Australian Rules football is a highly popular winter game in the southern states of Australia. Its official name is Australian football. Invented by Australians, it is played mainly in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Every Saturday afternoon in winter, hundreds of thousands of spectators flock to the major club competitions in South Australia, Canberra, Northern Territory, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia. Teams from Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane also compete with leading Melbourne teams. Australian Rules football is a game of great pace and spectacle. Players drive the ball back and forth with long kicks and quick hand passes and stop it with high catches called marks.
An Australian Rules football team consists of 18 players and 2 interchange players, who can replace other players . During a match, each team tries to score as many points as possible. It also tries to prevent the opposition from scoring. A goal counts as six points and a behind as one point. The team that scores the highest number of points wins the match.
