Australian football is a separate sports discipline. Another name for Australian football is footy or aussie rules. This is a team game, including elements of basketball, classic football, Irish and American football, rugby, moreover – it is allowed to use force during the game. This fascinating power game that I must say, the Australians themselves call football, and football, adopted around the world – they call sokker.
According to experts, Australian football first appeared in the 19th century. It is difficult to name a more accurate date, only the place where the first match was held is reliably known – this is Victoria.
It is worth noting that at first Australian football was conceived as an additional sports discipline designed to train cricketers. Its purpose was to maintain the necessary athletic form of the players during the off-season, when it was impossible to play cricket. This is confirmed, in particular, by the fact that the first games were held on fields intended for cricket.
At the end of the 19th century, this type of football spread to several states of Australia and gained extraordinary popularity. Among the regions that have become fans of this game are Western and South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. The result of a craze for Australian football was the creation of the Victorian Football League – this happened in 1897. A little later in the same year, the AFL was created – the Australian Football League, which absorbed all the football leagues that existed in Australia.
Australian Football Rules
Each team consists of 22 players, 18 of which are on the field, and the other four are on the bench. According to the rules, players can be replaced throughout the match. Players are divided into backs, halfbacks, center players, forwards, half forwards and followers. The latter bear the greatest load in the process of running for the ball.
By the way, the ball for Australian football is somewhat similar to Rugby – it is elongated. The ball is considered to be introduced into the game after a rebound from the ground – this is akin to playing basketball. You can pass it during the game with your hands and feet, it is forbidden only to throw the ball.
The duration of the match adopted in Australian football is 80 minutes, it includes 4 periods of 20 minutes.
Interestingly, when calculating, only the time spent directly on the game is taken into account. If there is a delay for any reason, the stopwatch stops. However, it should be noted that pauses in the game are extremely rare due to lack of motivation: even a player’s injury is not considered a reason to stop the game.
According to the rules of Australian football, the player leading the ball can be attacked using force: hold, replay, push from the side or front. You can also block players standing around the ball at a distance of five meters. However, there are tricks prohibited by the rules: pushing a player in the back, attack below the knees or above the shoulders, as well as punches.
Interestingly arranged gate in Australian football. They resemble a nesting doll – a small goal, bringing the team 6 points, is enclosed in a large one, hit in which will increase the score by only 1 point. Only those hits that were made after a kick are counted.
Why is Australian football so popular?
First of all, Australian football won the love of the audience for the genuine passions that rage on the playing field. Moreover, emotions are heating up on both sides: both among the players and among the audience. After all, Australia is one of the largest betting markets.
The spectacle taking place at the stadium is aggressive and quick, there is no place for boredom. In order to maintain a growing level of popularity, the AFL regularly changes the rules of the game. By the way, these changes help the game to constantly evolve. And some new rules are designed to protect players from serious injuries – for example, tremors.
Fans of men’s sports brutality also do not ignore Australian football – cruel episodes in the game are not uncommon. The referee gives a whistle of a pause only if the player is seriously injured, that is, practically cannot rise on his own.
Since mid-2011, Australian football has become a popular game in Russia. It was at this time that the Australian Football Federation was created here, which includes teams from Moscow and Krasnoyarsk. In the same year, the European Australian Football Championship was held, however, the rules of the game, unlike the classic footy, were slightly modified.
