Yank enjoys Aussie football. Have questions

Sports TV stations in the states play an ARF game most Saturday nights at midnight in my time zone. I understand that it is noon, give or take, Sunday in Australia.

1. There are people behind the goals waving huge flags, are they fans rooting for the team trying to score, or are they trying to distract them?

2. I have seen a player go down on the pitch and trainers run out to assist him while the game continues around them, If the player cannot continue in the game, doers someone substitute for him, or does his team play a man down?

4. I hear whistles a lot. Does the referee blow it whenever the ball has legally and cleanly entered another players posession. If not, is that a call for a “scrum”?

5. I have seen players run carrying the ball, sometimes bouncing it once or twice on the ground before punching or kicking it (hopefully) to one of his mates. Is there a length of time, number of strides or some other factor that governs these actions?

6. What would constitute a penalty kick or throw? I have seen a penalty kick (he scored 6 points) but didn’t understand what happened to cause it.

I always come up with more questions but my i-pad crashed last Saturday night and I lost all i had written:mad: Too frustrated to try again right away

My DH and I are booked for the circumnavigation of Australia February into March 2020, on Radiance of the Seas, so I’m often on the threads. Help will lower frustration levels:halo:

Kay (Steve goes to bed!)

Sports TV stations in the states play an ARF game most Saturday nights at midnight in my time zone. I understand that it is noon, give or take, Sunday in Australia.

 

1. There are people behind the goals waving huge flags, are they fans rooting for the team trying to score, or are they trying to distract them?

Yes they are the club cheer squad and of course they do their best to distract the opposition when they are kicking to that end.

 

2. I have seen a player go down on the pitch and trainers run out to assist him while the game continues around them, If the player cannot continue in the game, doers someone substitute for him, or does his team play a man down?

Any injured player may be substituted. In fact any player may be substituted during the game and at the moment each team can have 90 interchanges per game, There are 22 players in a team with 18 on the ground at any one time.

4. I hear whistles a lot. Does the referee blow it whenever the ball has legally and cleanly entered another players posession. If not, is that a call for a “scrum”?

The umpires (not referees) blow their whistle to pay a mark or a free kick (penalty), to throw the ball up if neither team can get it out clearly or to indicate time on or off (stop play). Scrums are rugby not Australian football (AFL).

5. I have seen players run carrying the ball, sometimes bouncing it once or twice on the ground before punching or kicking it (hopefully) to one of his mates. Is there a length of time, number of strides or some other factor that governs these actions?

Players may run 15 metres before having to kick, bounce or handball the ball (approximately 15 strides or steps).

6. What would constitute a penalty kick or throw? I have seen a penalty kick (he scored 6 points) but didn’t understand what happened to cause it.

A penalty kick (called a free kick and never a throw) is given for many penalties such as a push in the back in a marking contest or a high (above the shoulder) tackle. There are also 50 metre penalties are given if the opposition player encroaches over the line he is put on by the umpire, when a player is taking his kick (after a mark or free) or perhaps for umpire abuse.

 

I always come up with more questions but my i-pad crashed last Saturday night and I lost all i had written:mad: Too frustrated to try again right away

 

My DH and I are booked for the circumnavigation of Australia February into March 2020, on Radiance of the Seas, so I’m often on the threads. Help will lower frustration levels:halo:

 

Kay (Steve goes to bed!)

I have answered your questions above in red Kay. I'm sure some of the other posters on here will correct or add to my answers.

If you have any more questions please ask.

Leigh

Sports TV stations in the states play an ARF game most Saturday nights at midnight in my time zone. I understand that it is noon, give or take, Sunday in Australia.

1. There are people behind the goals waving huge flags, are they fans rooting for the team trying to score, or are they trying to distract them?

2. I have seen a player go down on the pitch and trainers run out to assist him while the game continues around them, If the player cannot continue in the game, doers someone substitute for him, or does his team play a man down?

4. I hear whistles a lot. Does the referee blow it whenever the ball has legally and cleanly entered another players posession. If not, is that a call for a “scrum”?

5. I have seen players run carrying the ball, sometimes bouncing it once or twice on the ground before punching or kicking it (hopefully) to one of his mates. Is there a length of time, number of strides or some other factor that governs these actions?

6. What would constitute a penalty kick or throw? I have seen a penalty kick (he scored 6 points) but didn’t understand what happened to cause it.

 

I always come up with more questions but my i-pad crashed last Saturday night and I lost all i had written:mad: Too frustrated to try again right away

 

My DH and I are booked for the circumnavigation of Australia February into March 2020, on Radiance of the Seas, so I’m often on the threads. Help will lower frustration levels:halo:

 

Kay (Steve goes to bed!)

1. If they wave the flags while the player is kicking at goal, they are opposition supporters trying to distract.

2. There are 18 players on the field, plus 4 interchange players. Players come on and off due to injury, have a rest, get yelled at by the coach, etc. They must enter and leave the field in a designated area.

3. There is no 3

4. The whistle typically means a stop in play. Free kick paid, the Ball is marked (caught), too messed up so need to have a restart, out of bounds, plus many more. There are no scrums in Aussie Rules.

5. The player is supposed to bounce the ball every 15 metres that are run.

6. They are called free kicks. Illegal tackles, running too far and not bouncing the ball, being tackled and not disposing of the ball in the correct manner, throwing the ball rather than the approved handpass. Etc. the 6 points are awarded for a goal.

I will try and find a simple set of rules to link.

Kay, perhaps this link may help explain AFL to you,

https://www.studiesinaustralia.com/Blog/about-australia/afl-for-beginners-a-guide-for-new-arrivals-to-australia

Leigh

It is called AFL or Australian Football League, i suppose ARF stands for Australian Rules Football.

Scoring is:

6 points for a goal which is kicked through the centre two posts by the attacking side.

1 point for the ball travelling through any of the 4 posts in any other way (carried, hand balled, tapped through, etc) or if it hits the centre two posts, there is also 1 point for a kick between the outer posts and the centre posts (a miss) by the attacking side.

The throw the OP mentions might be a throw in.

The throw the OP mentions might be a throw in.

possibly but I think it is more likely to be the ball up (rather than a bounce).

Oh, and its the only sport in the world where you get a point for missing ....

Thanks for all the info. It clears up a lot. I may have more questions after next weeks game. I. Will look up the link when i have more time. DH in surgery, may be called any time.

Kay

And at the end of each season they have a World Series against Ireland. The Irish play with a soccer ball which has no resemblance to an Australian Rules oblong ball, but the Aussies don't seem to notice or care.

The Irish game, characteristically of the Irish, is extremely physical, having its roots in curling, whereas in Aussie Rules robust tackling and unnecessary bodily contact is forbidden, and heavily penalized.

For example, should an Australian player, in the heat of the game, approach an Umpire, and say to him "you're doing an exceptionally good job old chap", and pat him on the back, he could be subject to a life long suspension.

This game is called a "hybrid" game, I don't know why, but I suspect its because half the Aussies who are prepared to play it are of Irish descent, and half the Irish who do so are descended from marooned sailors from the Spanish Armada.

Or it may be because they interchange the rules to confuse each other, and therefore make the game more interesting, in a Keystone Cop-esque kind of way.

Some authorities however claim the proper description of the game is a "mongrel". This suggestion suffers from the dichotomy that the name mongrel in Australia is used exclusively to refer to an Umpire, and in Ireland to refer to an Englishman.

There could be a lot of confusion unless the umpire was of English descent, which fortuitously is quite likely in Australia.

Enjoy your visit here, but for the sake of your sanity, stay away from Aussie Rules.

Sounds like fun!!

And at the end of each season they have a World Series against Ireland. The Irish play with a soccer ball which has no resemblance to an Australian Rules oblong ball, but the Aussies don't seem to notice or care.

 

The Irish game, characteristically of the Irish, is extremely physical, having its roots in curling, whereas in Aussie Rules robust tackling and unnecessary bodily contact is forbidden, and heavily penalized.

 

For example, should an Australian player, in the heat of the game, approach an Umpire, and say to him "you're doing an exceptionally good job old chap", and pat him on the back, he could be subject to a life long suspension.

 

This game is called a "hybrid" game, I don't know why, but I suspect its because half the Aussies who are prepared to play it are of Irish descent, and half the Irish who do so are descended from marooned sailors from the Spanish Armada.

 

Or it may be because they interchange the rules to confuse each other, and therefore make the game more interesting, in a Keystone Cop-esque kind of way.

 

Some authorities however claim the proper description of the game is a "mongrel". This suggestion suffers from the dichotomy that the name mongrel in Australia is used exclusively to refer to an Umpire, and in Ireland to refer to an Englishman.

 

There could be a lot of confusion unless the umpire was of English descent, which fortuitously is quite likely in Australia.

 

Enjoy your visit here, but for the sake of your sanity, stay away from Aussie Rules.

Now International rules is a game I always wanted to have a crack at, seems like mayhem is welcome.

The winner of the International games become World champions, which is pretty good after playing a game that no other countries have ever played.

Obilix have you taken up fishing?

How is the bait?

The Irish game, characteristically of the Irish, is extremely physical, having its roots in curling,

Or, perhaps, hurling?

Thanks for all the info. It clears up a lot. I may have more questions after next weeks game. I. Will look up the link when i have more time. DH in surgery, may be called any time.

 

Kay

Kay, hope your DH recovers well from his surgery.

Leigh

Or, perhaps, hurling?

Yes, hurling and curling are just a tad different.

Yes, hurling and curling are just a tad different.

I'd love to see a brawl in curling :D :D

Curling is great, it's just like lawn bowls, except for the brooms and ice.

Unlike other forms of football, AFL is played on a large oval field.

The originator of AFL was a cricketer who wanted a way to keep his cricket team fit and playing together over the winter months. Which is why the game is played on cricket grounds. Which is why so many players are required to cover the entire field.

He was also an old boy of Rugby School so he was aware that if they played Rugby football, none of his cricket players would be in one piece by the start of the cricket season. So he made up his own rules which minimised contact between the players.

He did this in Melbourne just before the arrival of Rugby football or soccer, so that AFL became the dominant game in the southern states. By comparison Rugby football arrived in Sydney before AFL and so became the dominant game in the northern states.

So we ended up with a country divided by two codes of football.

OP, most responses have done a good job, here's some additional information.

1. There are people behind the goals waving huge flags, are they fans rooting for the team trying to score, or are they trying to distract them?

The people behind the goals are the respective teams' cheer squads. Opinions are divided as to whether they are a colourful and integral part of the match day experience, or if they're an unnecessary relic of a bygone era and mostly populated by people who think they're more important to the game than they actually are (this divide of opinion is probably down to whether you are in a cheer squad or not). Mostly they organise the large crepe paper banners that the teams run through when they take the field, get the crowd involved in chants, and waving large flags or floggers (which are the large pom poms you sometimes see on the fence).

SIDEBAR: When you discuss sports with an Aussie, do not use the phrase "rooting". We have a different meaning for that word.

 

2. I have seen a player go down on the pitch and trainers run out to assist him while the game continues around them, If the player cannot continue in the game, doers someone substitute for him, or does his team play a man down?

If play continues (as can happen if it is not near the incident), then the team effectively plays a man down until they can get the player to the interchange and have another player come on for him. As someone else mentioned, each team is allowed up to 90 interchanges during a game, and there's 4 on the bench. The league has flirted with various combinations of interchange (a player may come off and back on freely as in hockey) and substitutions (a player may not come back on after being substituted, as in soccer).

 

4. I hear whistles a lot. Does the referee blow it whenever the ball has legally and cleanly entered another players posession. If not, is that a call for a “scrum”?

The umpires (not refs) blow the whistle to indicate: a free kick (ie: an infringement has occured), a mark (a player has caught the ball on the fly from a kick longer than 15m, which results in a free kick), the ball has gone out of play, the ball is trapped and a ball-up is required, as well as any other time an ump determines they want to blow the whistle. Which is, as you've noted, a lot.

 

 

6. What would constitute a penalty kick or throw? I have seen a penalty kick (he scored 6 points) but didn’t understand what happened to cause it.

If the ball exits the field of play, a boundary umpire will restart play by throwing it back in over his head.

If the ball is locked up and cannot be released, a field umpire will restart play by bouncing or throwing the ball up

If a player catches a ball on the fly from a kick that's more than 15m, it's called a mark and a free kick is paid from that spot. The player may then shoot for goal if he is close enough, or kick/handball it to a teammate.

If a player breaks the rules - ie: pushes an opponent in the back, tackles above the shoulder or below the knees, fails to dispose of the ball properly, runs too far without bouncing etc etc, then a free kick is paid from that spot.

The winner of the International games become World champions, which is pretty good after playing a game that no other countries have ever played.

No worse than gridiron or baseball.

Al least us and the paddy’s play Inter Rules

No worse than gridiron or baseball.

 

Al least us and the paddy’s play Inter Rules

Except this is just two teams, not dozens or even hundreds of them.

Sorry, I don't know much about aerial ping-pong!

Or cross country ballet for that matter!

Cheers

Lol...loving these comments.

I’ll keep it simple, we’ll goggle rules after we find a location of a live event. January in New Zealand, and Feb in Australia. Interested in seeing any game in cricket, footie, soccer, football, rugby. Have tried to map out sports season opposite to Canada, and very confused.

Ok, January and February, your options are limited. The 3 major football codes in Australia - Australian Rules Football, Rugby and Rugby League, are all played in the winter, between about March and September.

You could attend a soccer game, that's played in the summer between about October and April. The cricket test matches are all done in Australia by the first week of January, but there's a chance of international one day or Twenty20 matches stretching into February. Maybe also domestic cricket.