AUSSIE RULES
ANALYSE THE GAME OF AUSTRALIAN
RULES FOOTBALL (ORIGINS FACTORS
WHICH SHAPED ITS DEVELOPMENT
INCLUDING COMMERCIALISM AND
IMPACT OF MEDIA
www.ausport.gov.au
 WATCH THE CLIP AND LIST
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GAME
ORIGINS OF THE GAME
 AUSSIE RULES RELECTS THE CULTURE
OF AUSTRALIA
 HARD AND PHYSICAL WITH STRONG
ETHOS OF FAIR PLAY
 PLAYED ON A LARGE CRICKET OVAL
 DEVELOPED FROM TOM WILLIS
 SIMPLY A MIXTURE OF RUGBY AND
GAELIC FOOTBALL
 It is not an international game
 It is genuinely an Australian game
 Tom Wills (English born) developed the game
after witnessing Aborigines playing a leaping
game with an animal skin in Queensland. He
combined this ethnic activity with the basic
principles of the ball sports he had
experienced in the Public schools and as a
result codified the sport of Melbourne rules in
1858.
 Several cultural factors shaped Melbourne
Rules including, that it was originally designed
to maintain the fitness of cricketers in the
winter. The Aborigines contributed athleticism
The Irish strength and ruggedness. While the
cornstalks (second and third-generation
Australians. Due to improved diets and a
superior climate, they had grown taller than the
original British settlers from whom they were
descended) brought to the sport the new
manly image of frontier Australia. – The game
appealed to all classes.
 Australian football is the game of the
people for the people It appealed to all
classes.
 Australian football approaches the level
of commercialism found in professional
soccer in the UK.
 It has developed into a game that requires
much space and played in much bigger
stadiums than the soccer stadiums in the UK.
 The team consists of:
 18 players – with half forwards running 25km
during a full game.
 Interchange players on the bench, which
functions rotationally, and the primary aim is to
score by kicking the ball between the posts.
The winner is the team who has the highest
total score by the end of the match.
 Six officials cover the pitch.
 The rules have evolved, as well as skills and tactics –
which have been moulded by the cultural, social and
economic environment of the nation.
 Despite its very physical nature, fair play is paramount
and the Brownlow medal is presented to the best and
fairest player each year.
 Commercialism consists of Sky TV, sponsorship and
advertisements occupying breaks in play are lucrative
sources of revenue, while features and chat shows
market the sport.
FACTORS THAT SHAPED THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE GAME
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SPREAD AS A RESULT OF TRAVEL
FESTIVAL EXHIBITIONS
OTHER SPORTSMAN HAVE CONVERTED
AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS PROMOTE
NATIONAL COMPETITIONS
MEDIA
EVERYBODY CAN PLAY
TASK
 WHAT IMPACT HAS THE MEDIA AND
HOW HAS COMMERCIALISM
INFLUENCED THE GAME?
TASK – READ THE HANDOUT AND WRITE A SHORTEND VERSION OF THE MAJOR
RULES.