1.1 Core Rules & Structure
You already know the basics. This is a quick refresher on some of the more ambiguous rules, terms and situations that matter most when you’re coding – as well as the edge cases and recent changes that trip people up.
1.1 Core Rules & Structure of the Game
What changed in 2026: the centre throw-up. The traditional centre bounce is gone at AFL level. Play now starts each quarter, and restarts after every goal, with the umpire throwing the ball up in the centre. Most people still say “centre bounce” out of habit – but the action, and the correct term, is now a throw-up.
Time-on matters. A quarter is 20 minutes of actual playing time, not 20 minutes of footage. The clock stops for every stoppage, so real quarters run well over 20 minutes. Keep this in mind whenever timing or match length is relevant.
Touched = behind. If a shot at goal is touched by anyone – even a fingertip, even off the boot of a teammate – before it crosses the goal line, it’s a behind, not a goal. Clean and untouched is the only way to score six.
A mark is 15 metres, untouched, off the ground. If the kick travels under 15 m, or the ball is touched in flight, or it’s grabbed after a bounce, it’s not a mark – play on. And once a player who has marked chooses to play on, their possession is no longer protected; they can be tackled like anyone else.
Disposal discipline. Kick or handball only – no throws, no hand-offs to a teammate. A player running with the ball must bounce or touch it down at least once every 15 metres.
Three ways the ball leaves the field – three different outcomes:
- Crosses the line off the ground, no clear intent issue → boundary throw-in.
- Kicked over the line on the full → free kick against, automatically (intent is irrelevant here).
- Kicked, handballed or forced over the line without sufficient intent to keep it in → free kick against (the “deliberate”/insufficient-intent call).
Holding the ball hinges on prior opportunity. The whole decision turns on whether the player has had a genuine chance to dispose of the ball before being legally tackled. A player is judged to have had prior opportunity if any of these apply:
- they’re balanced and steady with the ball;
- they attempt to evade or fend off an opponent;
- they’ve taken a mark or been awarded a free kick; or
- they’ve driven their head into a stationary or near-stationary opponent.
If a player has had prior opportunity and is then legally tackled, they must dispose of the ball correctly and immediately – otherwise it’s holding the ball, free kick to the tackler.
This is why taking a mark and then playing on carries risk. The moment a player marks, they’ve satisfied the prior-opportunity condition. If they choose to play on and run, and are then legally tackled – even a second later – without having disposed of the ball, it’s holding the ball. Choosing to run is choosing not to dispose; the tackler is rewarded.
The flip side is no prior opportunity. If a player gathers the ball and is tackled instantly – no time to balance, evade or dispose – they haven’t had prior opportunity. In that case it’s holding the ball only if they elect an incorrect disposal (e.g. deliberately throw it), or – being able to – make no genuine attempt to dispose correctly in a reasonable time. If they genuinely try to dispose correctly, the tackle dislodges the ball, or they’re pinned with no chance to get it out, it’s play on or a ball-up – not a free kick.
Rushed behind ≠ always free. A defender conceding a behind is usually just a rushed behind (1 point to the attacking team). It only becomes a free kick for a deliberate rushed behind when the defender is more than nine metres out, not under immediate physical pressure, and had time and space – or a ruck knocks it through on the full.
50-metre penalties come off a mark or free kick when the opposition does something further wrong: running through the mark, holding the player, not returning the ball directly, dissent, or entering the protected area.
- Test list
- sadsfa
- werwe
- sadsfa