Teams are made up of 22 players, 18 of
which are on the field at any one time.
The on-field line-up is divided, roughly, into Forwards,
Defenders and Midfielders.
The
line-up goes: Back line: Back Pocket,
Full Back, Back Pocket Half Back line: Half Back
Flank, Center Half Back, Half Back Flank Center line: Wingman, Center
man, Wingman (No wingmen in Denmark) Half Forward line: Half
Forward Flank, Center Half Forward, Half Back Flank
Forward line: Forward Pocket,
Full Forward, Forward Pocket. Utilities: Ruckman, Ruck-Rover,
Rover
Interchange: x 4.
Each team kicks to opposite ends of the
ground, meaning one team's Back Pocket lines up on the other
team's Forward Pocket, a Center Half Forward plays against
the opposition's Center Half Back, and so on.
Ruckmen are the really tall men who leap into the air to
try and tap the ball to their smaller running players (led
by the ruck-rover and rover) when the ball is bounced or
thrown-in. The Full Forward is the star of the show, as
he is supposed to kick the most goals.
Each team has a Coach who sits in a little box in the grandstand,
yelling instructions down a phone-line to support staff
on the "interchange bench". It's the coach's job
to make all the tactical and strategic moves to win the
game, providing he doesn't suffer a heart attack or burst
his voice-box screaming at people during play. Yep, most
of these guys get pretty steamed up when things are going
wrong.
In Denmark the coach is normally a player, and the closest
I have seen to a grandstand is the beer tent in Farum.
A runner (resplendent in lime green) can run onto the field
to pass on instructions to players or ask them to leave
the ground through the Interchange area, to be replaced
by another player. Unlike some football codes, a player
can come on or off the interchange repeatedly throughout
a game.
Three field umpires patrol the ground, awarding free-kicks,
bounce the ball and generally try to control the legalities
of the game, while two boundary umpires run up and down
the boundary line ready to signal when the ball tumbles
out of bounds and to throw the ball back in. Goal umpires
stand behind the goals. Now is this a dream situation?
It is often hard for DAFL
to supply field umpires, even though they actually get paid.
The game is played in four quarters of 20 minutes, plus
time-on (the making up of "dead time" during the
quarter). At quarter and three-quarter time, the coach goes
onto the ground and talks to his players in a "huddle".
At half time, which lasts 20 minutes, the teams return to
their dressing room for a more significant break.
