The Australian Football League (AFL) is the highest-level professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body, and is responsible for controlling the Laws of the Game.The AFL has tight controls over the player lists of each club; each club can have a senior list of 40 players plus up to ten rookie or veteran players. From 2006, up to two international rookies are also permitted. Clubs can only trade players during a "trade week" at the end of each season and can only recruit new players through the AFL Draft. The rules for the draft have changed every few years since it was introduced in 1986, but the basic philosophy remains in that players are selected by clubs in the reverse of the order of their positions on the ladder at the end of the preceding season. That is, the club that finished last has first draft selection, then the club that finished second last. However, this philosophy has been compromised by giving priority picks to clubs which win fewer than four matches during the season and by allowing clubs to select sons of former players under the Father-Son Rule which itself has been varied over the years.
The Toyota AFL Premiership Season, contested between the 18 teams from around Australia, lasts for 23 rounds and begins in late March. For the 2012 AFL season, each team will play 22 games, and have one bye. The McClellan Trophy is awarded to the team that finishes the home and away rounds in first position (the minor premiership).
At the end of the 23 rounds, the top eight teams compete in the four-week AFL Finals Series. In the first week the top four teams play in qualifying finals (1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd), the two winning qualifying finals teams progress directly into the two preliminary finals in the third week, with the other four teams playing in elimination finals (5th vs 8th and 6th vs 7th). In the second week the two losing teams from the qualifying finals play the two winning teams from the elimination finals in the semi-finals. The winners of the qualifying finals play the winners of the semi-finals in the preliminary finals. The two winning preliminary final teams play in the grand final in the fourth week of the finals. The premiership winning team is the team that wins the grand final.
The Toyota AFL Premiership Season, contested between the 18 teams from around Australia, lasts for 23 rounds and begins in late March. For the 2012 AFL season, each team will play 22 games, and have one bye. The McClellan Trophy is awarded to the team that finishes the home and away rounds in first position (the minor premiership).
At the end of the 23 rounds, the top eight teams compete in the four-week AFL Finals Series. In the first week the top four teams play in qualifying finals (1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd), the two winning qualifying finals teams progress directly into the two preliminary finals in the third week, with the other four teams playing in elimination finals (5th vs 8th and 6th vs 7th). In the second week the two losing teams from the qualifying finals play the two winning teams from the elimination finals in the semi-finals. The winners of the qualifying finals play the winners of the semi-finals in the preliminary finals. The two winning preliminary final teams play in the grand final in the fourth week of the finals. The premiership winning team is the team that wins the grand final.