Aussie Rules / Richard Douglas / 05 October 2009 /

Richard Douglas returns to demystify some of the globe's stranger sports. This week our man is on the case of bounce downs, ruckmen and the biggest crowd in domestic sport as he gets to grips with Aussie Rules...

Football has always had its derivatives.

First it split into rugby and association then the former divided into separate codes, Union and League. The English, almost certainly wrongly, claim to have invented the game. What they definitely did was write its first set of widely accepted rules.

We then exported these sports to the countries we colonised and, even when we were chucked out, they remained. However, the English were hardly popular with those left behind. So football was re-invented and re-born.

In the US, football became essentially a throwing and handling game. In Australia it was a mixture of kicking and handling with strictly no throwing.

What remains interesting, however, is that the SuperBowl and the AFL Grand Final are not only the most important annual sporting occasions in their country they are arguably the proudest show of patriotism in the year for the average person.
Even though they developed thousands of miles apart and despite those major differences, Aussie Rules is still more like American Football than the English version.

It is played on a huge oval pitch which can be up the 150 metres long. A squad of 22 players is used by each side but only 18 can be on the pitch at any one time. Scoring is via goals and behinds. Hence scores of, say, St Kildas 14, 11 Collingwood 10, 7. A goal is scored when the ball is kicked through the middle two posts of the four stationed at either end. It is worth six points. You get one for a behind, which is when the ball passes between either of the two outer posts and the two inner ones.

There are four quarters of 20 minutes and the game begins with a bounce down, when the ball is propelled into the floor by the umpire and two apty-named "ruckmen" battle for it.

Throwing is not allowed. The ball is moved by kicking, handpassing with a clenched fist or tapping with an open-hand. You can run with the ball but it must be bounced every 15 metres. The player in possession can only be tackled between the shoulder and the knee.

Akin to rugby, a player can call a mark if they catch a team-mate's kick that has travelled more than 15 metres. Tactically, these are crucial in the game as play can be halted and the team can prepare a free-kick. Although territory can be gained quickly this way, a team may wish to play on because stopping the game also allows the opposition to regroup. Taking these huge catches is one of the iconic features of Aussie Rules.

The professional season starts in March and ends in August. The most prestigious competition is the Premiership. Last year's Grand Final drew a crowd of 99,251 making it the best-attended domestic club championship in the world. The team that finishes on top of the regular season table is given the McClelland Trophy but this is a minor prize. In the following weeks, the top eight play-off to reach Australia's version of the Superbowl. The comparison is very close. Barbeques are standard for television viewers while, at the stadium, there is extensive half-time entertainment, including celebrity singers and a even version of Waltzing Matilda.

Geelong Cats [4.3] have been the dominant force in the past few years. In 2007, they ended a 44-year run without a trophy but rattling up a record winning margin against Port Adelaide Power [65.0] 119 points. The following year they were hot favourites but went down to Hawthorn Hawks [9.8], who were making their first Grand Final appearance for 17 years. Last year, Geelong regained their crown with a fourth-quarter victory against St Kilda [4.0]. It was the first time in history that a side had trailed at all three breaks before coming back to win. If you believe the Betfair market, those two sides are set for a repeat this season.

Whatever you think about the nature of the sport, it stirs up the Aussie nation more than cricket and rugby combined.

It is football, but certainly not as we know it.

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