The 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership will be kicking off in less then 2 weeks, so the excitement is high! The 2017 season delivered great AFL action and the 2018 season is promising to be another great year filled with action packed matches.
If you are new to the world of AFL and betting on these matches, we recommend learning as much as you can about this epic sport before placing any bets. So while you are learning all about AFL and how to place bets, why not keep yourself lucky and play some real money pokies online for fun.
Here we discuss some of the rules of the game you should know before the betting fun begins:
AFL Basic Game rules
The game is played on an oval shaped field, and each team has 18 players a side, with an extra four players to change in case of injury in this intensely physical game.
Goals are scored by kicking balls over the opposing teams goal posts, while simultaneously preventing your opponent from scoring against you. Players defend their goals with tackles or obstructing the opponents.
The game last 80 minutes, and is spilt into quarters of 20 minutes each, rotating the sides the team plays on, and thereby giving each side a chance to attack from the opposite sides.
Each AFL game has 3 field umpires, 2 boundary umpires and 2 umpires for the goal to keep score. An additional umpire is kept on standby in case on of the participating umpires gets injured in the midst of a match.
– Player can use any part of their body to move the ball (including hands)
– Players holding the ball must perform a running bounce every 15 metres, If this is not done, a free kick will be given to the opposing side
– A ball may not be passed between players, it must be punched from on hand to the other like a volley ball serve.
– Players can be on any part of the oval at anytime, as there is no offside rule in the AFL
– The ball should never be thrown
– Kicking the ball is the most common way to move the ball up the field (as the ball cannot be thrown)
– There are many types of kicks, from the drop punt (which is when a player drops the ball directly down and kick it before it lands) to the Torpedo punt (which is when a player kicks the ball in a way to force the ball further but is hard to catch due to its spinning on its axis)
First AFL matches in 2018
The first match in the AFL Championship is on the 22nd of March and the matches will keep us occupied until September, and the finals. So you still have a while to study the game and make sure you know what and who to bet on. Here are the first five matches in the season, watch these and practice your bets!
Thursday March 22
Richmond v Carlton (Opening
Tuesday April 24
Melbourne v Richmond
Wednesday April 25
Collingwood v Essendon
Saturday June 2
Essendon v Richmond
Monday June 11
Melbourne v Collingwood