Australian Football - Scoring
When the ball passes through the goalposts, a goal worth six points is scored. The ball can fly through the goal post at any height including above the height of the posts by way of the attacking team’s kick. The ball may also pass the goal posts without touching the ground or it may bounce through.
A goal can’t be scored from the foot of the opposition team’s player. Once a goal is scored, the match again resumes with centre bounce, as it was started at the beginning.
A behind is scored in the following cases −
When the ball passes between a goal post and a behind post at any height
It hits any of the goal posts.
A player sends the ball through the goal posts by touching it with any part of the body other than a foot
If the ball touches any part of the defending player’s body, including foot, before passing through the goal posts.
When a player deliberately scores a behind in order to avoid risks of scoring a goal, it is called as rushed behind. From 2009, a new rule was announced awarding a free kick against the player who scores a behind deliberately. The team with maximum score wins the match. If scores are same at the end of the match, it’s declared a draw. Extra times are included in case of draws in final matches.
One thing which is little confusing to new learners about the sport is the score. The score of a team typically looks like 15.12.102(A.B.C). Here 15(A) is the number of goal scored by the team, whereas 12(B) is the number of behinds scored. Finally, 102(C) is the total score or the calculated score of the team which is a sum of 15 goals that is 15×6 and 12 behinds that is 12×1.
