A beginners guide to the game of Aussie Rules ...

To the left is a picture trying to simply explain Aussie Rules. Explanations follow below the picture ...

• Each end of the field (also referred to as the oval, ground etc) has four posts.

• There are two goal posts (the middle, taller posts)

• To the outer side of both goal posts are the point posts (smaller) .. one on each side.

• The objective of the game is to gather more points than your opposition .. no different to other football codes there.

• Every time your team scores a goal (between the two goal posts (No. 1 in the picture)), your team is awarded 6 points.

• Every time your ball goes between one of the goal posts and one of the point posts, your team is awarded 1 point (this is also known as a behind -- apparently because it goes behind the goal post).

• Your team is also awarded 1 point if ...

  • the other team touches the ball and it then goes between any of the posts at your scoring end ... including through the middle of the goal posts -- unfair, but true :-)

  FACT: It used to be that opposition defenders would deliberately "knock" the ball through the goals ... giving away one point, but it prevented the opposition from having an opportunity to kick a goal.
  In 2009, the AFL has introduced a new rule that makes doing this against the rules of the game.

  • the ball touches one of the goal posts on the way through -- again, unfair perhaps, but that's the rules ...

• So, if your team kicked the ball between the goal posts 6 times and through the point posts 12 times, your score would be :

  6 (goals) x 6 (points per goal) = 36 points PLUS 12 points = 48 points.

• This is sometimes written as 6.12. 48 and literally means 6 goals, 12 points, 48 points total.

• After a goal is scored, the ball is taken back to the center square and bounced to restart the game.

• After a point (behind) is scored, an opposition player kicks the ball into the field from the defensive goal square to restart the game.