Drop Punt - AFL Football
The history of AFL football, the birth of Australia's national game.

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Australian Rules Football - The Early Days

In the early days of Australian Rules Football some basic rules had been formed. In 1897 the scoring system was formalised with six points being awarded for a goal and one point for a behind. This scoring method still remain in place today in the modern game. In the same year the first finals were held (won by Essendon).

In 1902 the Hawthorn Football Club was formed and Carlton appointed Jack Worrall as the first ever coach in the VFL. Two years later boundary umpires were introduced into Australian football and several years later (1909) boundary umpires were given the power to report players.

In 1911 the game developed even further and players began to get paid. That same year the second Australian Football Carnival was held and was won by South Australia.

Numbers were added to player's jumpers in 1912 and Essendon won the first back to back premierships in 1911-12. Fitzroy and Carlton won each of the following years and Carlton then won back to back in 1914-15.

One of Australian Football's early stars was Roy Cazaly who started playing for St Kilda in 1911. His spectacular marks gave rise to the now famous phrase "up there cazaly" (after which a song was also written in the 70s).

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