Today, the rules – or some of them.
Now, it might surprise you to know that Australian Football does have rules, but it does and they’re simple enough so that even Collingwood fans can follow them – mostly – rules designed around three basic principles: to keep the game going, to protect the guy going for the ball, and to stop blokes initiating force against other blokes . . . at least while anybody's looking. You see why I call it a libertarian sport?
And these simple rules work very well; so well, in fact, that in a two-hour game of footy, you actually have two hours of footy. Unlike other codes of footy, there’s no time in this game to get cold.
Someone observed once that the Ten Commandments was supposedly written on one piece of stone, the US Constitution on ten pages of parchment, but that European Union regulations on bananas are smeared across four volumes. The rulebook to play AFL is barely 30 A6 pages, with almost two thirds of that detailing how tribunals and national bodies are constituted, and grounds are marked out. The book is small enough to stick in your pocket - so that even white maggots and Collingwood fans have no excuse for not knowing the rules.
The guts of it all is the section headed 'Spirit of the Laws' which contains barely fifty words – all you need to keep the game going, and to discourage umpires to grandstand. (In fact, most Australians would be hard pressed to name an AFL umpire. They refer to them simply as: 'white maggots'.) The rules are pretty simple. There’s no off-sides; no throwing the ball (you have to ‘handball’ it); and no stopping for a ‘knock on’ or an injury (so don’t bother rolling around grabbing your ankles while looking pointedly at the maggot: you won’t impress anyone). Kick a ball through the outside posts (a “behind”) and you get one point; kick it through the middle and it’s six; at the end of the afternoon it’s the team with the most points who gets bragging rights for another year. (And now you see why Australians are generally very good at arithmetic to ‘Base 6.’
The ‘Spirit of the Laws’ includes the following nuggets:
- “ The player whose sole objective is to contest the ball shall be permitted to do so.”
This means that the joker going for the ball will have the protection of the umpire, but other blokes milling around are entitled to bump, shepherd and shirt-front everyone within five metres or so of the ball – just as long as they keep their eyes on it. - “The ball shall be kept in motion.”
Any joker falling on the ball to slow things down or kicking it out on purpose is going to get pinged. And booed. Loudly. - “The players whose sole objective is to contest a mark shall be permitted to do so.”
Catch the ball on the full after another joker’s kicked it, and you’ve taken a “mark,” and you’ll be given a free kick for it. Catch it while standing on another joker’s shoulders and you’ve taken a hell of a good mark – a screamer – and you’ll get loud applause from both sets of fans, and commentators saying things like “that’s the mark of the year!”
And by the way, just because you’ve been awarded a free kick, there’s nothing in the rules to stop you playing on. . . - “ A player who is tackled illegally while in possession of the ball will be awarded a free kick.”
Don’t tackle above the shoulders or below the knees, and don’t whatever you do push the other joker in the back – not at least while anybody’s looking. - “ The player who has possession of the ball and is tackled correctly by an opponent shall be given a reasonable time to kick or handball the ball or attempt to kick or handball the ball. The player who has possession of the ball and has had an opportunity to dispose of it and is then tackled correctly by an opponent must immediately kick or handball the ball.”
In both codes of rugby your job is to run into other blokes. In AFL however your job is to run around them – try running through them however and get caught with the ball, or drop it when you’ve been tackled, and you’re going to hear the blast of the umpire’s whistle and more loud booing from your fans (most of them yelling “Ball!” at the top of their voice!. - “ After a mark or free kick has been awarded, a 50-metre penalty will be awarded against the opposing team which unduly delays the play or abuses an umpire.”
Don’t slow the game down. Give the ball back immediately. If you bugger it up, then the free kick you just gave up will be 50m closer to your goal -- and your fans and team-mates are going to be very pissed off.
And that’s about it as far as what the white maggots can do to help you. Everything else is down to how good you and your team mates are.
That’s his Dad at the top of the post, by the way, taking a one-hander back in his prime. Back when he answered to the name of ‘God’ . . .
15 comments:
Most libertarian sport ... whatever. An obscure game invented for cricketers' training and basically unknown outside Oz.
Only "unknown outside Oz" to those who don't follow it. And I would wager that there are a lot that do follow it (or maybe I'm just hanging around in expat circles too much....But there are a helluva lot of us....).
Good blog, PC. I miss going to the games, so this was a pleasure to read. Adelaide crapped out, so I don't know if I care who wins.... Maybe the Cats
Well, Alex if most Kiwis knew just how low on the scale rugby figures in Oz, they'd cringe!
AFL is the fastest, most rugged, most demanding form of footy known to man.
Are you a fellow Crow Eater, O.M.?
"AFL is the fastest, most rugged, most demanding form of footy known to man."
Blah blah, freedom of choice, free speech, etc. But wheres the rucks n mauls? Your sport discriminates against fatties, there ought to be a commission that covers this.
;^)
fckme, wv: helmakin!
Ockers just don't like Rugby cos they don't like tall poppies...!
KG "are you a fellow Crow Eater", yes! But they are testing my loyalty. But, I was born in Adelaide so am doomed to supporting them unconditionally.
Clunking Fist, rucks and mauls slow the game down too much. This is why you are all fatties.
Strewth, Clunkin--yer playin with fire there mate!
Lemme see...Kiwi rugby..is that the Kiwi team that's owned by a German company? That even as we speak is attending fashion week? That line up like girls waiting for the ball to be thrown to them?
I remember watching that game. Once. ;-)
Oh, oh. Now you're in for it.
Watch out.
LGM
"This is why you are all fatties."
The thought "It's a pig bladder, yyuuummmmyy" still goes through the minds of the line-out jumpers.
"is that the Kiwi team that's owned by a German company, is attending fashion week?"
Don't worry: "german" and "fashion" don't go together. But don't forget it those AFL blokes that mince around in their itsy little shorts and muscle shirts...
:^0
"The thought "It's a pig bladder, yyuuummmmyy" still goes through the minds of the line-out jumpers."
Is that why the game isn't big in Arab countries?
AFL is like watching a cross between woefully choreographed and performed ballet, and a drunken brawl. And a game goes on for WAY too long.
... but it keeps the Aussies amused.
Oh Peter, gosh, it is not a 'real' final because Carlton and Richmond are not playing... ;) :P
And what's wrong with either ballet or a drunken brawl?
Seems to me that combining the two was a stroke of genius....
Gosh, that Nick from St Kilda looks pretty fit!
Australian Football does have rules, but it does and they’re simple enough so that even Australian Football fans can follow them.
Just as well too, because there is not a lot of intelligence required to play the game is there?
No real individual skill or aptitude, apart from jumping and a bit of running - how exciting - how brilliantly clever - ho hum. - COR!- look at that paint dry - wasn't that exciting! :-)
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