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AFL and NRL Team Draws

By My Wheel Name Team·Published July 25, 2026·2 min read

Australia runs two major football codes that most of the world has never watched, and both are unusually rewarding for a random team draw because the club rivalries are fierce and entirely regional.

AFL scoring confuses everyone once

Australian rules uses two sets of posts. Kick the ball between the two tall central posts and it's a goal worth six points. Send it between a tall post and a shorter outer post and it's a behind, worth one.

That's why scorelines are written as two numbers plus a total, and why they look enormous to anyone used to football. There's also no offside rule, so players spread across a ground substantially larger than a football pitch and the game almost never stops.

Rugby league is not rugby union

The NRL plays rugby league, which split from union in 1895 over payments to players and has diverged steadily since. It's thirteen a side rather than fifteen, with no meaningful contest at the scrum.

The defining rule is the six tackle set. A team keeps the ball for six tackles then hands it over, usually kicking on the fifth, which gives the game a rhythm closer to American football's downs than to union's contested breakdown.

What to check after you draw

• Which ground the club plays at, since several AFL clubs share stadiums and a home game may be at a venue three others also use.
• Which state the club is based in, which shapes the rivalries you'll inherit.
• Kickoff times, which for anyone outside Australia usually means early mornings.
• Whether the club is one of the traditional powers or a newer expansion side, which changes the tone of the fanbase considerably.

Why these draws work for newcomers

Both codes are genuinely hard to pick up as a neutral, because the rules are unfamiliar and the coverage assumes you already know them. Following one club solves that faster than reading a rules explainer.

You learn the six tackle set by watching a team run it badly. You learn what a behind is by watching your side kick four of them and lose by three points.

Spin, check the ground and the state, and give it a full season. Both codes reward the commitment more than a casual watch ever suggests.