres apart and at least 6 metres tall.
• Two shorter behind posts, one each side, a further 6.4 metres out.

The ground is marked with a centre square, a ten-metre circle in the middle, a fifty-metre arc and a goal square at each end, and an interchange area.

Eighteen players from each team may be on the ground at once, with up to four interchange players (Law 5). A competition may set different numbers within limits.

2. Time

A match is 80 minutes: four quarters of 20 minutes, and:

The 20 minute duration for each quarter shall be actual playing time and shall not include stoppages in play.

That's why the clock stops and quarters run well past 20 minutes on the wall. The breaks are up to 6 minutes after the first and third quarters and up to 20 minutes at half-time.

3. Scoring

Score	Points
Goal	6
Behind	1

A goal (Law 16.1.1) is scored when the ball is kicked completely over the goal line by an attacking player, without being touched by any other player, "even if the football first touches the ground". A kick that bounces through the big posts is still a goal.

A behind (Law 16.1.2) is scored when:

• the ball crosses the behind line, between a goal post and a behind post
• the ball hits a goal post
• an attacking player's kick is touched before it crosses the goal line
• an attacker handballs or knocks it over the goal line, since only a kick scores a goal
• a defender takes it over the goal line or behind line in any way

Hitting a behind post is not a behind. Law 16.1.4: the ball is out of bounds.

The goal umpire signals a goal with both index fingers and two flags, and a behind with one finger and one flag. Scores are written goals.behinds (total): 14.9 (93) is fourteen goals, nine behinds, 93 points.

Rushed behinds

Defenders may concede a behind to relieve pressure, but not freely. Law 18.11.2 gives a free kick against a defender who intentionally puts the ball over their own goal or behind line, or onto their own goal post, if they:

• were more than nine metres from the line
• were not under immediate physical pressure
• had time and space to dispose of it, or
• knocked it over on the full from a ruck contest

4. Moving the ball

• Kick it any distance, any direction.
• Handball it: hold it in one hand and punch it with the other fist.
• Throwing it is a free kick against, and so is handing it to a teammate (Law 18.13).

Running with the ball: Law 18.13(c) requires you to bounce it or touch it on the ground at least once every 15 metres, "irrespective of whether such Player is running in a straight line or otherwise". Kicking or handballing it to yourself and catching it before it lands still counts as possession, so it doesn't reset the distance.

5. The mark

Law 15.1: a mark is taken when a player catches or takes control of the ball:

• inside the playing surface,
• after it has been kicked by another player at least 15 metres, and
• when it hasn't touched the ground or another player.

If anyone touches the ball in flight, the umpire calls "touched, play on" and there's no mark. A player who marks may take their kick unimpeded from the spot, or play on.

6. Starting positions, and why there is no offside

There is no offside. Once play starts, players may be anywhere.

But at every centre throw-up, to start a quarter or after a goal, Law 13.1 sets starting positions:

• six players per team in each area bounded by the boundary and the fifty-metre arcs,
• four per team in the centre square, one of whom is the ruck, starting in the ten-metre circle in their defensive half,
• one per team in each of the shaded areas marked on the Laws' Diagram 2.

Breaking these gives a free kick to the opposing ruck; doing it intentionally adds a fifty-metre penalty.

The Laws call this a throw-up. The 2026 Laws describe the umpire throwing the ball up to start each quarter and after each goal. The word "bounce" doesn't appear for it, although the centre bounce is a famous part of the game's history.

7. Tackling and contact

A legal tackle (Law 1) is on a player who has the ball, below the shoulders and above the knees. It may be from the front, side or behind, as long as a player held from behind isn't pushed in the back.

Permitted contact (Law 18.3.4): you may use your hip, shoulder, chest, arms or open hands, but only when the ball is within five metres of you.

Prohibited contact (Law 18.3.2) gives a free kick. It includes:

• an illegal tackle
• pushing or bumping in the back
• high contact, which includes the top of the shoulders, with any part of the body
• holding a player who doesn't have the ball
• tripping, kicking, striking and charging
• bumping or forceful front-on contact on a player whose head is down over the ball

So a bump is legal only within five metres of the ball, not in the back, not high (including the top of the shoulder), and never front-on to a player with their head over the ball.

Holding the ball

Law 18.6 gives a free kick against a tackled player in possession:

• with prior opportunity, if they don't dispose of it correctly immediately when legally tackled.
• without prior opportunity, only if they choose to dispose of it incorrectly, or make no genuine attempt to dispose of it within a reasonable time. A tackle that knocks the ball loose is not holding the ball.
• for diving on the ball or dragging it under the body without immediately knocking it clear or disposing of it.

The fifty-metre penalty

After a mark or free kick, a player or official of the opposing side who delays play, moves off the mark, holds the player, or behaves in an unsportsmanlike way gives away a further fifty metres (Law 19).

8. Umpires

Law 8 provides for field umpires, two or more boundary umpires and two goal umpires. Competitions choose how many field umpires to appoint. Boundary umpires return the ball after it goes out of bounds; goal umpires judge and signal scores.

Commonly argued

• There is no offside. Positions are set only at centre throw-ups.
• A kicked goal counts even if it bounces first.
• Off the goal post is a behind; off the behind post is out of bounds.
• Only a kick scores a goal. A handball or knock over the line is a behind.
• Rushing a behind isn't always legal. From more than nine metres, or without pressure, it's a free kick against.
• You can't throw the ball, or hand it to a teammate.
• Bounce or touch the ball every 15 metres. Kicking it to yourself doesn't reset that.
• A mark needs a kick of 15 metres, untouched, and a catch before it hits the ground.
• The bump is legal only within five metres of the ball, not high, not in the back, and not front-on to a player with their head down.
• Without prior opportunity, a genuine attempt to dispose of the ball is not holding the ball, even if it doesn't come off cleanly.
• Quarters are 20 minutes of playing time, not 20 minutes on the clock.

Where this comes from

The Laws of Australian Football 2026, the final version published by the AFL on 13 February 2026. The separate AFL Rules and AFL Regulations govern the AFL competition's administration and were checked only for the centre restart, which they don't mention.

Where this entry and the Laws disagree, the Laws win. Tell us.