AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL“FOOTY SLANG”A- aerial ping-pong - a term used to describe the sport since the ball often moves back and forth between two halves of the ground. More often than not a derogatory term used by rugby league football fans, the term was more valid through the 1960s and 1970s; the faster paced running game and increased use of hand passing of the current age has made the term largely obsolete.
- AFL - the sport of Australian Football; i.e. a child may state "we're going to play a game of AFL" to mean the sport, not the league. This term is used particuarly in New South Wales and Queesland where Aussie Rules is not a native sport and knowledge of the sport is mostly through the marketing campaigns of the AFL.
- air conveyance - the football
- Arctic Park - nickname of former VFL/AFL headquarters ground Waverley Park, for its freezing atmosphere
- assist - to give the ball to a player who then scores - this statistic has a long history in other sports such as NHL hockey, and is just beginning to gain popularity in the game
B- bag of... - the number of goals a player kicks in one game, e.g. a bag of six.
- ball - short for holding the ball - called by supporters to plead for the umpire to pay a free kick for holding the ball, often when they fear he might pay holding the man. Often dragged out as baalllll. See man on this page
- behind the stick - a behind
- belt the living suitcase out of - a piece of radio-friendly vernacular, referring to players in a melee, or a team being thrashed
- big men - see tall timber
- bomb - a long high kick
- breadbasket - refers to the stomach of a player
C- candy (or sell some candy) - see dummy (or sell the dummy)
- Charlie - the Brownlow Medal
- cheap stat/cheapie - the disposal from a player who receives an unpressured and extremely short handpass from a teammate with a free kick or mark is said to be cheap because receiving the ball takes no effort
- checkside or banana - a kick that curves from one side to another
- chip-chip - derogatory name currently used to describe a game plan where short kicks are preferred to long ones.
- chopped off - intercepted
- clanger - a statistic which records "blatant unforced errors"
- clearance - clearing
- coathanger - dangerous high tackle
- Colliwobbles - term coined to describe Collingwood's failure in finals between 1958 and 1990, including eight grand final losses and one draw
- corridor - the centre of the field, and therefore the most direct way to the goals
- creative disposal - an awkward handpass which is technically illegal, but never penalised
- cross country basketball - see aerial ping pong
- crumber - small player or rover best at picking the ball up off the ground after a contest
D- dolly - see 'sitter'
- don't argue - when a player with the ball pushes out his hand in the direction of an opponent to fend them off.
- dinosaur - refers to tall players or ruckmen - sometimes also old or veterans
- dragged - player is moved from field to interchange during game for poor form or conduct (ie. giving away a fifty or making a stupid mistake)
- dropped - player is moved to the reserves after a poor performance
- drop kick - a method of kicking the ball, ball touches the ground before being struck. Ball spins end over end. Not to be confused with 'drop punt'.
- drop punt - the most common method of kicking the ball, ball spins end over end
- dukes - refers to the outstreched arms of a player, usually when taking or spoiling a mark
- dummy (or sell the dummy) - a type of baulk where a player tricks an opposition player into believing they are about to do something they are not.
F- fat side - refers to the side of the ground which has more space on it
- fifty - short for 50-metre penalty
- floater - a kick which does not spin and floats through the air, or a handpass with a very high trajectory, giving opponents enough time to reach the target
- footy - the name for Australian football in the southern states; it refers to Rugby League Football in Sydney and Brisbane. Also the name of the ball itself.
- free - short for free kick (ie. that should've been a free)
- frequent flyer - player that frequently attempts speckies
- fresh air shot/fresh airy - missing the ball with the kick
G- grab - another word for mark (ie. nice grab)
- granny - slang for Grand Final
- ground-level - referring to play taking place along the ground rather than aerially
- guts, the - the corridor
H- hanger - A term for a spectacular mark where a player appears to hang high in the air to receive the ball, also known as a specky
- hail mary - when a player kicks or hand passes the ball to no one in particular in the hope that it will reach a team mate (ie. that was a hail mary kick)
- handy point - a behind scored late in a close game which either extends a lead to 6x+1 points (so that the opposition needs to have at least one extra scoring shot to win), or reduces a deficit to 6x-1 points (so that one fewer scoring shot is needed to win)
- hard ball - ball is in contested situation or underneath a pack (ie. hard ball gets)
- hasn't he got a back/neck? the common question of the supporter after his team is not paid an apparent push in the back/high tackle free kick
- have one's number taken - to be reported; referred to as such because the umpire writes down the player's number in his notebook
- hear footsteps - to believe one is under more pressure than one actually is
- helicopter punt - a kick which gyrates flatly like the turbines of a helicopter, and for which Stephen Kernahan was well known
- hip 'n' shoulder - a legal bump
- home crowd decision - a contentious free kick, usually holding the ball, which is awarded to the home team after an appeal from the crowd.
- hospital pass - player passes to a player who is immediately in danger of getting tackled
- how'd he get rid of it (ump)? - the common question of the supporter after his team is not paid a holding the ball free kick
IJ- jumper punch - an attempt to avoid fines for striking by grabbing a fistful of another player's jumper, and then punching with that fist
- junk time - a portion of the game with low intensity after the final result is beyond doubt
K- kick-to-kick - name of an informal Australian pasttime based on Australian rules football for catch and kick type games. Often used as a derogatory term to describe possession based games of football. Also refers to the post-game time allocated to allow spectators onto the field. Spectators will bring AFL balls to the game to participate in this (kick-to-kick available at certain times under certain circumstances only).
- kick for touch - kick that just lands inside the boundary line (borrowed from rugby), with no intended target player.
- kicking in danger - swinging a boot at the ball when an opposition player's head or hands are in the action of retrieving it - one example of this was an incident in 2005 when Steven King scissor-kicked into the air during a ruck contest and caused major facial injuries to Jeff White, however most of the time it refers to a ground-level situation)
L- lead - player running into the clear
- leg - to illegally tackle a player below the knees (as in he's legged him.)
- long break - half time
M- maggot - slang for umpire - white maggot is the more traditional terminology, but this has been generalised since umpires switched to coloured uniforms
- magoos - derogatory rhyming slang for the reserves, also known as the twos
- man - short for holding the man- called by supporters to plead for the umpire to pay a free kick for holding the man, often when they fear he might pay holding the ball. The two are often screamed simultaneously by opposing fans. See ball on this page
- man mountain - Used to describe a tall player. (eg He's a bit of a man mountain. - sometimes used as just mountain as in He's a mountain.)
- minor score - a behind
- mongrel punt - a kick that spins awkwarldy but goes in the correct direction
[NO- one day in September, the - the Grand Final
- one-hander - a one handed catch / mark
P- paddock - The playing field
- pill - another term used to describe the ball
- pine, the - the interchange bench
- ping - describes the player when the umpire pays a free kick (i.e. pinged for holding the ball)
- poster - a behind scored by the ball hitting the goal post
- proud club - most commonly used to euphemistically describe once-great clubs who are performing poorly
- prune - term used to describe the ball
QR- rainmaker - a very high kick that doesn't cover much ground
- red time - the final two playing minutes of any quarter
- rotation - tactical interchanges or positional changes used to ensure that followers do not succumb to fatigue
- roost - a technique of kicking the ball; one which the player kicks the ball a significant distance both height and length
- rushed behind - conceding a minor score when in defence
S- sausage roll - used to refer to a team scoring a goal (see Australian rhyming slang)
- scrag - hold a player by the jumper behind play or after they have taken a mark.
- scone - nickname for football player's head.
- scoop - picks up the ball on the run.
- screamer - see specky
- September - used to refer to the finals series
- shank - when a player has mis-cued a kick, he is said to have "shanked" it
- shark - to rove a ruck tap-out from the opposing ruckman
- shepherd - to block the path of an opposing player. A perfectly legal tactic when performed within 5 metres of the ball.
- sherrin - the common ball manufacturer, also a name for the ball
- shirtfront - dangerous front-on bump if done incorrectly.
- shocker - refers to a player or a team performing badly, either in a piece of play or throughout the whole game.
- show pony - player who tends to over finesse simple tasks, yet also generally shirks the hard ball contests; also used to describe an umpire who is excessively flamboyant with his signalling
- sitter - player should be able to easily mark the ball, or kick the goal (ie. drops a sitter or misses a sitter)
- skipper - the captain of the team
- sling - when someone is spun around in a tackle by the collar
- smother - player stops a kick from being properly executed
- snag - a slang term for a goal, based upon sausage roll (see above)
- snap - ambitious kick at goal from difficult angle, sometimes over the head
- soccer - kicked the ball off the ground in the manner of an soccer player
- spent it before he had it - player drops the ball trying to pass it
- speedster - an exceptionally fast player
- specky - a high mark over one or more other players; presumably short for 'spectacular mark'
- spiritual leader - the buzz word of 2006, when a player shows on field or off field leadership, though they may not be the captain. Often the player is a senior player who has previously been captain of the team, or one renown for his wisdom and toughness (e.g. Aaron Hamill is a spiritual leader at St. Kilda)
- spoil - when a player has a certain mark only to have it affected by another player resulting in the mark not being taken
- spray (1) - a harsh lecture given to a poorly performing player or team by the coach or captain; also called a bake or a roast
- spray (2) - to miss a shot at goal
- stacks on the mill - a pack forms on top of the ball, forcing a ball-up
- State of Origin - (a term devised in Australian rules circles, now used only in rugby league.) Interstate games in which players are selected on the basis of which Australian state they first played in.
- stepladder - the player over whom a specky is taken
- stiff - unlucky or harshly dealt with (i.e. he was stiff not to get a free)
- switch play - to kick the ball laterally; no ground is gained, but ground is usually more easily gained afterwards.
T- tagger - a player whose sole purpose is to negate an opposition player. Usually involves following and scragging.
- tall timber - refers to tall or key position players
- telegraph - to inadvertently make it obvious who the intended target of a pass is
- the G - the Melbourne Cricket Ground, or M.C.G.
- thrashing - a big win or loss, usually by fifty points or more; also called, among other things, a smashing, smacking, rout, annihilation, shellacking, massacre, pounding, thumping, domination, etc.
- throw - an illegal pass (ie, a handball conducted by throwing instead of properly punching)
- tiggy touchwood - a soft decision given by the umpire
- ton - one hundred goals in a season
- torpedo - method of kicking the ball, named due to ball spinning in a torpedo like fashion. Often referred to as a 'torp'.
- triple-double - one player taking more than ten kicks, ten marks and ten handpasses in one game; triple-doubles are almost exclusively a basketball statistic, but Australian football commentators occasionally make reference to it
U- unit - Used to describe a tough/big player (eg, He's a bit of a unit.)
- unselfish - said about a player who probably could have scored a goal but chose to pass the ball to another player in a better position.
VW- wet weather footy - describes the ugly, slow style of game which must be played in heavy rain
- white maggot - slang for umpire wearing white
- woodwork - goal or behind post. (ie. into the woodwork - when ball hits the post)
- workhorse - an exceptionally hard working, or workmanlike player
- worm burner - a kick along the ground that keeps low, and skids along the grass
- wrapped up - used to describe a player who has been well tackled, usually by more than one opponent (ie. he was well wrapped up)
XY- yellow maggot - see white maggot
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