A mark is a skill in Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 where a player cleanly catches (is deemed to have controlled the ball for sufficient time) a kicked ball that has travelled more than 15 metres without anyone else touching it or the ball hitting the ground.

It is a distinctive part of the game. Although catching the ball is also found in other codes of football, along with kicking the ball, it is one of the most prevalent skills in Australian Football. Marking can also be one of the most spectacular and distinctive aspects of the game, and the best mark of the AFL season is awarded with the Mark of the Year

Mark of the Year

The annual Mark of the Year competition is a sporting award that celebrates each season's best mark...

, with similar competitions running across smaller leagues.

The top markers in the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

, like Lance Franklin

Lance Franklin

Lance "Buddy" Franklin, Jr is a professional Australian rules footballer currently playing for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League . Nicknamed 'Buddy', Franklin primarily plays as a centre half-forward, but also spends some time in the midfield, where he plays along the wing...

, Jason Dunstall

Jason Dunstall

Jason Hadfield Dunstall is a former Australian rules football player for the Hawthorn Football Club of the AFL. He is the third greatest goalkicker in the history of the VFL/AFL. Dunstall is regarded as one of the greatest full-forwards to have ever played, kicking 1254 goals, a feat only...

 and Jonathan Brown take an average of over 8 marks per game. An AFL match between St Kilda and Port Adelaide in 2006 set a record of 303 marks in a single game.

Rules

Upon taking a mark, the umpire will blow their whistle to signify the mark and a player is entitled to an unimpeded kick of the ball, to advance his team towards their goalposts. The nearest opposition player stands on the spot where the player marked the ball, which is also known as the mark, and becomes the man on the mark. When taking the set kick, the player must either play on or kick the ball over the mark.

The criterion for a mark is that it is caught cleanly, i.e. the player has complete control of the ball, for any length of time. As such, if the ball is caught in one grab, and then punched out from between the player's hands, a mark is paid, even if he has held it for only an instant. Similarly, if a ball is controlled, and then dislodged by another player or the ground, the mark will still be paid.

If two players mark the ball simultaneously, the umpire is obliged to award the mark to the man in front, i.e. the player who has the front position in the marking contest; if he cannot determine which player is in front, then a ball-up will result.

The mark has been included in the compromise rules used in the International Rules Football

International rules football

International rules football is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international representative matches between Australian rules football players and Gaelic football players....

 series

International Rules Series

The International Rules Series is a senior men's International rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team and the Ireland international rules football team...

 between teams from Australia and Ireland

Ireland international rules football team

The Ireland International rules football team is the representative team for Ireland in international rules football, a compromise between Gaelic football and Australian rules football...

 since 1984.

Origins of the mark

Various forms of football

Football

Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...

 descended from English public school football games

English public school football games

During the early modern era students, former students and teachers at English public schools developed and wrote down the first codes of football, most notably the Eton College...

 of the 19th century have featured a fair catch

Fair catch

A fair catch is a feature of American football and several other codes of football, in which a player attempting to catch a ball kicked by the opposing team – either on a kickoff or punt – is entitled to catch the ball without interference from any member of the kicking team...

 or mark. It was abolished early in the development of association football (soccer) but still exists in rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 and American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

.

The mark has been one of the most distinctive features of Australian Football since rules were drawn up in 1859.

Some people claim that the origin of the term 'mark' comes from the practice of a player who has just taken a mark physically marking the ground with his foot, or cap which formed part of the attire worn by players in the 19th century, to show where he took the fair catch.

Others claim that the origin of the mark comes from the traditional Aboriginal game of Marn Grook

Marn Grook

Marn Grook , literally meaning "Game ball", is a collective name given to a number of traditional Indigenous Australian recreational pastimes believed to have been played at gatherings and celebrations of up to 50 players. It is often confused with a separate indigenous game resembling Association...

, which is said to possibly have influenced Tom Wills writing of the laws of the game. It is claimed that in Marn Grook, jumping to catch the ball, called "mumarki", an Aboriginal word meaning "to catch" results in a free kick. Some counterclaim this theory as false etymology

False etymology

Folk etymology is change in a word or phrase over time resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more familiar one. Unanalyzable borrowings from foreign languages, like asparagus, or old compounds such as samblind which have lost their iconic motivation are...

.

Types of marks

In Australian Football, marks are often described in combination of the following ways.

• Overhead Mark - catching the ball with hands extended above the head
• Contested Mark - catching the ball against one or more opponents who are attempting to also mark or spoil the player attempting the mark.
• Pack Mark - catching the ball against one or more opponents and/or teammates all close to the fall of the ball.
• High Mark - catching the ball whilst jumping up in the air. Stewart "Buckets" Loewe
  Stewart Loewe
  Stewart Loewe is a former Australian rules football champion of the St Kilda Football Club.Nicknamed "Buckets" for his big hands and the way he was able to mark the ball with ease, Loewe debuted in 1986 for the St Kilda Football Club after being recruited from Mount Eliza...
  
  , Matthew Richardson
  Matthew Richardson (Australian rules footballer)
  Matthew "Richo" Richardson , is a retired professional Australian rules footballer who played for Richmond in the Australian Football League...
  
   and Simon Madden
  Simon Madden
  Simon Madden was an Australian rules footballer for the Essendon Football Club from 1974 until 1992. He was also president of the AFL Players Association from 1985 until 1989....
  
   are notable exponents of the high mark.
• Spectacular mark - sometimes nicknamed 'specky', 'screamer' or 'hanger', this term is most often used when a mark taken (sometimes contested) whilst jumping in the air. Additional elevation is achieved by using the legs to spring off the back or shoulders of one or more opponents and/or teammates. The movement of other players beneath the player marking can cause them to lose balance in mid air and land or fall awkwardly, enhancing the spectacle of the mark. The name reflects its popularity among spectators.
• Chest Mark - catching the ball and drawing it in to the chest. This is considered the easiest mark to take, and is often used in wet weather. At professional level this skill is discouraged by coaches due to it giving opponents a much better chance of intercepting the ball from most directions.
• Out in Front - catching the ball with arms extended forward from the body. This skill is extremely difficult, particularly with the ball travelling low and at high speeds. At professional level this skill is preferred by coaches, as it gives opponents less chance of spoiling from behind, and if the ball spills, it will be "front and centre" of the player, which makes it much easier for rovers to predict and to execute game strategy.
• One Handed Mark - catching the ball with only one hand. Rarely used in a contested situation where one player's arm is impeded by an opponent (which is typically a free kick anyway). While spectacular, this skill is discouraged by coaches due to a low percentage of success and is sometimes seen as "showing off" or "lairising".
• Diving Mark - leaping horizontally to catch the ball before it hits the ground.
• With the flight of the ball - a mark taken running in the direction that the ball is travelling. In order to do this, the player must take their eyes off opposition players sometimes running at fast pace in the opposite direction. This type of mark is often branded "courageous", because in attempting the mark, the player must ignore the danger of a high speed collision with oncoming players. Wayne Carey
  Wayne Carey
  Wayne Carey is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne and Adelaide Football Clubs in the Australian Football League ....
  
   and Jonathan Brown were known for their ability to take courageous marks.
• Standing one's ground - a mark taken by a player who is standing still. These are particularly difficult, because the player must wait in a stationary position, making it much easier for moving opponents to make better position. There is also a higher risk of collision with incoming players, meaning it requires courage.
• Backing into a pack - a mark taken by a player who is running or jogging backwards while facing the ball. These are particularly dangerous with an extremely high risk of collision from behind by players running at the ball at high speed. It is also highly difficult to keep eyes on the ball whilst expecting a high collision from behind.
• Half Volley - technically not a mark. Sometimes players catch the ball so close to the ground that it is difficult to tell whether it hit or bounced off the ground. Sometimes a player is awarded a mark by an umpires benefit of the doubt.
• Juggled Mark - when a player takes two or more touches of the ball to claim the mark. The player must appear to have had control of the ball to be awarded the mark. Importantly, the mark must be completed within the field of play to be paid as a mark; it should not be paid if the first touch was inside the boundary line, but the last outside.
• Fingertip Mark - when the player is only barely able to hold the ball with his fingers at full stretch. This type of mark carries a high risk of injury to fingers.
• Slips Catch - a fingertip mark taken low to the ground, with terminology borrowed directly from cricket
  Cricket
  Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
  
  .

Famous marks

While the Mark of the Year

Mark of the Year

The annual Mark of the Year competition is a sporting award that celebrates each season's best mark...

 competition has produced many famous marks, other marks include:

In the 1970 Grand Final

AFL Grand Final

The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...

 before a record crowd, Carlton full forward, and giant of the game, Alex Jesaulenko

Alex Jesaulenko

Alex 'Jezza' Jesaulenko MBE is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He is regarded as one of the game's greatest-ever players and is an official Legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame...

, took one of the most inspirational marks in the history of 'the Australian game' leaping high for a specky over Collingwood

Collingwood Football Club

The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

's Graeme Jenkin just before half time, to help inspire a Carlton

Carlton Football Club

The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

 side that was behind by 44 points at the half.

Sydney

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

's Leo Barry

Leo Barry

Leo Barry is a retired Australian rules footballer in the AFL with the Sydney Swans.Originally from Deniliquin, New South Wales, he attended St Ignatius' College, Riverview before being drafted as a zone selection in the 1994 National Draft and making his debut in the final round of the 1995...

 leapt into history with his match-saving mark in the final seconds of the 2005 grand final against the West Coast Eagles

West Coast Eagles

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...

 to seal the game. His contested overhead mark was taken in a congested pack of 3 teammates and 3 opposition players.

Shaun Smith's and Gary Ablett's shared title of Mark of the Century.

St Kilda/South Melbourne

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

 player Roy Cazaly

Roy Cazaly

Roy Cazaly was an Australian rules football player famous for his high marks and ruck work, which gave rise to the phrase "Up There Cazaly".-Early life/career:...

 was renowned for his high marks, giving rise to the catchphrase and song "Up There Cazaly

Up There Cazaly

"Up There Cazaly" is an Australian sporting catchphrase inspired by former St Kilda and South Melbourne great Roy Cazaly...

".

Spoiling the mark

Spoiling is the technique typically employed by opposition defenders to legally stop a player from catching the ball.
Spoiling is performed by hand or fist (as a punching action) either before or shortly after the player has caught the ball in their hands.

The rules are quite strict on defensive spoiling methods. Players are not allowed to push other players out of marking contests or make forceful front on contact with an opponent in a marking contest, if they are not simultaneously attempting to mark or spoil the ball. Also, no high contact is allowed unless such contact is incidental to attempting to mark or spoil the ball.

Taking the arms

Deliberately taking, hacking or chopping the arms is an infringement committed by defenders which will result in a free kick

Free kick (Australian rules football)

A free kick in Australian rules football is a penalty awarded by a field umpire to a player who has been infringed by an opponent or is the nearest player to a player from the opposite team who has broken a rule.-Protocol:...

.

The arm interference free kick was introduced as a specific free kick in the AFL

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 and its affiliates in 2005, although it was paid as a blocking, striking or holding free kick previously. The free kick was designed predominately to make it easier for forwards to take contested marks by not allowing defending player to punch or pull a marking player's outstretched arms in a marking contest.

The rule was introduced by the AFL

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 amidst on-going calls from fans and commentators to take action against the defensive tactic of flooding

Flooding (Australian football)

Flooding is a tactic used in the sport of Australian rules football. It involves the coach releasing players in the forward line from their set positions and directing them to the opposition forward area, congesting the area and making it more difficult for the opposition to score. It is commonly...

; the rule does directly limit the effectiveness of defenders, but the AFL has never stated whether or not flooding was the reason for the change.

Marking Related Injuries

Marking can cause injuries to hands and fingers including hyperextension, joint and tendon damage, dislocation and fractures. Over a long period of time and with re-injury there can be long term effects such as chronic injury and debilitating arthritis. To overcome these injuries, some players will strap problem fingers together, whole hands, wear splints or gloves.

Some of these injuries require surgery and extended recovery, threatening professional careers. AFL players whose careers were threatened by such injuries include Robert Campbell

Robert Campbell (Australian rules footballer)

Robert "Robbie" Campbell is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League . At 200 cm tall, he made his AFL debut with the Hawthorn Hawks in 2002...

, Fraser Gehrig

Fraser Gehrig

Fraser Gehrig is a retired Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League who played for the St Kilda Football Club and the West Coast Eagles...

, Brett Backwell

Brett Backwell

Brett Backwell is an Australian rules football player who achieved some international notoriety in 2005 when he opted to have a finger removed to enable him to continue his chosen sport.-AFL career:Backwell played his junior football in Queensland...

 and Daniel Chick

Daniel Chick

Daniel Chick is a professional Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn and the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League. Chick is also well known for having a finger amputated in 2002 so he could continue playing football.- Hawthorn career :Chick made his debut for Hawthorn...

. Some players, such as Backwell and Chick have opted for amputation

Amputation

Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...

 of digit

Digit (anatomy)

A digit is one of several most distal parts of a limb, such as fingers or toes, present in many vertebrates.- Names:Some languages have different names for hand and foot digits ....

s in a bid to extend their playing careers and continue to mark the ball.