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AFL!!!!!!!!!!

The primary aim of the game is to score goals by [|kicking] the ball between the middle two posts of the opposing goal. The winner is the team with the higher total score at the end of the fourth quarter, Except for special circumstances, if the score is tied a draw is declared. Players may use any part of their body to advance the ball. The primary methods are [|kicking], [|handballing] and running with the ball. There are restrictions on how the ball can be handled, for example players running with the ball must intermittently [|bounce or touch it on the ground], throwing the ball is not allowed and players must not get caught [|holding the ball]. Unlike most similar sports, there is no [|offside] rule, and players can roam the field freely. Possession of the ball is in dispute at all times except when a //[|free kick]// is paid. A distinctive feature of the game is the [|mark], where players anywhere on the field who catch a ball from a kick (with specific conditions), are awarded a free kick. Australian rules is a contact sport, in which players can [|tackle] using their hands or use their whole body to [|obstruct] opponents. Dangerous physical contact (such as a [|pushing an opponent in the back]), interference when marking and deliberately slowing the play are discouraged with free kicks, [|distance penalties] or [|suspension], depending on the seriousness of the infringement. Frequent physical contests, aerial marking or "[|speckies]", fast movement of both players and the ball and high scoring are the game's main attributes. Details of [|the game's origins] in Australia are obscure and still the subject of much debate. Australian football became organised in Melbourne in 1858 with a series of experimental rules in a bid to keep cricketers fit during the winter months and in 1859 the first [|laws of the game] were published by the [|Melbourne Football Club]. Australian football is a major participation and spectator sport [|in Australia] and [|in Nauru]. The most prestigious and only national competition in Australia is the [|Australian Football League] (AFL), which culminates in the annual [|AFL Grand Final], currently the fourth highest attended club championship event in the world. The AFL has governed the sport nationally since 1993 and internationally since 2005 through the [|AFL Commission] and the AFL Rules Committee. The game is also played at [|amateur level in several countries] and in [|several variations].
 * Australian football**, also commonly referred to as **Australian rules football**, **football**, or **Aussie rules**, colloquially as **footy**, and historically as **Australasian football** or **Victorian football**, is a variant of [|football] played between two teams of 18 players, plus four interchange players, outdoors on large oval-shaped grass fields (often modified [|cricket fields]), with a [|ball] in the shape of a [|prolate spheroid].

Both the ball and the field of play are [|elliptical] in shape. No more than 18 players of each team are permitted to be on the field at any time. Up to four interchange (reserve) players may be swapped for those on the field at any time during the game. In Australian rules terminology, these players wait for substitution "on the bench" - an area with a row of seats on the sideline. In Round 8, 2008 a new rule was introduced for the remainder of the season. The AFL club has to lodge a piece of paper with an attendant AFL official detailing the player to come off the ground and his replacement. There is no [|offside rule] nor are there set positions in the rules; unlike many other forms of football, players from both teams disperse across the whole field before the start of play. However, only four players from each team are allowed within the 45 m centre square before every centre bounce, which occurs at the commencement of each quarter, and to restart the game after a goal is scored. There are also other rules pertaining to allowed player positions during set plays (i.e., after a mark or free kick) and during kick-ins following the scoring of a behind. A game consists of four quarters and a timekeeper officiates their duration. In professional Australian Football, quarters are 20 minutes plus time on. Time on refers to clock being stopped when the ball is out of play, meaning that an average quarter could last for 27 to 31 minutes. At the end of each quarter, teams change their scoring end. Games are officiated by [|umpires]. Australian football begins after the first [|siren], the [|umpire] [|bounces the ball on the ground] (or throws it into the air if the condition of the ground is poor), and the two [|ruckmen] (typically the tallest players from each team), battle for the ball in the air on its way back down. The ball can be propelled in any direction by way of a foot, clenched fist (called a [|handball] or //handpass//) or open-hand tap but it cannot be thrown under any circumstances. Throwing is defined in the rules quite broadly but is essentially any open hand disposal that causes the ball to move upward in the air. A player may run with the ball but it must be [|bounced or touched on the ground] at least once every 15 metres. Opposition players may [|bump] or [|tackle] the player to obtain the ball and, when tackled, the player must dispose of the ball cleanly or risk being penalised for [|holding the ball]. The ball carrier may only be tackled between the shoulders and knees. If the opposition player forcefully contacts a player in the back whilst performing a tackle, the opposition player will be penalised for a [|push in the back]. If the opposition tackles the player with possession below the knees, it is ruled as a //low tackle// or a //trip//, and the team with possession of the football gets a free kick. If a player takes possession of the ball that has travelled more than 15 metres from another player's kick, by way of a catch, it is claimed as a //[|mark]// and that player may then have a //free kick// (meaning that the game stops while he prepares to kick from the point at which he marked). Alternatively, he may choose to "play on:" forfeiting the set shot in the hope of pressing an advantage for his team (rather than allowing the opposition to reposition while he prepares for the free kick). Once a player has chosen to play on, normal play resumes and the player who took the mark is again able to be tackled. There are different [|styles of kicking] depending on how the ball is held in the hand. The most common style of kicking seen in today's game, principally because of its superior accuracy, is the [|drop punt] (the ball is dropped from the hands down, almost to the ground, to be kicked so that the ball rotates in a reverse end over end motion as it travels through the air). Other commonly used kicks are the [|torpedo punt] (also known as the spiral, barrel, or screw punt; the ball is held at an angle and kicked, which makes the ball spiral in the air, like a [|rugby] throw, resulting in extra distance) and the [|checkside punt] or "banana", kicked across the ball on the outside of the foot is used to curve the ball (towards the right if kicked off the right foot) towards targets that are on an angle. There is also the "snap" which is almost the same as a checkside punt, except that it is kicked off the inside of the foot and curves in the opposite direction. It is also possible to kick the ball so that it bounces along the ground. This is known as a "grubber". Grubbers can bounce in a straight line, or curve to the left or right. Apart from free kicks or when the ball is in the possession of an umpire for a //ball up// or //throw in//, the ball is always in dispute and any player from either side can take possession of the ball.