Stupid AFL questions you wouldn't mind knowing the answers to?

The "in the back" rule when applied to two players on the ground.

If one player is over the ball and the other player is behind them, hands and knees in most cases, the bottom player flops onto their stomach and the behind player follows them down drawing an in the back call.

Is this call suggesting that the player at the bottom is disadvantaged and has earnt the free kick? Almost as frustrating as when a player ducks and draws the free.
 
Sep 22, 2011
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Who decided you get a point for missing?

Tiebreakers essentially

Very early AR games were generally played on rectangle fields (easier to mark out on a vacant field or paddock, games weren't often played on cricket ovals because they'd tear up the turf)

A goal was a goal, a "behind" was when you kicked the ball behind the endline outside of the goals (ie you missed)

Behinds were recorded but didn't count as a score - I guess they were an interesting stat and showed accuracy.

There were too many draws and unlike the English with their football we didn't like draws. So they changed the scoring system to six for a goal (a maximum score in cricket) and one for a behind (a minimum score in cricket), they were tiebreakers.

Cricket clubs eventually saw how popular football was among spectators so decided to let them on their ovals because they could make a lot in gate charges.

Their was no "end line" for scoring on an oval as there is on a rectangular field, so they put in behind posts to mark the scoring zone.
 
Last edited:
Mar 15, 2012
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Yep.
AFL : points scored as a percentage of points conceded
SANFL : points scored as a percentage of total points (both sides combined) in the matches a team has played

SANFL version has the advantage of making the percentage a score out of 100 as a maximum, which is how many people think of percentages. Both are equally valid, IMO.
AFL % tells you how many points a team will score if their opposition scores 100 points.

SANFL % tells you how many points a team will score if there are 100 points scored between both teams in a game.
 
Sep 22, 2011
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Does the league genuinely believe it’s long term viable to have so many teams based in 1 city or does it see it as a necessary evil to facilitate the maximum amount of games possible each week for television?

It's a product of history. They would prefer the clubs are more spread out across the country but that can only happen with relocation (which they started off using with South Melbourne). The current thinking is relocation isn't good because the supporters who lose their club are disengaged, and the supporters in the new location may not be that engaged anyway (we want our own club, not some other interstate club dropped in our city).

The AFL wasn't a new league, it evolved from the VFL so the VFL clubs (by and large) looked after themselves - first going to Sydney and then later to Perth and Brisbane.
 
Aug 27, 2009
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The "in the back" rule when applied to two players on the ground.

If one player is over the ball and the other player is behind them, hands and knees in most cases, the bottom player flops onto their stomach and the behind player follows them down drawing an in the back call.

Is this call suggesting that the player at the bottom is disadvantaged and has earnt the free kick? Almost as frustrating as when a player ducks and draws the free.
Diving forward is as prevalent these days as ducking, umpires should be able to see this as we in the crowd do. It should only be paid when its an obvious/forceful push put the Umps love hearing their own voices and seeing their faces on TV so they pay every free they can, must be nice having a boss that never criticise even the truly woeful decisions.
 

Philth

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Feb 4, 2008
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Tiebreakers essentially

Very early AR games were generally played on rectangle fields (easier to mark out on a vacant field or paddock, games weren't often played on cricket grounds because they'd tear up the turf)

A goal was a goal, a "behind" was when you kicked the ball behind the endline outside of the goals (ie you missed)

Behinds were recorded but didn't count as a score - I guess they were an interesting stat and showed accuracy.

There were too many draws and unlike the English with their football we didn't like draws. So they changed the scoring system to six for a goal (a maximum score in cricket) and one for a behind (a minimum score in cricket), they were tiebreakers.

Cricket clubs eventually saw how popular football was among spectators so decided to let them on their ovals because they could make a lot in gate charges.

Their was no "end line" for scoring on an oval as there is on a rectangular field, so they put in behind posts to mark the scoring zone.
Well that is very interesting.
Cheers Bunk!
 

V_23

Premiership Player
Aug 9, 2010
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AFL % tells you how many points a team will score if their opposition scores 100 points.

SANFL % tells you how many points a team will score if there are 100 points scored between both teams in a game.
AFL way is superior, for me anyway.
 
Apr 30, 2015
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Tiebreakers essentially

Very early AR games were generally played on rectangle fields (easier to mark out on a vacant field or paddock, games weren't often played on cricket grounds because they'd tear up the turf)

A goal was a goal, a "behind" was when you kicked the ball behind the endline outside of the goals (ie you missed)

Behinds were recorded but didn't count as a score - I guess they were an interesting stat and showed accuracy.

There were too many draws and unlike the English with their football we didn't like draws. So they changed the scoring system to six for a goal (a maximum score in cricket) and one for a behind (a minimum score in cricket), they were tiebreakers.

Cricket clubs eventually saw how popular football was among spectators so decided to let them on their ovals because they could make a lot in gate charges.

Their was no "end line" for scoring on an oval as there is on a rectangular field, so they put in behind posts to mark the scoring zone.
Cool, I never knew that.
 
Sep 22, 2011
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Well that is very interesting.
Cheers Bunk!

It's actually a very good scoring system we ended up with.

Sports with more than one multiple of scoring throw up so many more possibilities in close games. If a team is a point down, the next shot at goal could leave the game with three different outcomes (win, draw, loss) instead of just two.
 
Nov 10, 2013
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Hell no
Tiebreakers essentially

Very early AR games were generally played on rectangle fields (easier to mark out on a vacant field or paddock, games weren't often played on cricket ovals because they'd tear up the turf)

A goal was a goal, a "behind" was when you kicked the ball behind the endline outside of the goals (ie you missed)

Behinds were recorded but didn't count as a score - I guess they were an interesting stat and showed accuracy.

There were too many draws and unlike the English with their football we didn't like draws. So they changed the scoring system to six for a goal (a maximum score in cricket) and one for a behind (a minimum score in cricket), they were tiebreakers.

Cricket clubs eventually saw how popular football was among spectators so decided to let them on their ovals because they could make a lot in gate charges.

Their was no "end line" for scoring on an oval as there is on a rectangular field, so they put in behind posts to mark the scoring zone.
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If the player with the ball was surrounded by their 17 teammates in a close ring formation would they be able to walk the length of the field and kick an unimpeded goal?

Any attempt to disrupt the ring would be a holding the man free kick as the 17 teammates in the ring don't have the ball, and the player with the ball wouldn't be able to get tackled as they're protected from all sides
 

RichLeMonde

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Sep 26, 2019
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Doesn't make sense that you can get called play on when you're out of bounds, but still get a chance to dispose of the ball....
I don’t know if they’ve officially changed the rule or just how it’s paid, but when I was a kid in the early 90s I distinctly remember that about 3 or 4 times each season a player would have marked near the boundary line, been lining up for goal standing out of bounds, then run around to snap at goal and been called for play on + out of bounds.

You can imagine the excitement in the commentary box when it happened. Especially from Sandy Roberts
 
Apr 2, 2012
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Can the snicko or edge or whatever its called tell the difference between the ball or a player hitting the post? I've always thought on set shots there should be a player on each post and if it gets close just bump the post. The cameras rarely pick up if a ball has glanced the post so if you can get the snick thing to spike then you might get the decision overruled.

Also i wonder if there are any players with double jointed fingers who purposely flick their fingers when they attempt to smother so it looks like it's touched?
 

Bald

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why is it 4 premiership points?
not just 1
or 2 (so you can do 1 for a draw)
I just looked this up. I couldn't find a definitive answer but the one that made the most sense to me was that initially, they awarded 1 premiership point for an abandoned game, 2 for a drawn game, and 4 for a victorious game. Not sure how accurate this is, but of all the suggestions found here it seems to be the one that makes the most sense (to me!).

 
Are the goal posts a specific height or do they vary from ground to ground, why are they the height they are
This was the height policy in 2019.

1655999194916.png


Starting 2005, the AFL made any venue that hosts an AFL h&a/finals match make their goalposts taller to assist goal umpires in light of the controvery regarding the Anthony Rocca grand final non-goal and the Aussie Jones behind vs Brisbane that was probably out on the full.
 
Apr 6, 2005
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If the player with the ball was surrounded by their 17 teammates in a close ring formation would they be able to walk the length of the field and kick an unimpeded goal?

Any attempt to disrupt the ring would be a holding the man free kick as the 17 teammates in the ring don't have the ball, and the player with the ball wouldn't be able to get tackled as they're protected from all sides
I've seen this bought up before here. I'd love to see a team try it. Imagine the outrage.
 

The_Todd07

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Sep 8, 2008
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Why can't we use cricket hot spot to determine if a player has touched the ball for goal reviews

Logistically near impossible

Cricket only needs 4 Hotspot cameras all framed to a specific predictible spot.

Aussie Rules has a near infinite locations and angles that would need to be covered to capture the hotspot accurately. The cost over covering all possibilities with specialized cameras is just not worth it.
Plus the probability that another player blocks the view is much higher
 
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