The Australian footy is mostly played during the winter months. Thousands of fans from around the country come to the football stadiums to enjoy the match and support their teams. The Australian Rules football is very popular in the states of Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia. In these states AFL is also known as �football�. The rules or code of the Australian footy had been laid down at Melbourne in the year 1858 and were first published by the Melbourne Football Club in the year 1859. The football is played in the oval field and the shape of the ball is also of the same shape. The total numbers of players who can participate in this game are eighteen from each team. The person who officially conducts the game is known as the umpire. There are many ways to advance the ball which include passing through hands or by kicking it. While hand-passing the ball, throwing the ball is not permitted. Those players who hold on to the ball for a long period of time are penalised. The players are allowed to run with the ball but they must touch the ball once on the ground after every 15 minutes. The most common style of kicking used in Australian football matches are torpedo punt, check side punt and drop punt.
The scoring in the Australian football is also a bit different from the other games. If a goal is scored in the match, it is worth 6 points whereas a behind is equivalent to 1 point. If the ball touches one of the behind posts, then it is considered to be out of boundary and no points are awarded for it. The team which secures the highest points wins the match and if at the end of one day the scores are same then the match becomes a draw.
Australian football draws a huge number of crowds and it is the fourth-most commonly played team sport popular in Australia. Australian Rules football is the most commonly watched sport of Australia and is one of the five professional sports in the whole with such a huge fan following. The most renowned footy teams of Australia include--Brisbane Lion, Hawthorn Hawk, Port Adelaide, Carlton Blues, Adelaide Crow, Collingwood Magpies, Sydney Swans, Fremantle, Western Bulldogs, Geelong Cat, West Coast Eagles and Melbourne Demon among many others.
Australian football game is fast-gaining popularity in the world and has become an important part of the Australian sports culture.