Reference

AFL stats glossary

Every abbreviation used in our stats tables, plus the AFL vocabulary that shows up in match recaps and methodology notes. One place to look it up without leaving the page.

KICK Rating

The headline number on every player, match, and leaderboard page is a KICK Rating — a 0–100 score derived from every on-field action in a match. Rough bands:

90+ Elite · once-a-season performance
80–89 Star · All-Australian level form
70–79 Quality · top 10% of the competition
60–69 Solid · clear best-22 contributor
50–59 Average · senior contributor having a workmanlike game
<50 Below average · fringe or off day

Full formula, weights and limitations are on the methodology page.

Stats table abbreviations

These are the column headers used on player, match, and team pages. Australian rules keeps the same box-score vocabulary across every level of the game.

K — Kicks. Disposing of the ball with a foot.

HB — Handballs. Disposing of the ball by punching it off a flat palm.

D — Disposals. Total of kicks and handballs.

M — Marks. Cleanly catching a kicked ball on the full; a mark stops play and gives the marking player a free kick.

T — Tackles. Physically stopping an opponent with possession.

G — Goals. Ball kicked between the two tall posts — 6 points.

B — Behinds. Ball passes between a tall and a short post, or off a defender, or is rushed through — 1 point.

HO — Hit-outs. Ruckman tapping the ball from a bounce or throw-in, ideally to a teammate.

I50 — Inside-50s. Moving the ball into the forward half.

R50 — Rebound-50s. Clearing the ball out of the defensive half.

CL — Clearances. First possession out of a stoppage (centre bounce, boundary throw-in, ball-up).

CP — Contested possessions. Winning the ball when it's under dispute or on the ground.

UP — Uncontested possessions. Receiving the ball when no opponent is contesting.

CG — Clangers. Errors: turnovers, kicks to the opposition, free kicks against.

BR — Brownlow votes. Field umpires award 3-2-1 votes to their best three players in every home-and-away match; the season winner gets the Brownlow Medal.

GP — Games played.

TOG% — Time on ground percentage. 100% = full four quarters; players with less often got injured or rotated off.

Score notation

An AFL score is written goals.behinds (points). A goal is six points; a behind is one. So 14.12 (96) means fourteen goals, twelve behinds, ninety-six total points. The team with more points at the final siren wins.

Quarters are 20 minutes plus time-on; there are four per match. A match typically runs about two hours of real time.

Positions

AFL uses 18 players on the ground plus four on an interchange bench. Broadly:

Midfielders — the engine room. Win the ball at stoppages and run it forward. Usually rack up the biggest disposal counts.
Defenders (backs) — stop the opposition from scoring and rebound the ball out of defence. Key defenders take the tallest forwards; small defenders cover small forwards.
Forwards — score goals. Key forwards are tall targets; small forwards are crumbers who apply pressure and kick goals off the ground.
Rucks — typically the tallest players on the ground. Contest hit-outs at bounces and throw-ins.
Wingers — run between the arcs, providing width and transition.

Awards & honours

Brownlow Medal — the AFL's most prestigious individual award. Field umpires give 3-2-1 votes per match; highest season total wins.
All-Australian — a representative team of the best 22 players across the home-and-away season, picked by a selection panel each year.
AFLCA Champion Player — a vote of coaches; a good cross-check against the umpires' Brownlow.
Coleman Medal — most goals in the home-and-away season.
Norm Smith Medal — best-on-ground in the Grand Final.

Match & season terms

Round — one week of matches. The home-and-away season runs 23 rounds.
Finals — the top 8 teams play a four-week knockout in September to decide the premiership.
Grand Final — the last Saturday of September (historically), at the MCG.
Centre bounce — the ruck contest that starts every quarter and restarts play after a goal.
Boundary throw-in — when the ball crosses the boundary line untouched, a boundary umpire throws it back in over the top.
Debut — a player's first senior AFL game. Season debut = first game of a given year.

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