The Rules of Australian (Aussie Rules) Football - EXPLAINED! 

I’m a football (soccer) fan as must of the Brazilians, however I love Rugby and Aussie Rules as well. Unfortunately I never had chance to go to Australia but I’ve been watching the AFL since 2017 and now I’m teaching my kids how to play during my lessons (I’m a PE Teacher). Greetings from Brazil Aussie mates!

I am american but I adore Aussie rules football. It is probably one of the best sports to watch, fast paced, full contact, requires great skill, and great fitness.

A few years back, ESPN showed the Grand Final. Best sporting event I've seen in awhile.

One comment, you don't get a 'free kick' every time a player is tackled. They usually result in 'ball-ups' where the umpire throws the ball up in the air, like at the start of the game, for the teams to contest.

Just wanted to clarify a few things in this video for those interested: -There are 4x20min quarters but there are stoppages too (ie whenever the umpire stops the game or when the ball goes out of the sideline) which results in roughly 4x30min quarters in real time. -Tackling doesn't get you awarded a free kick in every circumstance, you are not penalised if you didn't have enough time upon receiving the ball to dispose of it or if you managed to get a legal disposal (HB or kick) whilst being tackled. -The amount of free time allocated to a player after a mark is to the discretion of the umpire, usually less than 10 seconds in the midfield or defense as they want to keep the game moving. There is a 30 second period for players who mark inside the 50, but that is also awarded to those just outside the 50 if they indicate to the umpire they want to attempt to kick a goal and they believe they are within kicking distance of the goal line. -A new rule has just come out this year the the 120 interchange cap has been reduced to 90, to make the game harder and testing the endurance of player more, instead of relying on the interchange so much.

Showed this video to my friends, and now we are hooked on this game. If only they had this at my high school.

Bloke in the crowd at 0:49 wearing a Rabbitohs jumper. Think he got his sports mixed up.

I remember watching this on ESPN2 late at night and loving it..

I´m brazilian, but I love this sport! My dream is visit Australia to watching it.

Man, if these games weren't on at 3am here I'd watch a lot of this. I record games when I can and watch, and it's all because I saw this video once years ago and decided to look into the sport a bit.

As an irish person I've watched plenty of international rules football where it is blended with gaelic football on the telly, but I've started watching the AFL and it is really entertaining to watch, proper sport

I'm a Aussie and I play footy every day but I just wanted to see how you explained it, well done 👏🏻

I'm from the UK and enjoy watching Aussie rules if ever I get the chance to go to Australia and attend a game live I'd really seize the opportunity!

As an Aussie I love this sport and I love to see that people love our game

I'm Australian, I'm female, and I finally decided now at the age of 64 to find out how AFL worked. I'm retired and now have the time. ('Not a big football fan, but if I had to watch a game, soccer or AFL would be my games of choice.) Thank you for your concise take on the rules and how the game is played. I just listened to two Australian-made videos on the rules, but only now feel I understand it. Well done.

Beginning in the 2016 season, the substitute has been eliminated and replaced with a fourth interchange player. Also, the number of interchanges has been reduced to 90.

Love this sport. I have even played here in the United States.

I am from India and i really love to watch this sport. it's a great sport.I wish one day i shall go to Australia and watch this beautiful game.

Very good video. From an Aussie Rules fan from Canada.

i play aussie rules as a midfielder/forward. such a great game

Thanks for the quick and easy explanation. I've been watching for years and before the internet had no idea what the rules were. Being from the States (Oregon) people had no idea how the game was played or what the rules were. I finally got off my lazy butt and decided to GOOGLE and get some information about rules, stategy, etc. For anyone who hasn't watched a game let me tell you it's exciting and intriguing as hell. Your explanation and video has cleared up a bunch of questions I had, "thanks". I don't know why Americans love their brand of football so much? It's a slow game, 30 seconds between plays, penalties on just about every other play that slow the game down, not very much scoring and the rule book is as thick as the U.S. Tax Code book. Aussie rules football and all professional soccer are much faster, easier to understand and overall much better games too watch and far more exciting. I like Rugby too but that is one game that seems complicated and I need to get some info so I can understand the rules. Great game and tough as hell players. Both Rugby and Aussie Football players are far tougher players than U.S. footballers (no pads or helmets and they knock the crap out of each other). In U.S. football there seems to be a game ending injury on every third or fourth play and these guys are wearing pads from head to toe plus helmets. There are a lot of constant injuries in soccer as well but players are rarely taken off the field and miss the game due to injury (and they don't wear pads, except shin guards). Anyway, well done and once again, thanks for the good info. (I'm watching the "West Coast Eagles vs. Hawthorn" as I'm writing this. The Eagles are thrashing Hawthorn 48-17 in the 3rd period).

Ninh Ly can you do the rules of water polo, a lot of people don't know what water polo is and this would be a great way for them to know the game and the rules.

I'm new to watching the sport (I live in Nebraska, so literally the opposite end of the earth). So far I love it! Thank you so much for explaining it to me!

During the early days of ESPN, I use to get up very early to go to work. Because there wasn't much on tv to watch, I use to watch Aussie football. It was on every morning. Lots of action. I enjoyed it.

I worked in Sydney for a while a got to a couple of games. Because the field is so huge, this is probably the only sport I know of where getting seats higher up in the stadium is better than getting seats near the field!

I Love This Sport so much that I changed my channel name to reflect it 7 Months Ago. Anyways, I chose the Sydney Swans as my team to support because of the potential of their young players and their recent success ever since the Mid-90’s. Carn the Swans 🦢🔴⚪️

I used to watch Aussie Rules Football on ESPN as a kid, but didn't really understand it. Thanks for posting this!

Recently started watching Aussie Rules Football (not easy to find in the US) and this has certainly made it easier to understand.

Superb presentation! I have just discovered Aussie Rules football, and really enjoy the fast-paced, always-moving nature of the sport. Not to mention the spectacular catches and kicking skills displayed by the players. This will definitely help me understand the game better, as I plan to be watching a lot more of it in future. Thank you for putting this together!

I am from South Africa and learning more about this intense sport ........thanks for the informative video

I'm literally watching footy right now while looking through the comments of a video about footy lol. Happy to see so many people outside Aus that like our game. 😎

As an aussie, I can safely say this gives you enough information to understand the game enough to not be confused, like any sport there are many intricacies but great info none the less.

I'm an American and I love Aussie Rules Football. I first saw a game on TV back in 1998 between the Adelaide Crows and the Brisbane Lions. They are my two favorite teams. I hope one day to see a real live game. I wish that more games were on American TV. It's alot of fun to watch.

Great video! I watched a game tonight and didn't really understand what was happening. Thanks for keeping it short and sweet 👍

I remember watching this once on one of the sports channel. I was able to grasp most of the rules as I watched the game. It was an enjoyable game.

Sports Channel (now Fox Sports) used to play AFL games on Fridays in the US in the mid 90s. It was very exciting to watch. My favorite team was the Geelong Cats.

One of the hardest things I ever did was play rugby Union and AFL in the same day. I was so sore afterwards.

Anybody else think the line judge at 0:49 is epic as hell?

Thanks for making this video, definitely one of the best out there, for a detailed explanation, without making it dull and boring. Have been looking for a video to show a few American colleagues, whom don't understand the game, and keep referring to it as Rugby... *shakes head*...;)

Thank you so much !!!! Very helpful. I was watching tv and at 2:30 am and Aussie Rules Football was coming on so I made a bet, and looked this up. Now I know what to root for !!!!! Great vid.

This is very well put together, well done. I love my Aussie rules football and can't wait for this season to start. Go Bloods!

This is quite an exciting sport to watch because of how fast things go. :D This sport got a lot of airtime in the US during the cable network ESPN's nascent years in the early 1980s. It got quite a following as a result.

Hey man, just watched a load of your videos back to back and they're great and really well put together. Definitely subscribing. Also, Go Freo! I'm glad you used a lot of footage from their games.

I am Canadian that used to love soccer (football) the most, but one day when the sport channel at my work play a game of ARL during lunch time, I fell in love with the sport. The fast pace, big field, no diving, high intensity game caught my attention, it was so fun to watch, and not overly difficult to understand the general game rule after 5 minutes of watching it. Now this is my favorite team sport to watch, unfortunately due to the lack of popularity of the sport here in Canada, not many people are watching it, let alone play it here in Canada, but I do try to make time for it.

Hey this is better than the official AFL explaination of the game. bloody nice work - As an expat I'm constantly trying to explain the game to EU friends. This is now my primary tool!

I hate how little people know about this sport outside Australia it’s such a great sport more people should know about it

Love watching AFL on RU-vid. To me it seems to blend the best aspects of Soccer and Rugby, being fast paced and technical and skilled but with great physical strength and stamina. I get frustrated with the stops and starts of Union and American Rules in particular.

if I want to know the rules of any sport...this is my go to channel...thank you

Very interesting. Thanks for posting! Greetings from a curious Canadian.

As an American who has never seen or heard of this sport before, this actually looks pretty cool. I'd like to watch this if it was played in America

Ninh, you rock! Thanks for these vids, they're teaching me so much. American Footballer from Canada

Thanks. I work security at the AFL and didn't know the rules. I thought the home team lost tonight as it was 7:19.61 versus 8:10.58. When the buzzer went I was like 'why are they cheering the other team still scored more goals'. I thought the other points only came into play if it was tied goals. Nope, multiple by six and add. Thanks. It's a chaotic game but when the team is in the zone and passes and catches and goals are flowing it's quite good to watch. I prefer it to League.

Just showed my fiance this and she got it. Well done @Ninh Ly!

I know this video is from 2014 and it is 2016 but the rules with the interchange have changed for this year. there is no more Sub and you now only get 90 interchanges a game. Just a heads up here is a link to it if you want to check it out www.afl.com.au/news/2015-09-03/sub-rule-abolished-interchange-cap-reduced

You did well to explain it. For the most part you are spot on. And you gave rules and scenarios I wouldn't even think about explaining. Unless I see it in real life.

Thanks for the great explanation of Aussie rules. I'm a CFL fan from Canada that loves the Aussie game thanks. excellent videos

Well done with the video. A good intro guide is naturally going to skip a bit of nuance in the rules (I'm an Aussie Rules umpire and my rule book is 80 pages - not going to fit into 5 minutes), but my usual method of bringing in initiates just ends up overloading with too much detail. In future, I'll just have your video bookmarked :)

Wow great job. This is always on late at night here in eastern canada. Now i can watch intensely. May even pick a favorite team.. Cheers mate. Ty. :)

Looks like an amazing sport to practice. Thank you for the video!

One of the best consice explanations of the best game on earth.... We'll done.... There's plenty more to learn... But this is a bloody good start

I’ve grown up watching my brothers footy. It’s honestly the best game to play. As a girl playing this sport I think it’s amazing, although I do get slammed into the ground I come back up and keep on playing. I think more girls should start playing

I used to think of this game as Basketball and Rugby's athleticism with soccer's skill but the more I have seen of it I realize while it has the skill's of many other sport's it is not like any of them it is just Australian Football.

looks cool - I'm a rugby (and cricket) fan and I particularly like the concept of the speckie.

A great short breakdown of our great game. Go Tigers.

I'm Irish and I play Gaelic this is actually quite similar

I love how different and similar Rugby, Aussie Rules Football, American football, and Gaelic football all are.

Great vid. Very helpful thanks

I watched gaelic football growing up watching it for the first time seemed intuitive good to see my assumptions were right, great video ninh

This is the best short explanation I've seen. Bonus points from a St Kilda perspective, we're cheerful losers ;)

Great job, Ninh! Though concise, your sports videos are always very informative, friendly, and not without a touch of humour. Thank you man! - All the more reason for me to be grateful is that about a year ago this very video had opened for me the fascinating world of the Aussie Rules Football which I regard now as indeed the most interesting and exciting (simply the best!) football game of all other codes. Since then I've grown into a real footy fan and a kind of 'expert' in the AFL matter (probably the only one in Russia :)): I follow Geelong, but also I sympathize with Bombers (despite their known issues), I respect Western Bulldogs, Carlton and Collingwood... And I admire Clarkson!

Still the best Aussie Rules video out there, IMO.

Loved your explanation. If you do need specifics that you don't understand what or why just ask. I played from 5 till 29 & at 61 have never really been away from the game. I'm a Swans (Sydney) platinum member & have been watching footie full-time since very young both live & televised. To give an indicator Stephen Silvagni's (pronounced Sil-varney) son, Jack plays for Carlton but I remember watching Stephen's father Sergio playing...

Great video very concise . I'm irish and living in oz have my first aussie rule game next week so this helped a lot to clear a few things up . No way am I gonna try bounce the ball though

Watching the 2017 Grand Final live from UK at 05:00 and showed my daughter this video to explain. Very informative. I was Lucky enough to be in Melbourne earlier this year and attended the Demons v Blues at the MCG with an Aussie friend who explained what was happening which helped greatly. immediately hooked and a Melbourne Demons fan now

I have heard of it but never seen any games. but it does look like a game of organized chaos and that is always entertaining

A game played between 36 people should be very fun. You australians seems to love this sport the same way we argentine people love football, you call it soccer. Cheers ! Excellent video

I honestly thought the aim of the game was to hurt and damage as many of the opponents as possible!! thanks for the clarification though. :-)

Didn't expect it to be this different from Rugby. Seems like a fun game anyways!

Great explanation, thanks

Our school told us to watch this. It is the best!

Wait why am I watching this I already a) live in AUS, b) follow this game, and c) knew all the rules because Im frickin obsessed.

Im european and this sport along with Gaelic look sick!

Great beginners guide to aussie rules footy! Well done mate! Go Cats! 2020 🏆 🙏

I've liked, shared and subscribed. Great video Ninh

The greatest game in the world by far!

This is the video that got me to understand Australian rules football, if I ever visit Australia I would like to see a game. Just wondering, what is your favourite sport and favourite sports team?

Thank you Ninh, keep up the good work.

Thank you for this content!!! I think I have at least a grasp of this sport now

Thank you for making this video. My wife and I started watching ARF a couple of weeks ago and have trouble understanding the rules some times. I noticed that when a ball goes out of bounds some times a player throws it back in and some times a ref does, could you tell me what determines who throws it back in?

I find the size of that pitch intimidating

Probably the best explanation of any sport I’ve ever heard

Thank you, although I was aware of 'the mark', the 'handball' movement and the unique way of scoring goals, the rules were a bit vague to me, well, you don't see a lot of 'Aussie Rules' here in London (UK) but at least now I can reasonably understand the rules of the game when I watch the matches on RU-vid.

go Magpies!

This game sounds brilliant ... i am going to have to watch the video several times over to understand what is going on. Is it played all over Aus ... and could one of you AFL aficionados suggest a team i can watch. Then all I got to do is find somewhere on the web i can watch it in the UK ...

I just made it into the team and you were some help...Thanks👌💪🏻

Great vid! Very informative.

This seems like an incredible and high-octane sport. Too bad Australia doesn’t exist 🤧

So does this mean Australia and Ireland call football, soccer then?

That was very good. Well said. Thank you kindly

I just discovered this sport tonight but it looks awesome